Page 4 – ART OF MENTORING

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

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:

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.
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.
Mentees feel heard, given the opportunity to voice their career frustrations and concerns.
Mentors feel reinvigorated, finding a sense of purpose in the opportunity to help someone else’s career.
The mentoring relationship enables people to shape a career strategy within an organisation and points them toward internal job opportunities.
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.

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.

The Common Pitfalls in Mentoring Programs

Mentoring Programs and The Potential Pitfalls Along The Way

It’s becoming more popular to run mentoring programs for members or employees as a way to support them to set up a long-term career, tackle common industry or profession pitfalls, create strong leaders or support career transition points like moving to a managerial position.

True, mentoring programs are most effective applied strategically when the audience needs it most, however, don’t rush – mentoring programs can fail unless some common pitfalls are avoided.

Here are a few reasons for program stagnation or failure:

Lack of training for mentors and mentees.

Research by our colleague Professor David Clutterbuck has shown that only 1 in 3 mentoring relationships are successful when no training is supplied for mentors or mentees.

That figure increases to 2 in 3 relationships succeeding when the mentors have professional training in how to be a good mentor.

The most impactful training scenario however is when both the mentor and mentee receive training on how to manage their mentoring relationship, in which case one can expect a 90% success rate.

Our experience also shows us that training isn’t easy because of circumstantial constraints. For example if a mentoring program is virtual and the participants are geographically spread across different states, cities or even countries, gathering all the mentors or mentees to the one place is hard! Some organizations use webinar technology to enable the training but this is fraught with problems because it is hard to gauge their level of engagement. An online learning module allows for the mentor or mentee to take the training at their convenience and gives the administrator the ability to track their progress.

Too much or not enough structure

Just like in college or school, it is important to remember different people require different environments to feel comfortable. Some mentees and mentors will appreciate access to many tools and resources whilst they are beginning their mentoring relationship and others will feel overly pressured if you push to use them.

The trick is finding a way of creating balance so that those who need it can find it easily and those who don’t, can access it if they get stuck, without feeling pressured to stick to a rigid regime.

One of the best ways to create balance is by using regular communications. Communications can be scheduled to occur once every few weeks for the duration of the relationship, and done manually, or it can be done using an online mentoring platform that can drip-feed the resources.

Poor matching

Poor matching probably seems like an obvious pitfall and it is. What isn’t so obvious is what actually constitutes good matching.

The first thing to account for is having a defined purpose for the program itself. It is important to define your matching criteria before you open applications to guide people in their decision to join the program. Without a clear purpose, it will be difficult to match for the mentee’s benefit. Some common examples of program purpose are; to support a diversity goal (e.g. to attract and retain more women in this organization or industry); to provide support and guidance for young people entering the profession; to assist mid-career professionals step up into leadership roles.

Before deciding how to match, ask yourself a few questions.

Based on the strategic focus of the mentoring, what criteria are most important to ensure the desired outcomes are reached? What specialisations does your industry or organization have that may affect who is best matched? For some more in-depth questions to gauge your readiness, check out our ‘Mentoring Program Readiness Self Assessment’ tool.

A commonly used matching criterion is personality. However, who’s to say that one personality is better suited for another? In any mentoring relationship there should be a certain level of challenge otherwise it risks being non-impactful – matching personality types that are too similar can lead to a level of ‘cosiness’ in the relationship that limits potential for learning.

That being said, an open-ended question in the application form can encourage elaboration of personal circumstances and that can expose ‘common ground’ such as both the mentor and the mentee both have children, the mentee prefers a female mentor or both like to ride bikes. That isn’t personality matching, that’s common ground matching and that can work well because it helps mentoring pairs build rapport!

Make sure to look out for obvious mismatches. There are many obvious mismatches such as a technical mentor for a mentee whose focus in on leadership skills. It may also be tempting to match a mentor with 30 years experience with a mentee with 2 years experience – for the mentor it may be hard to recall what it was really like starting out – sometimes a better mentor for a newcomer to an organization, industry or profession, is someone just a few years ahead of them.

Ignoring the checkpoints

Clear checkpoints in a mentoring program help the mentor and mentee feel like there is a beginning, middle and an end. Although this may sound basic, according to our research, it is a big factor in satisfaction for many participants in a mentoring program.

