Art of Mentoring corporate logo, flying geese colored version
Contact Us
Menu
Art of Mentoring corporate logo, flying geese colored version

Case Study – Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA)

Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA)

A mentoring initiative led by the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA)

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA) is an initiative led by the industry employer group Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA), specifically tasked with helping employers to increase female workforce participation in the resources, allied and related construction sectors.

Mentoring was identified early, as a way to attract women to the sector and support them to stay, and AWRA were provided Australian Government funding to develop a mentoring program.

But the nature of the resources sector created significant barriers to delivering an effective program.  Resources jobs are often in extremely remote locations, making face-to-face mentoring impossible for many, and complex roster systems make connecting mentoring partners unusually difficult.

AWRA decided to pursue e-mentoring, an approach that had yet to be implemented on a large scale in Australia.  Art of Mentoring (AoM) was approached to assist with the program.

THE SOLUTION

A virtual mentoring program was developed and rolled out in early 2013.  The first phase of this program ran from February 2013 to May 2014 and included 100 mentoring pairs.  Learnings from this experience then informed program design for a second phase, which concludes mid-2018.

Each mentoring cohort ran for 9-months in both the first and second phases, and communication between mentors and mentees was via telephone, Skype and email.

The following summarises the key elements of the program and how these elements developed through experience.

Online mentoring platform for efficient program management

An online mentoring platform was employed to enable efficient program management. The platform provided:

·      the algorithm for computer-generated mentor/mentee matching

·      a central platform for participant applications and communications

·      an online portal for mentoring resource materials

In both phases, program managers could override the matching program with qualitative information known about the applicant.  After a number of mismatches in phase one, the matching algorithm was improved in phase two to provide better matches.

Cohorts for a shared experience

Rather than offering a self-serve model where a single mentee searches for a mentor online, the program was structured in cohorts to allow participants (mentees in particular) to feel connected to a wider group and build connections with other participants.

A Growing Arsenal of Training Tools

Screening Video:  The screening video was added in phase two, after an unacceptable mentee drop-out rate in phase one caused concern that mentees did not understand what they were getting into. A 20-minute video outlining program expectations was made compulsory viewing for all mentees before final admission. The drop-out rate halved in phase two.

Webinars:  Live webinars conducted by AoM were the primary training tool in phase one, and continued in phase two.  Separate training webinars were conducted for mentors and mentees at the outset of the program, again at 3 months by AoM and (in phase two only) at the conclusion of the program.

Multimedia online training modules:  Time-limited webinars proved too restrictive to ensure completely effective training.  A suite of multimedia online training sessions from AoM was introduced in phase two.  Material included video demonstrations of key mentoring skills, mentor and mentee interviews and downloadable mentoring tools.

Regular Evaluation

Participants were asked to provide evaluation immediately after their matching, after 3 months and at the conclusion of the program. In phase two an extra evaluation was added, one year after commencing the program.

RESULTS & KEY LEARNINGS

The AWRA e-Mentoring Program has been running for over four years and has worked with over 400 mentors and mentees.  The AMMA and the Australian Government consider the program a success and the program was used as a case study in a presentation to the 2015 Global Summit of Women.

During this period, there has been a small improvement in female participation in the mining sector (up from 15.7% in 2014, to 16.1% in 2017). Perhaps more important has been the increase in female presence in senior ranks. In 2014, 26.1% of key management personnel were women, by 2017 it was 29.7%.

The program also delivered some exciting learnings about the potential of virtual mentoring.

Virtual Mentoring Works

Properly managed, a virtual mentoring program can be just as effective as face-to-face.  Program evaluation scores were found to be very similar to those you would expect from a well-run, traditional program:

·      95% of participants said they had achieved the goals they set for themselves

·      17% of mentees rated the experience as “one of the best things I have done”

·      87% of mentees said they would stay in contact with the mentors

Virtual Mentoring Opens New Opportunities

The ability of virtual mentoring to provide access to mentoring from across a very broad geographic base proved valuable both at an association and individual level.

