A new employee may be assigned a workplace mentor for the first few weeks, yet the arrangement often has no clear end. The mentor keeps answering every question while carrying normal work, and the employee never learns which issues belong with a supervisor or specialist.
Set the finish line at the start
Define the assignment period, meeting rhythm, topics the mentor may cover, and questions that must go elsewhere. Protect time for the conversations. The mentor should support orientation and practical navigation, not make performance, leave, safety, or employee-relations decisions.
Hold a closeout conversation
Near the end, ask both people what remains unclear. Transfer open operational questions to named owners and give the new employee a current contact list. Recognize the mentor's work in a manner consistent with local practice. Do not assume that a successful mentor wants another assignment immediately.
Improve the next match
Review whether meetings occurred, which questions repeated, and where formal onboarding was missing. Use those findings to improve instructions rather than expanding the mentor's unofficial job. Track assignments so the same dependable people do not absorb every new hire.
Qualified HR or program owners should define confidentiality and escalation boundaries. Participation should not give the mentor access to private records or make the mentor responsible for reporting judgments outside the approved process.
Public background: OPM mentoring resources.