For example, not having a clear cut off point and effective closure to a mentoring relationship can leave mentors and mentees dissatisfied afterwards, feeling as though they have done something wrong if they have not received good feedback from their partner. In conjunction with training, an introduction session gives the momentum needed to get the relationship off the ground to begin with.

During the program it is important to have red flags for when a relationship isn’t working. Often a phone call is sufficient but midpoint surveys and review events are helpful to find some disappointed or not-so-enthusiastic feedback to intercept failing relationships.

Setting the expectation

One of the last but definitely not least is setting effective expectations for all applicants. Ever had that moment where you enrolled in a program or an event thinking it was one thing and then was disappointed to find out it was something completely different?… same principle for mentoring.

Some basic points:

Spell out the time commitment for mentors. They are volunteering their time and should be held to account if they are falling short;
Ensure that mentees know how to drive the relationship and that it is their responsibility to do so. They need to know that there will be some work for them to do;
Is there potential for confronting situations? For example does your industry or profession have a high incidence of depression? Consider taking steps to educate your mentors in how to respond effectively if a mentee is in need..
If there are potential conflicts of interest like poaching or confidentiality (mentee paired with a colleague of their manager for example) take measures to protect the mentee and mentor from these issues with clear mentoring agreements.

Lock in commitment from your mentees for the entire program

This is possibly the hardest of all to manage. Whilst it is important for mentees to feel pressure to engage and use the program effectively it is also counterproductive to force them through the relationship.

If you are an association or membership organization, then mentee participation fees, CPD points and networking events are great ways to encourage and maintain participation.

For an organization running an in-house mentoring program, you will still need to regularly check in with mentees to ensure their continued engagement. We do not recommend making mentoring compulsory – mentees that participate without conviction are unlikely to engage effectively with their mentors, and will just “go through the motions”.

Conclusion

A well-planned and supported mentoring program can last for many years and have impact year in, year out. Once the program has gained momentum a culture of mentoring is instilled and informal mentoring often flourishes alongside your formal programs.

Remember that mentoring programs work well in isolation but can be even more effective as a part of a suite of professional development. If you are an association, mentoring is well coupled with job boards, certification training and other CPD events or courses. We are seeing an increased trend in attaching mentoring to leadership development programs – the mentoring relationship provides an extended platform for embedding learning from leadership training.

3 Simple Questions Associations Should Ask Before Setting Up a Mentoring Program

A mature mentor explaining a concept to his mentees.

The recent rise of the dispersed workforce has seen exponential growth in the need for human connection. Mentoring has played a huge role in meeting that need for many organizations.

Mentoring may be “in”, but is it right for your association? An effective program will require a considerable investment of time and energy. Here are 3 simple questions to ask yourself before you get too entangled.

These may look like “no-brainer” questions, but you’d be surprised how many enterprises start down the mentoring path without first thinking through these simple, but critical, issues.

Why are we doing this?

If mentoring won’t help you to achieve a strategic objective then don’t start. Enterprises that take on a mentoring program because it’s vogue or “nice to have” will never be able to justify the cost in man-hours or consulting time and their programs are destined to die ignominiously.

Here are three examples of organizations that were clear about their objective:

The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) identified that young vets can find it hard to make the transition into the profession and reach their full potential. The profession has a high suicide rate and stress levels in recent graduates are high. The program is one component to help address these issues. Mentors in the program help graduate vets develop and sustain a satisfying career and be happy in their jobs.

The Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA) is an initiative by the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) that aims to increase the representation of women at all levels in the mining industry. They set up a mentoring program to offer guidance and support for women to make it easier and more comfortable for them to stay in this male-dominated industry.

The Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program operates across the world, connecting young people with positive adult role models and thereby breaking the cycle of disadvantage. This leads to long-term community benefits and transformational change like a reduction in crime and youth unemployment.

In all three cases a clear understanding of the “reason why” helped these organizations to gain stakeholder support and to structure programs to deliver the desired outcomes. Of course, there may be internal objectives like “member retention”, but linking mentoring program outcomes to a strategic goal that is important to your constituents, makes your mentoring efforts much more meaningful to stakeholders and therefore sustainable for you.

Do we have the support we need?

A mentoring program will never go far without the support of all key stakeholders. It’s worth ensuring you have this support before you get enmeshed in program development.

The stakeholders will vary from association to association. Obviously you will need the support of the board, or whoever is signing off on the expenditure. You will also want the backing of association management, as well as those people likely to act as mentors and mentees. If you are unsure about the level of support at the grassroots level consider running a focus group or a survey to solicit the views of potential participants.