“The real value of the e-Mentoring program is that each mentee has access to the most appropriate mentor from a variety of levels in the industry anywhere in the country.”  Tara Diamond, AMMA Executive Director of Industry

“What’s great is that I wasn’t just limited to mentors in WA; there’s a whole nation involved across different resource related sectors.  There is no way I would have connected with Scott if it wasn’t for this program.”  Shauna Martin, Mentee

“Because I travel a lot I always felt I couldn’t make a commitment to a mentee when I wasn’t actually going to be physically present.  So the fact that (this program) is based online…made it easy to manage my travel and make a commitment to others.”  Michele Tracey, Mentor

Virtual Mentoring Requires Careful Administration

Because of the nature of virtual relationships, mentoring pairs require greater follow-up than in a face-to-face program. Program managers play a key role in building the momentum of the mentoring relationship.

Quality Training Materials are Key

High quality training materials must be developed or sourced to ensure that participants have the skills needed for a successful relationship.  The addition of detailed multi-media online training modules in phase two proved more effective than reliance solely on webinars.

Art of Mentoring can help any organisation launch, run or evaluate a mentoring program. For more information please contact us.

Retaining Staff Through Mentoring

We know that retaining good staff is critical to company success. Keeping good people saves us the time and money needed to train or retrain new people. It keeps productivity levels humming. Perhaps most important it retains the credibility of our organisations, keeping customers and other key stakeholders confident in our ability to deliver.

We also know that staff retention is about far more than money. Study after study has shown that people stay because they feel valued, engaged, challenged and connected.

We might be thinking that staff retention isn’t something to worry about in these tough economic times. And it’s true, employees are more likely to stay put when fearful about the economy. But this doesn’t necessarily apply to our best, most productive staff members. And we don’t want to suffer an exodus when the economic malaise lifts.

Enter mentoring. Widely considered a tool for junior staff development, mentoring is also a powerful tool to retain staff at all levels. According to the mentoring expert Professor David Clutterbuck, a well-constructed mentoring program will increase the chance of people staying by one third on average.

SURPRISED? WELL CONSIDER HOW MENTORING IMPACTS ON THE INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED:

  1. Participating in a mentoring program makes staff feel valued by their organisation. This is obviously true for mentees, but also true for mentors who appreciate having their knowledge and expertise recognised.
  2. A mentoring program raises awareness and understanding between different levels within the organisation’s strata. Senior management become aware of frustrations experience by juniors and are able to take timely action.
  3. Mentees feel heard, given the opportunity to voice their career frustrations and concerns.
  4. Mentors feel reinvigorated, finding a sense of purpose in the opportunity to help someone else’s career.
  5. The mentoring relationship enables people to shape a career strategy within an organisation and points them toward internal job opportunities.
  6. And if you do lose someone, the mentoring process has the surprising effect of attracting them back. When former staff start looking for their next opportunity, they are likely to turn to their former trusted mentor for advice. A well constructed mentoring program makes your staff feel valued, builds connections between different organizational levels and provides a foundation for building long-term career strategies within the organisation. It is hardly surprising that increased staff retention is an outcome.

The Business Case for Mentoring

Many organisations and individuals today know that the business and economic benefits of a well-structured mentoring program can be significant. They understand that mentoring delivers way beyond a “feel good” factor. This article explores the sound economic reasons to embark on a mentoring program.

WHAT DOES A WELL-STRUCTURED MENTORING PROGRAM LOOK LIKE?

Before we launch into the economic returns it is important that we clarify what we mean when we refer to a well-structured mentoring program. The International Standards for Mentoring and Coaching Programmes (ISMCP) provides a solid benchmark.

Most critical is the structure placed around the matching and support of mentoring pairs. This needs to include recruitment of suitable participants, matching and re-matching as necessary, training for both mentors and mentees, measurement and feedback at key points and provision of ongoing support for mentoring pairs. The evidence to support economic returns from mentoring refers specifically to structured and monitored mentoring programs.

ECONOMIC & BUSINESS RETURNS FROM A WELLSTRUCTURED MENTORING PROGRAM

Attracting and Retaining Staff

Competition for talent is fierce in many sectors in Australia. So it is often challenging and costly to attract the right staff to your organisation. Then it can cost half to five times an employee’s annual wages to replace a staff member when he or she chooses to leave.

