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Case Study – Australian Human Resources Institute

Australian Human Resources Institute

Mentoring for Affiliate and Professional Members

 

Business Challenge

AHRI represents around 20,000 human resources and people management professionals across Australia. AHRI assists members expand their professional networks, stay in touch with the latest industry developments, and build on their HR leadership and management skills.

As a professional association, AHRI looks for ways to create opportunities for meaningful connections between members and enable them to share knowledge and experiences. HR professionals are often at the “pointy end” of workplace issues, being involved in many aspects of organisational change. At the same time, the contribution of human resources practitioners is sometimes under-valued by senior managers and peers. While AHRI wants to support all members in their career and professional development, it also looks for ways to provide senior members with a mechanism for “giving back” to the profession.

The Solution

The mentoring program was initially launched regionally and around ten years ago was implemented nationally. The program now attracts more than 1000 participants each year from across Australia (and a small number from other countries). The 12-month program is offered twice a year and is open to any AHRI member. Mentors are experienced HR practitioner members. Both mentors and mentees receive CPD points for their participation.

The 12-month program begins with a formal application process. Applications are hosted and managed centrally using the Art of Mentoring program management platform. The platform’s algorithm suggests suitable matches for mentors and mentees, which are checked and ratified by a volunteer panel in their region. Mentors are matched with one or two mentees. Each region hosts its own events at which the program participants can meet, network and may hear a guest speaker.  “Training” or a program orientation is conducted by webinars offered to mentors and mentees in all regions, as well as online training which is available on the platform. Participants are also provided with documents and templates to assist their mentoring relationship journey.

Mentees pay $150 to participate. Even though many mentors say they get a lot out of the program, they are not required to pay a fee.

What we like about this program

  1. The program has been fine-tuned and improved over time and continues to grow.
  2. Even though the program appeals to large numbers, there is enough program structure and support at a regional and national level to keep mentoring pairs engaged and on track.
  3. AHRI uses a hybrid funding model – mentees pay a fee and there is also a national sponsor. This gives mentees enough “skin in the game” to commit for the life of the program, and sponsorship support means activities such as networking events can be offered nationally.
  4. The program management and administration is centralized and resourced by AHRI staff

When asked about the key success factor of the program, the manager of the AHRI mentoring program said “It’s about managing the relationships between mentors and mentees … helping them to develop sustainable relationships by providing support, tips and tools.” Of course, with members who are HR professionals, many of whom naturally mentor others in their organisations, there would be no shortage of experience and strategies about how to manage a mentoring relationship.

Results

The growth results speak for themselves. Very few mentoring programs of this size run successfully and sustainably, anywhere in the world.

The vast majority of pairings work out successfully, and many mentees go on to become mentors in subsequent programs. Feedback from participants is consistently positive.

 

Key Learnings

The following two points summarise what AHRI has learnt from conducting the program and that informs future program development:

Mentor/Mentee matching is assisted by local knowledge

Regional volunteer panels know the geography of their region so are able to check pairings and ensure a high likelihood of participants being able to meet face-to-face. They also know the local businesses and industries to enable matching within particular industries, sectors or specific interests.

Minimise the reliance on volunteers

AHRI volunteer state councils are very engaged and want to help make the program a success. Regional volunteers in this program assist in the initial matching process and host the events; the rest is managed by AHRI team members.

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

Attracting Young Members to Associations

Insight Report: Attracting Young Members To Associations

Are younger people just not as interested in affiliating with organizations anymore? Does the ability to conduct their lives effectively online mean that people no longer need the physical support and networking opportunities that large organizations and associations bring? Or are associations simply not engaging young members effectively enough?

We surveyed business leaders, consultants, and executives in professional associations on the topic of young member attraction and mentoring. 

 

The Benefits of Association Mentoring Programs

The Benefits of Association Mentoring Programs

Most organisations innately understand that a structured mentoring program is a good idea. But some find it difficult to turn that intuition into an economically convincing business case.

This article puts a finger on exactly why a structured mentoring program makes real business sense for associations.

