Employees are the primary pillars of an organization’s success, and desire to grow and scale new heights professionally. Given adequate career development opportunities, an employee can pursue his career goals by utilizing his potential fully. He is encouraged when the organization also supports him with a clear career path that is aligned with its corporate goals. Unfortunately, as John Leach points out, organizations are paying scant attention to this particular aspect, owing to a variety of reasons. As a result, they are unable to match employee expectations with their own special needs. Mentoring helps organizations attract the right people, shape them into future leaders, and retain their loyalty for the long term. A survey reported that 67% of all companies will choose to opt for mentoring programs as training and development tools, effective 2014 onwards. Miscellaneous studies on employee retention indicate that career development is a key factor that determines how long employees choose to stay on. A career development plan is a win – win for both employers and employees. It focuses on employees’ need for growth and development. The organization, for its part, supports employees develop and pursue a career path through access to opportunities and information, resulting in helping employees at personal and professional levels. Naturally, IT organizations have introduced career development programs to help retain their employees. The researcher has chosen this area as the topic of the study and intends to explore mentoring functions and their influence on the career development of protégés in the organization.This study was conducted in the city of Chennai. All IT companies with branches in Chennai are presumed to be good sources of information on employees in this niche sector, especially in terms of the companies’ perception of mentoring functions and their influence on career development.