Mentoring programs provide an incentive for people to join an organisation, signalling to job candidates that the organisation cares about the development of its people.

We also know that mentoring helps to build loyalty and job satisfaction, boosting staff retention. Studies indicate that, over the course of a mentoring program, mentees are only half as likely as their peers to be thinking about leaving their organisation.

Evidence suggests that job satisfaction is increased for both mentors and mentees. Programs can be particularly valuable in managing people through plateauing periods when they are waiting for the next challenge and may be itching for change.

Increasing Productivity

Mentees often learn new skills, build confidence and develop greater focus in the course of a mentoring relationship, which enables them to be more productive. We recently surveyed mentees in a structured program we installed for one of our clients, to assess whether working with a mentor for six months improved the productivity of the mentees. Every mentee surveyed said they believed their productivity had improved as a result of mentoring; 48% believed they had had more than a 50% improvement in productivity.

Breaking Down Communication Silos

Communication silos can cost money through misallocation of resources and failure to leverage internal successes and economies of scale. Good mentoring programs are shown to increase both the quality and the quantity of communication across internal boundaries.

Recognising and Managing Talent

Mentoring enables senior managers to gain a deep and personal understanding of their employees, equipping them to make better decisions regarding placement and development of talented people. It is also extremely effective in breaking down the cultural, ethnic and gender barriers that can lead to talent blindness, enabling senior managers to choose talent from a broader, more diverse pool.

Actively Managing Corporate Culture

Leaders work hard to establish a code of values and behaviour that an organisation is expected to live by, yet often struggle to instil these values into all corners of the company. By selecting mentors who represent the values and behaviour they seek to promote, leaders can create a positive cycle of role modelling. Culture is reinforced and cultural change is accelerated.

Where organisations have a specific change objective, mentoring programs can be designed to help in achieving cultural change. Where companies wish to achieve greater diversity and equality, a Diversity Mentoring program can be effective in breaking down cultural, ethnic or gender barriers. If questions of ethics are of specific concern, Ethical Mentoring programs will help employees to develop ethical decision-making skills.

Fostering a Coaching and Mentoring Environment

Almost every study on effective management demonstrates that managers who get the most out of their teams spend a high proportion of their time and energy coaching and mentoring others. A formal mentoring program puts the building blocks in place through mentor training and practice. In today’s knowledge economy, managing talent and corporate culture are not “soft” issues. Poor corporate culture and talent choices have sunk entire organisations over the last decade, so the costs can be high. A well-structured mentoring program is an ongoing commitment to good management practice.

References

Clutterbuck, D, (2004) Everyone Needs a Mentor

Clutterbuck D, Poulsen, K. and Kochan, F. (2012) Developing Successful Diversity Mentoring Programmes

Diversity in Mentoring

LESSONS IN DIVERSITY MENTORING

Today’s organisations must be able to capitalise on diversity – tapping into a multi-cultural workforce, managing the demands of an increasingly well-educated and experienced cadre of female managers and facilitating virtual teams and alliances in a global workplace. By facilitating cross-group understanding and supporting disadvantaged or minority groups within an organisation, mentoring is emerging as a powerful method for encouraging organizational diversity. However, mentoring within or between unique groups comes with unique problems. We outline below some of the key lessons that have been learned thus far in “diversity mentoring”.

1. DEFINE THE PURPOSE CAREFULLY

Any mentoring program should be clear about its purpose, but this is particularly the case with “diversity mentoring” because it is so easy to generalize. A mentoring program that is simply to “support women in the organisation” is likely to lead to a large number of lunch meetings where everyone wonders what they are doing here.

2. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

There is a genuine risk that good intention leads to unintentional insult. We have seen a number of instances where mentoring programs intended to support a specific group were perceived as devaluing that group. So for example a program designed to support a specific racial minority may lead the group to feel that they are considered “not good enough”. It is important to understand the perspective of the group you are trying to support.

3. MAKE PROGRAMS “OPT IN”

For any mentoring program to be successful it is critical that both the mentors and the mentees want to be there. This is even more important for diversity programs, particularly cross group programs where you are asking people to listen and understand others with substantially different perspectives.

