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

WHAT IS IT?

Also known as “upward mentoring”, reverse mentoring turns the traditional hierarchical approach to mentoring on its head. Rather than having a senior player take a less experienced player “under their wing”, reverse mentoring relationships place the more senior person as the primary learner and emphasise the experience of the junior person.

The objective of reverse mentoring is primarily to enable leaders and senior managers to stay in touch with their organisations and the outside world. But the advantages go both ways as more junior personnel have an opportunity to understand and be heard by more senior and experienced people.

WHEN & WHY SHOULD IT BE USED?

There are two main objectives that reverse mentoring has proven successful in achieving.

Advance the technical skills and understanding of senior management.

Executives are increasingly required to make strategic decisions in response to technological changes. It is difficult to capitalise on opportunities presented by burgeoning social media sites or cloud computing technologies if you are unfamiliar with how they are being used.

Companies such as General Electric, Ogilvy & Mather and Cisco Systems have all addressed this dilemma by implementing reverse mentoring programs, whereby junior staff members more literate in the latest technologies help executives to brush up on their skills. As well as providing a safe environment for senior management to learn, these relationships also give junior players a sense of purpose and belonging.

EDUCATE LEADERS ABOUT DIVERSITY ISSUES

It is easy for executives to declare that the organisation is “committed to the advancement of women” or “encourages a diverse workforce”. But it can be difficult to make a meaningful difference to gender and diversity issues from the ivory tower position of a corner office.

When a division of Procter and Gamble wanted to reverse a growing turnover amongst women in junior and middle management posts they recognised that the traditional hierarchical approach to mentoring would only reinforce a potentially patriarchal culture that may be at the heart of the problem. Instead they implemented the “Mentoring Up” program that matched senior male managers with junior female mentors, who were tasked with providing informal, non-threatening feedback on issues specific to women. In other words, their job was to help management to understand diversity issues at a human level. The program enabled women to develop quality relationships with senior executives, to become more visible within the organisation, and to be heard: not surprisingly retention rates amongst women increased.

HOW TO MAKE IT SUCCESSFUL?

1. Be very clear about the purpose of the program. Clarity about the broad organizational goals will help participants to take the process seriously.
2. Train both parties for their role. Junior participants need training in how to confront and challenge more senior participants, while senior participants must learn how to be open to these challenges.
3. Review relationships regularly to ensure they are on track. It is all too easy for both junior and senior participants to fall back into a hierarchical pattern of behaviour. In our experience only training and regular review can establish a pattern of effective “upward” learning.
4. Track issues or concerns that recur in multiple relationships. These concerns may be indicative of more widespread diversity issues that need to be addressed at an organisational level.
5. Start small. Developing safe and positive reverse mentoring relationships can be tricky. It is best to start with small pilot programs and then use pilot participants as a steering committee for roll out of the program on a wider scale.

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.