The Importance of Mentoring the Next Generation of Inspectioneers

Introduction

Mentoring has been defined as the method of teaching within an apprentice-supervisory relationship. It is not a new — or even recent — concept. In fact, the idea of mentoring can be traced back to ancient Greece. At that time, it was developed as a technique to impart to young men the societies’ desired personal, social and cultural values.

During the middle ages, mentoring became a method to pass on artistic, tradesman and craftsman knowledge via a craftsman-apprentice relationship during which a young person learned a trade by shadowing a master artisan. Much later, during the 1960s and 1970s, American and European companies reinvented the philosophy as a way to train young adults into engineering and other technical fields to support career development strategies.

Sadly today, the methods and practices of mentoring young adults have, for the most part, fallen by the wayside. More commonly, young adults enter the workforce, either with or without a higher education degree or trade certification, and are thrown into their respective fields with only technical and procedure manuals and administrative regulations on which to rely for work guidelines.