4. ENSURE QUALITY TRUMPS QUANTITY

If you are running a diversity program it is tempting to want to include everyone who fits the diversity objective. But the truth is that establishing a bad mentoring relationship is far worse than having no relationship at all – particularly when dealing with delicate diversity issues. It is essential that programs are limited to the number of quality mentors available. A quality mentor will need to have strong communication and empathic skills and a track record in people development. (See our article on Selecting a Mentor for more on what makes a good mentor.)

5. SAME GROUP VERSUS CROSS GROUP? – IT DEPENDS

There is much discussion about whether diversity programs work best if the mentor and mentee are from the same group or different groups. Each has its advantages. A same group relationship is likely to establish a strong rapport and empathy between the mentor and mentee. On the other hand, cross group relationships are able to foster a greater level of cross-cultural or gender understanding which can be advantageous to the organisation as a whole. The decision goes back to our first lesson – know your purpose. If the purpose is to help disenfranchised employees to grow confident and comfortable within a role or an organisation then same group programs may be more successful. If the purpose is to foster communication and understanding within your organisation then cross group programs will work better.

6. INVEST IN TRAINING

There is little more frustrating to us than to watch organisations run mentoring programs without appropriate mentor/mentee training. It is critical to the success of any mentoring program that both sides of the relationship receive training. All training programs must be geared to help mentees understand their role in the process and to raise mentor’s “coaching” competencies. In diversity mentoring it is also critical that both sides of the relationship are trained to be aware of diversity issues, such as how stereotyping occurs and how different cultures or genders may approach the same issue differently.

7. ACKNOWLEDGE STEREOTYPING

Stereotyping is probably the biggest single barrier to success of diversity mentoring programs. In same group relationships stereotypes may be shared and go unquestioned – despite the fact that these stereotypes may be the biggest single barriers to success. In cross group relationships the stereotypes of one or both sides may lead to assumptions that unconsciously limit the potential of the relationship. It is critical that stereotypes be discussed and acknowledged during training, and that mentors, in particular, are trained to be able to openly and honestly discuss the role of stereotype in the mentoring relationship and in the mentee’s progress within the organisation.

8. BALANCE DISADVANTAGE WITH ADVANTAGE

Often diversity mentoring involves a relationship between a disadvantaged person and someone who is not. The most obvious example of this would be physically handicapped mentees working with the able bodied. This requires a tricky balancing act on the part of the mentor. On the one hand if the disadvantage is completely ignored then the mentee may feel patronized and there is a failure to recognise some of the limitations that may need to be overcome. On the other hand if the disadvantage is allowed to take centre stage this may limit the ability to set stretch goals. An effective way for mentors to deal with this is to balance disadvantage with advantage. Work with the mentee to establish a realistic balance sheet of the advantages and disadvantages they have in the workplace. This recognizes that the disadvantage is a reality to be faced, but also puts it into a framework that allows for progress.

Mentoring – What’s In It For Me?

We are often asked the advantages of mentoring to the various stakeholders involved. Here we list the most common rewards that individuals reap from a mentoring program.

BENEFITS FOR MENTEES

  • Explore issues and concerns in a confidential and supportive relationship.
  • Learn from the real life experiences of others.
  • Align your own development to your company’s performance culture.
  • Exposure to new, and often more senior, members of your organisation.
  • Explore your career development plans, with guidance to make appropriate choices.
  • Network and to learn about effective networking.
  • Become more comfortable dealing with people of different backgrounds, experience and authority.
  • Gain guidance in managing difficult relationships and interpreting feedback from other.
  • Develop greater confidence, personally and within your organisation.

BENEFITS FOR MENTORS

Mentoring programs do not just benefit the mentees. Mentors find tremendous learning and development opportunities of their own. Here are some of the benefits that are frequently reported to us:

  • Gain personal satisfaction by making a difference to someone else.
  • Increase your profile and your professional networks.
  • Learn and develop mentoring skills and enhance your leadership and interpersonal skills.
  • Gain intellectual challenge by working on issues outside your day to day experience.
  • Find reflective space in a hectic daily schedule.
  • Sharpen your listening skills.
  • Discover fresh perspectives that may assist with your own work.