But first, what do we mean when we talk about a “structured mentoring program”? This is how a typical 12-month program could be structured. It has a beginning, middle and end, and involves participants in group meetings over and above meetings between mentor pairs. Meetings can be face-to-face or virtual.

association mentoring structure

Now, to the business case for going to all this trouble.

 

Attract and retain association members

The lifeblood of any association is the membership. Therefore the primary economic imperative for any association is to attract and retain members.

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that association members who participate in a mentoring program, whether as mentor or mentee, are more likely to retain their membership. When you think about it, this is not surprising. A well-run mentoring program engages members with the association. By providing value to participants, mentoring provides a reason for membership.

Remember too, that people join an association to become part of their professional community. They are seeking a sense of belonging. Not only does a mentoring program enable members to mix with peers for a common purpose, it also allows younger members, with the help of their mentor, to network within the association more easily. The ties developed through the program enhance all participants’ sense of belonging.

A well-run mentoring program will also help to attract new members. Word of mouth is a powerful tool within any industry. Mentoring program participants will have wide individual networks with whom they discuss their experience. So long as the mentoring program is well structured, it will put an association “on the grapevine” in a very positive way.

A mentoring program can also be used in more purposeful ways to attract new members. Many of our clients have offered mentoring to members and non-members, with members being offered a discounted price. Invariably this leads to a number of people joining the association to take advantage of member pricing.

 

Develop Industry & Association Leadership Capacity

There is ample evidence that a well-run mentoring program helps to prepare another generation of leaders. Interestingly, there is growing consensus that mentors benefit as much as mentees in this regard. Researchers believe that by teaching people high quality mentoring skills, we are helping to develop their transformational leadership capacities.1

A number of organizations are actually embedding mentoring into broader leadership development programs. Standards Australia’s Young Leaders Program, for example, combines a year-long series of leadership and skills training, with ongoing mentor support to entrench classroom learning and build future leaders who can participate in technical committees. Women in Business and Finance combines leadership education with mentoring, to support the development of a more gender balanced leadership in the Banking and Finance Industry.

The value to associations in developing the leadership capacity of its members is twofold. Most obviously it expands the talent pool available to take on leadership roles within the association, from special interest groups right through to the board.

It also strengthens the industry or profession as a whole, by building leadership capabilities that profit the sector’s businesses, educational and government bodies. This cements the association’s standing within the industry, both at an individual and organisational level.

 

Achieve Industry Specific Objectives

As well as mentoring’s broad, cross-industry returns, a well-developed mentoring program can, and should, address industry specific issues and objectives.

For example, it is known within the veterinary industry that stress levels and suicide rates are unacceptably high amongst recent graduates. The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) identified that young vets were having a hard time transitioning from their career dreams to veterinary reality. A mentoring program was established to enable experienced vets to help young graduates to manage their expectations and find career satisfaction. Results from pilot programs suggest that mentoring can help reduce the isolation that is known contribute to poor mental health, as well as equip mentees with better coping skills to deal with stressors.

 

Realise a Financial Profit

There are plenty of developmental and reputational rewards to be gained with a well-run mentoring program. These rewards are well worth the investment of time and money. But before you stress about the costs, be aware that it is possible for an association to run a mentoring program at break even, or even to return a profit.

Consider charging mentees a participation fee. Not only will this help to offset costs, it boosts mentee commitment. We recommend at least a token contribution, but have seen mentee fees as high as $3000.

Where you can demonstrate that the association program has a genuine industry benefit, consider seeking business or government sponsorship. The AVA program described above was funded by three businesses related to or reliant on veterinarians.

 

A well-structured and managed mentoring program is far more than a “feel good” initiative. It offers significant returns to any association interested in engaging their member base and genuinely advancing the profession or industry they represent.

Are you ready to start a mentoring program in your association? Try this Mentoring Readiness Self-Assessment. For more information about mentoring or mentoring programs, go to the Art of Mentoring website.

  1. Kram, K. and Ragins, B.R. (2007) The Landscape of Mentoring in the 21st Century. In K. Kram & B.R. Ragins (Eds.) The Handbook of Mentoring at Work (pp. 659-692), CA: Sage.

