When Odysseus left his homeland for the Trojan War, he entrusted his friend Mentor as an adviser and spiritual guide to his son Telemachus. From this Homeric hero the word “mentor” means the experienced guide and protector of someone younger and inexperienced.

The institution of the mentor will be introduced in the next period for the first time in the public sector, where senior public officials will guide new employees in the process of integrating them into the service and developing their skills.

The purpose of mentoring (as it has prevailed internationally) in the public sector, implemented by the Ministry of the Interior, is to utilize the existing knowledge, skills and experience of executives with many years of experience and to transfer the skills to younger or less experienced employees of all levels.

This practice is widespread internationally in both the private and public sectors. In Greece, it has been taking timid steps in recent years mainly in private businesses, while last year it was introduced to public primary and secondary education.

The implementation of the action is expected to upgrade the functioning of the public administration and consequently the quality of the services provided to citizens, as international practice has shown that new employees improve their skills and integrate faster and more effectively into their service. It is noted that the upgrading of skills for the employee and the supervisor are “redeemed” with increased performance in the evaluation, through targeting which in turn leads to faster professional upgrading but also to the financial reward through the productivity bonus, where this is implemented.

However, older executives also have benefits. It has been found that civil servants nearing retirement tend to have a reduced interest in their work and usually show low productivity due to lack of motivation. The age group over 60 in the Public Service has been increasing in recent years due to the increase in the age limit and from almost 40,000 in 2020 it is over 46,000 in 2022. The older ones who will be used as mentors are expected to rekindle their work interest and become more adept as leaders and communicators as they guide and assist in the development of staff.

How can a civil servant become a Mentor or participate in an individual mentoring program

The mentoring and knowledge transfer between the mentor and the new employees will take place online, one hour every 15 days, during working hours, over a period of approximately 4-6 months and will be supported by group exercises of an experiential nature.

In order for experienced employees to acquire the role of mentor, they must first receive relevant training and certification through a training program designed by the Ministry of the Interior in collaboration with the National Center for Public Administration and Self-Government (EKDDA). The “Mentoring Special Training Certification Program in Public Administration”, as its title is, will start in October and is 70 hours of modern and asynchronous training.

A similar program has been designed by the above institutions for those new employees who wish to follow individual mentoring. The courses will begin to be implemented online at the beginning of 2024. Civil servants can participate in the program, at the urging of their superiors, within the framework of the new process of evaluation of public personnel.