Think about the nature of your membership. Many associations have a corporate membership base. So even though a mentoring program is for individuals, it may be critical to have corporate members and other key stakeholders on side before proceeding.

How are we going to resource and pay for this?

Whether you rely on internal or external resources to set up and run a mentoring program, it doesn’t come for free.

If you intend to manage the program internally you will need to identify staff with the required time and expertise to research, structure and manage a mentoring program. If you look to an outside consultant you will need to find the funds to cover their fees.

But don’t be too quick to decide that you can’t afford mentoring. Instead, think creatively about sources of funds.

If your program has a strategic objective that is shared across the industry then consider seeking sponsors. The AVA’s objective of keeping vets in the profession was shared by the entire industry. They were able to fund their mentoring program through the support of three companies for whom vets are important as customers for their products or services.

Consider too the potential for charging mentees a participation fees. In our experience this not only helps to fund the program, but bolsters program success by ensuring a more committed cadre of mentees. We’ve seen mentee fees ranging from a token amount to over $3000, depending on program inclusions.

Think you’re ready to start developing a mentoring program? If you’ve answered these questions then you’ve made a great start. Now check out our Mentoring Program Readiness Self-Assessment tool to make sure you’re genuinely prepared or download our new eBook 7 Steps to Starting A Successful Association Mentoring Program.

Alternatively contact us. We will talk you through the whole process and help in developing a personalized mentoring program that meets the specific needs of your association.

Definition of mentoring?

WHAT IS MENTORING?

mentor: (noun) an experienced and trusted adviser.

mentoring: (verb) advise and train someone.

WHAT IS A MENTOR?

A mentor is someone with valuable experience and knowledge who offers guidance and support. In mentoring programs, mentors are not just advisers; they are guides that help promote professional growth and skill development within the company. They share insights and are able to open doors that might otherwise remain closed to a mentee. A mentor’s role is diverse, and often extends beyond simple advice-giving. They may perform various mentoring functions, sometimes acting as a coach, a connector, or even a challenger, to help their mentees reach their full potential. It’s not unusual for a mentee to have more than one mentor, as each can provide unique, invaluable perspectives and expertise.

WHAT IS A MENTEE?

A mentee is someone who is eager to grow, learn, and develop professionally or personally, and who engages with a mentor for this purpose. They are not passive recipients of a mentor’s wisdom, but rather active participants in their own development journey. The mentee’s role is to be open, curious, and ready to transform the knowledge and advice they receive into meaningful progress in their career or personal life.

WHAT EXACTLY IS MENTORING?

Broadly speaking, the Oxford Dictionary offers an adequate definition of mentoring. But in practice, Australian and U.S. organisations employ a broad spectrum of mentoring approaches. At one end of the spectrum are mentoring relationships that focus on the extensive experience of the mentor. The expectation is that the knowledge, power, and influence of the mentor will assist the mentee in achieving their career objectives. These relationships are often long-term and sometimes confused with line management roles.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the focus shifts to the mentee. The emphasis is on the personal insights and intellectual challenge that can be gained through interaction with a mentor. It is expected that the mentee will lead the relationship, inviting the mentor into their own inner dialogue to assist in working through complex career decisions. These types of relationships are more often than not fostered through formal programs that tend to be short-term and are designed not to be intertwined with hierarchical roles.

DEVELOPMENTAL MENTORING

One possible mentoring style that you may use is developmental mentoring. When it comes to developmental mentoring, the focus is on the personal development of the mentee. The hierarchical status of the mentor is not as significant as the learning potential they have to offer. This approach opens the door to new mentoring formats such as peer-mentoring and reverse-mentoring.

Peer-mentoring usually takes place between people at the same hierarchical level, where one person (mentor) has experience that the other (mentee) does not.
In reverse-mentoring (upward-mentoring), the mentor is lower down the organisational hierarchy than the mentee, but has experience and knowledge that the mentee lacks.

HOW DOES MENTORING DIFFER FROM COACHING?

Coaching in a business environment is primarily focused on assisting people with their current performance to “get them fit” for either their current role or their next position. Mentoring, however, is a learning relationship, and is generally focused on long term career development. The primary purpose is to drive personal growth, building skills, knowledge, and understanding. Mentors may use coaching skills in their conversations, but typically the mentor role is wider than that of a coach and may include opening doors, making connections and sharing experiences.