Case Study – Toyota Australia

Toyota Australia

Using mentoring to manage major internal change

 

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

In February 2014, Toyota Australia announced that it would close its manufacturing by 2017. As part of the resultant restructure, it was subsequently announced that Toyota would consolidate its head office, requiring the relocation of the entire sales and marketing team from Sydney to Melbourne.

This is corporate change of epic proportion. Sales and marketing staff, many of whom have worked for Toyota for over a decade, needed to internalise a change to the very character of the company and at the same time make critical decisions about their own lives and careers.

Corporate Manager National Fleet and Strategic Services, Deborah Bacon and Corporate Manager Dealer Business Solutions & TUNE, Naomi Bryant, recognised the risks involved with a change of this proportion. Toyota could neither afford the productivity drain associated with simmering fear and discontent, nor to lose its high value performers in one fell swoop.

Toyota had a strong program in place to assist with job search once a staff member made the decision to follow a career path outside Toyota. What was lacking was support in reaching a life-altering decision and managing the resultant transition.

Deborah and Naomi had both been involved in a 2007 mentoring program that Art of Mentoring ran for Toyota to address diversity issues. They recognised that mentoring was a powerful connectivity tool that could provide meaningful support to employees in transition. They also saw mentoring as an added value offering for high potential employees that might help to cement their relationship with Toyota.

They asked Art of Mentoring (AoM) to create a mentoring program to achieve the core objectives of employee transitional support and value add.

THE SOLUTION

Art of Mentoring designed a face-to-face mentoring program that focussed on connectivity and career development.  The program was fully managed by AoM, but Deborah and Naomi played a key role in selling the idea internally.

Internal Buy-In

One might expect that it would be difficult to gain management buy-in and to enlist mentors given the timing of the program. It would be easy enough to be distracted by the magnitude of the change taking place.

Deborah and Naomi prepared a briefing paper for the Directors of Sales and Marketing and succeeded in gaining top level buy-in. “We were fortunate to have had so much success with our 2007 program, so senior management understood the potential of mentoring,” said Deborah.

The pair also campaigned internally to secure qualified mentors. Naomi explains, “We tried to avoid divisional managers because they had to manage the transition. We asked Level 2 and 3 managers who had been here a long time and we knew were good role models.”

Fully Outsourced

Deborah and Naomi were themselves dealing with the repercussions of internal changes. Both in senior sales positions, their focus needed to be on working closely with their own teams. It was agreed that overall management of the mentoring program would be outsourced fully to AoM.

“Melissa understood that Naomi and I have limited time and she just went on and did it. She really understood our objectives and adapted things to suit,” said Deborah.

Match Based on Experience

Senior managers were matched with more junior, usually younger, managers. One interesting aspect of this program was that both mentors and mentees were on the same journey. Both had life-changing decisions ahead of them. The mentoring program was structured to enable less-experienced managers to leverage the experience, wisdom and networks of more senior managers.

Too broad a gap in seniority and experience could lead to communication problems. The program was made available to participants at all management levels (1-5), but pairing was kept to a maximum of two levels apart.

AoM matched 30 pairs[1] using an online mentoring program management platform. Their extensive matching experience enabled them to override the automated platform when individual profile information suggested a better match.

Training Incorporates Career Development Materials

AoM adapted their training programs to incorporate materials from sister company, Horizons Unlimited’s, Harness Your Talent program, which helps individuals take charge of their own careers.

As usual with an AoM program, mentors and mentees each undertook a group training workshop to clarify program expectations and demonstrate key skills for getting the most out of the program. This training was overlaid with exercises and tools designed to help participants see their career options more clearly.

12-Month Relationship with Two Stages

The mentoring program commenced in July 2015 and ran until May 2016. Toyota required a decision on whether to move to Melbourne or exit the company by November 2015. So essentially the program was divided into two parts around this deadline.

The first four months focussed on supporting the decision-making process. A follow-up workshop and participant survey were held in November 2015 to assess program effectiveness and re-energise participants for the second phase.

The period from December through to the conclusion of the program focussed on supporting transition, whether that was leaving Toyota, or moving to a new city.