BENEFITS FOR LINE MANAGERS

It is important that the mentee’s line manager is supportive of the mentoring relationship, not threatened by it. The mentoring program can provide direct benefits to line managers:

  • Mentees relationships with their line managers and peers often improve through the mentoring process.
  • Mentors can help mentees to gain an alternative perspective which may be helpful in managing their performance.

Case Study – Sydney University

THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

The Study

The University of Sydney believes that mentorship provides the opportunity for cross-university cooperation, collaboration and shared learning, creating an enriched work experience for staff and students. In 2015, the university embarked on developing a suite of tools, resources and information focused on developing mentorship capability, a shared understanding and common language. Having been referred from AHRI, The University of Sydney approached Art of Mentoring to access our Design Kit, Training Kit and eLearning modules. These resources now contribute to the customised self-serve portal that can be accessed by individuals or groups who wish to introduce mentoring into their work areas. We continue to support their efforts by providing training for local program managers.

This is a sensible approach to building internal mentoring capability. The University of Sydney is creating a common language and shared understanding of mentoring across the institution through enabling mentoring programs to be owned, designed and delivered at a local level. This develops engagement and commitment amongst participants and the people who will manage the programs within the local work areas.

Art of Mentoring can help any organization launch, run or evaluate a mentoring program. For more information please contact us.

Case Study – Australian Veterinary Association

AUSTRALIAN VETERINARY ASSOCIATION

The Study

Following an extensive review, a nationally resourced mentoring program with local delivery in each state was recommended for roll-out in late 2015. A national Program Manager was brought on board to manage all program administration using an online mentoring program platform and to support the pairs in each region.

Local volunteers have been trained by Art of Mentoring to deliver training in each state for mentors and mentees. Nationally, the program aims to support up to 500 newly graduated vets with mentoring support for their first year of work. This is an important program, as new vets can find the transition into work quite daunting – mentors help them navigate their way into a first job, overcome isolation if working far from home, and deal with issues that arise in the workplace. The program has been very successful and rolls out across the country each year, in July and October.

Art of Mentoring consultants conducted stakeholder research, worked with a steering group to design the program, trained the Program Manager and volunteers and provided the all the mentoring resources used by program participants. The program is managed by AVA on our mentoring program management platform. We continue to work with the Australian Veterinary Association to evaluate and fine tune the program for continuous improvement.

Art of Mentoring can help any organization launch, run or evaluate a mentoring program. For more information please contact us.

Mentoring Programs and Community

Mentoring Programs: The Importance of Community

The word community comes from the Latin communis.  The prefix com means together or joint, and the suffix munis derives from munire which means to fortify or strengthen.  As the word itself says, community is all about gaining strength through shared activity and interests.

The rapid spread of social media reflects our common striving to find community.  Most organisations at least espouse the idea of creating a sense of community amongst stakeholders.  We have an almost innate understanding that community makes us stronger.

So what does this have to do with mentoring, which after all is a one to one activity?  In fact, we believe that a good mentoring program is inexorably linked to community, both feeding an organisation’s sense of community and drawing on community to bolster the mentoring relationship.

Mentoring Programs Foster Community

A well-run mentoring program is far more than the individual relationships between mentor and mentee.  Training sessions and other events bring mentors and mentees together to form a “mentoring community”.

Shared experience creates a bond between participants that will impact upon working relationships in other aspects of the organisation.  The sense of belonging fostered by being part of the mentoring group, will nurture participants’ sense of belonging to the organisation as a whole.

The coaching and active listening skills learned through mentor training will be used outside the mentoring relationship, influencing the culture of the department, working group and organisation.  These strengthened leadership skills promote a heightened sense of belonging and community.

A well-run mentoring program not only creates a short-term sense of community amongst its participants, it makes possible an enhanced long-term sense of community within the organization as a whole. It can help break down organizational silos by bringing together people from different teams, departments or geographies.

Community Strengthens Mentoring Programs

We believe that the relationship between community and mentoring flows two ways.  Mentoring programs are made stronger when run within a well-defined community.