WHEN TO USE MENTORING

Many organisations have found that a strong mentor-mentee program means staff are more likely to interact with and retain the information they are being taught.

The NSW Government Department of Primary Industries, for example, reported that at the end of their three year long mentoring program, 90% of mentors felt that the program positively impacted leadership capacity, and 70% of mentees felt more optimistic about their career. It’s easy to see why these statistics are so high when, currently, looking at LinkedIn’s research, mentoring comes in first (page 34) for its effectiveness when compared against other possible Learning & Development program areas.

In choosing the right application for mentoring, it has been found to be particularly appropriate for increasing employee retention (see Retaining Staff Through Mentoring), facilitating cultural shifts, and encouraging organisational diversity (such as promoting more equal female-to-male staff rates, like our WIMNet case study explores). It is often used to support talent programs, so that participants get the most they can from their involvement by using a mentor to help them embed learning. Mentoring can also be used to encourage ethical behaviour within an organisation (see Ethical Mentoring).

HOW TO FIND A MENTOR

Identifying the Right Mentor

Finding the right mentor is a key step in your professional journey. Start by identifying what you want to achieve in your career or personal development. This clarity helps in pinpointing the kind of mentor who can guide you effectively. Look for someone whose expertise aligns with your goals and who exhibits qualities that resonate with your values.

Where to Look

In Your Workplace

Often, a great mentor can be found within your own organisation. Look for experienced individuals who demonstrate a willingness to share their knowledge and invest time in others’ growth.

Professional Networks

Attend industry events, join professional associations, or engage in online forums related to your field. Networking can uncover potential mentors who are outside your immediate circle.

Mentoring Programs

Many organisations and associations offer formal mentoring programs. These are structured to match mentors with mentees based on specific goals and interests. Programs can also be structured with an organisational or industry outcome in mind; for example, encouraging more women into a male-dominated industry, or attracting new talent to a specific sector.

INITIATING THE RELATIONSHIP

Once you’ve identified a potential mentor, approach them with respect and clarity. Express your admiration for their work and explain why you believe they would be a great mentor. Be specific about what you’re hoping to learn and how you think they can help. Remember, mentoring is a two-way street. Be open to feedback and willing to invest time and effort into the relationship. It’s also important to respect their time and boundaries, as mentors often juggle their own responsibilities alongside mentoring.

SETTING EFFECTIVE MENTORING GOALS

Setting clear and achievable goals in your mentoring course not only guides the mentoring relationship, but also ensures that it aligns with the broader objectives of your organisation. So, how do we define these goals? It begins with understanding what both the mentor and mentee aim to achieve. This could range from professional development to mastering specific skills.

In formal mentoring programs, goals are what keeps the relationship focused and meaningful. For example, if a mentee aims to improve leadership skills, the mentor’s role is to provide guidance and opportunities to develop these skills. It’s not just about one-on-one interactions, however; sometimes, group mentoring can be involved, which allows the mentee to learn from multiple mentors. This approach broadens the mentee’s learning horizon by offering diverse perspectives and experiences.

The beauty of mentoring lies in its flexibility. Whether it’s about career progression, skill enhancement, or personal growth, goals can be tailored to fit each unique mentoring relationship. By ensuring these goals resonate with your organisation’s vision, mentoring can become a powerful tool that fosters a culture of continuous learning and development.

HOW TO START A MENTORING PROGRAM

Want to find out if you’re ready to launch a mentoring program? Take a look at our Mentoring Program Readiness Self-Assessment tool to ensure you’re well-prepared. You can also take a look at our blog for more learning material. Alternatively, contact us. We will talk you through the whole process and help in developing a personalised mentoring program that meets the specific needs of your organisation.

Peer Mentoring

WHAT IS PEER MENTORING?

Peer mentoring is a relationship between people who are at the same career stage or age, in which one person has more experience than the other in a particular domain and can provide support as well as knowledge and skills transfer. Peer mentoring may be a one-on-one relationship or experienced in a group. The exchange is usually mutual, even if one member of the dyad begins in the traditional role of mentee, or learner, and the other in the role of mentor. For example, a newcomer to an organisation or industry may start off as the learner, but as the relationship develops s/he usually discovers s/he has something to offer the partner in terms of other experience. The relationship then develops into an environment for co-learning.

ADVANTAGES OF PEER MENTORING

Like any form of mentoring, there are advantages and disadvantages.

In conventional mentoring, the mentor is more experienced, may be perceived as substantially more ‘senior’ in the profession or industry. This can create a power differential between mentor and mentee, which can inhibit development of rapport, especially in the early stages. Peer mentoring overcomes the hierarchical gap.

In conventional mentoring relationships the exchange is more one-way (even though mentors benefit), in peer mentoring the balance is more even.

Peer mentoring may be more accessible to potential mentees simply because there are more peers available than experienced mentors.

Kram and Isabella (1985)1 suggest that peer mentoring can offer greater opportunity for empathy, and a sense of equity and expertise. Their study suggests that peer relationships may have more longevity and that whilst traditional mentoring relationships might be most useful at early stages of career, peer relationships may have more to offer at later stages.

An interesting study by Burgstahler and Cronheim (2001)2 found that the content of electronic communications (primarily email in this study) between peers was more likely to be personal in nature than that between traditional mentor pairs. This suggests that relationships in a virtual peer mentoring program may well be more quickly established than in traditional virtual mentoring programs.

HOW TO IMPLEMENT PEER MENTORING

Case studies in the education sector dominate the research literature, from which it is difficult to generalise about how to implement in other contexts. Most of the conclusions about best practice for these programs are identical to best practice recommendations for all types of mentoring programs.

Whether you are implementing peer mentoring or other types of mentoring, pay careful attention to the program design, how participants are prepared, trained and supported, make sure you monitor the health of mentoring relationships and evaluate often.

1. Kram, Kathy A. and Isabella, Lynn A. (1985). Mentoring Alternatives: The role of peer relationships in career development. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 28, No. 1, 110-132.

Bryant,S., Moshavi, D., Lande, G., Leary, M., & Doughty, R. (2001). A proposed model for the role of physician peer mentoring in improving physician communication and patient satisfaction. Academy of Healthcare Management Journal, Vol. 7, No. 1, 45-58.

Mentor : trusted friend, adviser, teacher and wise person

MENTOR

The first reference to the word mentor we know of, appears in Greek mythology. In Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, before King Odysseus went off to fight in the Trojan war, he left his friend Mentor in charge to watch over his son, Telemachus, and the affairs of his state.

After several years away, all hope was given up of his return. Athena, the goddess of wisdom and goddess of war, took on the guise of the old man, Mentor, and supported Telemachus as he set out in search of his father. Athena guided his journey and then, father and son re-united, they returned to Ithaca to overthrow usurpers of the throne.

The word Mentor evolved to mean a trusted friend, advisor, teacher and wise person. History offers many examples of helpful mentoring relationships: Socrates and Plato, Haydn and Beethoven, Freud and Jung).

The simplest way to understand a mentoring relationship is to think about it in its most usual form – a helping relationship in which one person, usually more experienced or senior, takes time to assist the career, professional or personal development of someone else, who is known as a mentee, mentoree, or protégé. Mentoring is most often a one-on-one relationship but is sometimes done in groups.

A mentor can take many roles in the relationship:

A guide
A sounding board
A challenger
A supporter and encourager
A confidante
A career coach
A networking facilitator

A developmental mentor is most often not the mentee’s line manager, or someone who is in that person’s direct line. It is usually someone from either outside the organisation or, if in the same organisation, then not in the same area, so that the mentor can be more objective and provide a fresh perspective.

Refer also to:

MENTORSHIP

HOW TO BE A MENTOR

How To Be A Mentor

HOW TO BE A MENTOR

A mentor can take many roles in the mentoring relationship:

A guide
A sounding board
A challenger
A supporter and encourager
A confidante
A career coach
A networking facilitator

It is important that the mentor responds to the mentee’s agenda. Many mentors leap straight into giving advice based on their own experience, spending a great deal of the time talking about themselves. Whilst this may help the mentee, it is helpful to ask questions and do some deep listening before handing over pearls of wisdom. Let the mentee drive the agenda and determine what they can best interpret from your experience.