That community might be a department, a widespread multi-national company, an association of peers or an online group with shared interests such as Uber drivers.  Whatever the case, community provides context and shared goals, aspirations or beliefs. These common denominators make it easier to form meaningful mentoring relationships and to bond within the mentoring community. The wider community can also provide additional support to mentees.

What Does This Mean for “New” Mentoring Formats?

Our strong belief in the power of community makes us hesitant about some of the newer formats of mentoring that technology is enabling.

We question the value of online mentoring platforms that act as “dating services”, promising to match mentees with more experienced mentors completely outside the context of community.  One would expect that these mentoring pairs will work effectively for some individuals in some instances.  However, without any common context, effective matching becomes extremely difficult, and the likelihood of a successful pairing is significantly reduced.  Plus, of course, this type of mentoring is extremely individualistic, providing no long-term community building for the organisation.

Our faith in the power and value of community is the primary reason that we have dedicated ourselves to working with organisations to design and implement excellent mentoring programs.   We welcome the efficiencies and accessibility that technology brings to mentoring programs.  However, we caution against allowing technology to diminish the potential of mentoring programs to build and harness community.

Case Study – NSW Law Society

THE LAW SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

The Study

Art of Mentoring helped to re-launch the Law Society’s mentoring programs in 2014/15. There were two programs – one for their Young Lawyers group and one specifically for women. A Graduate program was added in 2016.

Art of Mentoring supports the The Law Society of New South Wales by conducting program events, providing mentoring resources and training materials and we host the programs on our online platform. There is an internal Law Society program manager trained by us to handle the program administration on the platform.

Art of Mentoring can help any organization launch, run or evaluate a mentoring program. For more information please contact us.

Top 5 Mistakes In Mentoring Program Design

When a mentoring program succeeds it can reap enormous benefits. A mentoring program that fails, however, has negative consequences; disappointed participants, stakeholders and a loss of trust in the sponsoring department can result. Before embarking on a mentoring program it is wise to consider the kinds of problems that programs may experience and the strategies that a program manager can adopt to mitigate the risks of failure.

When we’ve been called in to rehabilitate unsuccessful mentoring programs, here are the top five causes of failure that we have observed:

1. Failure to define the program’s purpose: A mentoring program, like any business investment, is undertaken for a reason – to increase inclusion of diverse groups in a government department, to retain middle managers in an organisation, to engage members in a professional association … Take the time up-front to discuss and develop a cogent and focussed program purpose. This will create a solid foundation and a point of reference for the effective design and smooth implementation of the program.

2. Failure to define and measure success: Mentoring program managers need to monitor the participation of the mentees and mentors, and the performance of the program overall. Don’t wait until it’s too late to find out that your participants are dissatisfied and disengaged, or that your communications strategy isn’t hitting the mark. Plan to evaluate your program at a number of levels, and measure progress toward success several times throughout its course.

3. Poor planning and preparation: When key stakeholders are not involved in the design stage, the program implementation plan can be inadequate. Consult with your communications team and the managers of your intended participants, to smooth the way for the rollout of your program. Identify the risks early and iron out potential problems well before the program is launched to the target audience.

4. Poor or no training for participants: Experienced managers, and sometimes even experienced mentors, do not necessarily ‘just know’ how to do mentoring. Effective programs provide activities and resources that ensure that mentors understand the key skills of effective mentoring, and that the mentees’ and mentors’ expectations are aligned through training.

5. Inadequate program support: Sometimes a great deal of effort goes into getting the program off the ground, but mentors and mentees are then left to work it out for themselves. Busy mentors (and mentees!) may need to be reminded of why they made a commitment to the program, and will appreciate encouragement and support in their efforts. Make sure you have sufficient program management time and resources to deliver basic administrative tasks, like responding to questions and inviting participants to program meetings. Make sure they know where to turn for help if needed and provide support for relationships that need a bit of hand-holding to start.

With a little forethought and adopting good practice, a mentoring program can be set up to succeed – a modest investment in time and effort before a program begins will deliver enormous returns.

© Gina Meibusch, Art of Mentoring 2022