A good mentor is able to:

Listen well
Provide guidance rather than advice when appropriate
Challenge respectfully and be challenged without offense
Be patient – he or she will let the mentee tell their story without rushing them to a solution, and will let the mentee tackle challenges at their own pace
Offer different perspectives – and knows that there is no one right way to look at things
Introduce the mentee to relevant people in her/his network
Minimise the impact of the power difference between him or her and the mentee – especially if there is a big difference in level of experience or seniority
Give time, encouragement, support, constructive feedback and unconditional respect to the mentee
Know when to use each mentoring mode i.e. when to listen, when to give advice, when to challenge
Maintain confidentiality

Refer also to:

MENTORSHIP

MENTOR

Virtual Mentoring

WHAT IS VIRTUAL MENTORING?

“Virtual mentoring” simply refers to any mentoring activity that does not take place face-to-face. With today’s technology there is a suite of communication tools open to this style of mentoring, including Skype, telephone, email and messaging.

When your workforce is widely dispersed, virtual mentoring can be your only option. If you are working in a fast moving high-tech environment, virtual mentoring may seem more appropriate to your culture. But is it effective?

The answer is yes – so long as you plan to make it work.

PROS & CONS OF VIRTUAL MENTORING

A virtual program has some clear advantages – for example, the ability to provide mentoring access to anyone, anytime, opens mentoring to people working in remote locations, who would not otherwise have access to a mentor.

Our own research suggests that participants in virtual programs appreciate the flexibility of virtual mentoring – there is no need to travel to an agreed meeting place, and contact can be maintained even when one party is away from their usual workplace.

In a review of e-mentoring literature, Thompson, Jeffries & Topping (2010) note that electronic communication forms have been found to have some advantages over traditional face-to-face mentoring. Electronic media such as email can mitigate against social cues such as status getting in the way of mentoring relationships.

Being an asynchronous medium, communication by email also allows both mentor and mentee to frame and consider answers to questions rather than have to provide solutions in real time.

Some of the disadvantages of virtual mentoring are obvious. Whilst there is a rapidly-growing industry in “cyber coaching” which demonstrates that coaching relationships can be built without the richness of face-to-face interaction, some people nevertheless find it difficult to build rapport using telephone, teleconferencing, email or text.

Zey (2011) notes that in virtual relationships some mentoring activities like shadowing (where the mentee physically follows and observes the mentor in action), role modelling and attending events together, cannot be used. Thompson et al (op cit) also suggest that engagement and persistence can be problematic in virtual relationships. It appears that it is easier to walk away from a “virtual” relationship than a face-to-face one.

Houck (2011) draws on research from the fields of generational differences and virtual teams to suggest that in virtual mentoring, there is a need for frequent communication and that younger generations, whilst more comfortable with virtual technologies, may need more structure than their older counterparts. Millennials, it is claimed, also like group activities.

HOW TO DESIGN FOR VIRTUAL MENTORING

With all this in mind, some key design principles emerge:

Rather than offer a “self-serve” mentoring option – where a single mentee searches for a mentor online – it may be better to roll the program out in “cohorts’ so that mentees feel connected as a group and can build connections with other mentees in their cohort. Provide participants with plenty of structure (advice on what to do when) and resource materials.
When face-to-face events cannot be offered, each cohort should have at least three webinar event opportunities to prepare them for their mentoring relationships, allow them to connect with others in the program, and to provide closure once the program and/or mentoring relationship is completed.
A relatively “high-touch” program management is needed to help keep mentoring relationships on track. Remember that virtual mentoring is more vulnerable to loss of commitment. So it is critical that participants know what they are doing from the start, and that they know they have access to help if they need it. Regular email reminders at key points in the program are useful and help maintain commitment. Supplement this with phone calls made to participants and webinar check-ins.
Training is always a critical success factor in formal mentoring programs. In virtual programs, the training needs to address the usual topics plus how to make the most of a virtual relationship, including suggested frequency of contact (every 2-4 weeks). From our experience, allowing participants to access video demonstrations and interviews online in their own time, is more effective than a slide-by-slide webinar training approach.

Our clients use our Art of Mentoring suite of training materials, exercises, tips and articles. But these materials can also be created in-house. The key is to have comprehensive materials available for both mentors and mentees.

REFERENCES

Houck, Christiana (2011). Multigenerational and virtual: how do we build a mentoring program for today’s workforce? Performance Improvement, Vol. 50, no. 2, 25-30.
Thompson, L., Jeffries, M. and Topping, K. (2010). E-mentoring for e-learning development. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, Vol. 47, No. 3, 305–315.
Zey, M. (2011). Virtual mentoring: the challenges and opportunities of electronically mediated formal mentor programs, Review of Business Research, Volume 11, Number 4, 141-152

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