A final participant survey was conducted at the end of May 2016 to reassess program effectiveness and identify key learnings.

RESULTS & KEY LEARNINGS

Mentoring can be a powerful change management tool

AoM has long advocated that mentoring is a tool that can be honed to meet specific business objectives. This case clearly demonstrates that a well-designed mentoring program can help to manage disruptive organisational change.

“We were all going through a difficult set of circumstances, and the mentoring program provided a good connection point,” said Naomi. “The program helped participants to make a decision.”

The final participant survey results clearly demonstrated that both mentors and mentees saw value in the program. Fully 100% of participants (both mentors and mentees) agreed that they were glad they had participated and would recommend the program to others.

Mentees identified the following key benefits from participation:

  • Confidence building and support
  • Broadening networks
  • Career planning

Perhaps most telling are the results from the annual staff survey in October 2015. With the closure looming and sales and marketing staff focused on deciding whether to stay or go, one would expect disengagement from the organisation. Yet the department’s survey scores for engagement actually increased slightly versus year ago levels (75 versus 74). At the height of disruptive change the team continued to feel a part of the Toyota organisation.

Mentoring upskills your management team

Mentors might have been forgiven for choosing to focus on their own career decisions, rather than helping more junior colleagues to negotiate corporate change. However, those managers who agreed to participate in the mentoring program have gained an invaluable skill-set to carry through the remainder of their career, whether with Toyota or elsewhere.

“We had to do a bit of badgering to enlist mentors,” remembers Deborah. “But this program has helped the mentors as much as the mentees.”

An amazing 31% of mentors identified the mentoring program as “one of the best things I’ve ever done.” This, despite the fact that mentors were themselves embroiled in difficult career choices.

“Mentoring people through change is an important skill to develop. It will make the organisation stronger when we face the next change,” said Naomi.

Pleasingly, many mentors said they would like to be a part of the next program. Not only is this a strong indicator of the personal value the mentors derived, it is also a sign that Toyota are building a strong mentoring culture amongst its management team.

Outsource to the experts, but focus on buy-in and recruitment.

AoM works with clients in a number of capacities, ranging from provision of self-serve mentoring training materials right through to fully outsourcing program design and implementation. In this case the decision to fully outsource the program enabled AoM to create a bespoke program, laser-focussed on the needs of the organisation at a time of upheaval. It also freed internal management to focus on their own decisions and organisational objectives.

However, the initial internal work to secure top management buy-in and to enroll a strong cadre of mentors was critical to program success. The efforts of Deborah and Naomi in identifying good role models, and meeting with these mentor candidates one-on-one in the early stages of the program, increased the value of the program for both mentees and the organisation as a whole.

The program’s success illustrates the powerful potential of combining outsourced mentoring expertise with a strong internal champion.

WHERE TO NEXT

Based on the success of this program, Toyota launched a second program which ran from August 2016 to May 2017, leading up to final office closure in December 2017.

This program differed slightly from the first as all participants had decided whether or not they would be staying with Toyota. Thus the entire program focussed on supporting transition, whether that was shifting offices within Toyota, or moving to a new organisation.

Positive word-of-mouth from the initial program guaranteed strong interest from a new round of mentees. Many of the mentors from the original program volunteered again, providing a solid base of mentoring expertise.

[1] One pair finished early due to changed circumstances.

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

Time To Get Serious About Mentoring Millennials

Time to Get Serious About Engaging Millennials

Millennials, that generation born between 1980 and 1995, will represent 75% of the global workforce in just ten years time[1]. For Associations to retain their relevance even in the short term, they must appeal to this ambitious and connected generation.

To engage under 35s, Associations need to provide tools and programs that meet those needs not readily met in the workplace or online.

This generation is particularly impatient for success. Yet 50% of Millennials worldwide believe that their organisations could do more to develop future leaders[2]. As Baby Boomers retire and the world’s 50 million Gen Xers are overwhelmed by the 88 million Millennials, it is increasingly difficult for under 35s to find the kind of guidance and mentorship they need to scale the heights of their ambitions.

Access to knowledge and experience is one thing Associations have in abundance. So providing younger members with access to a mentor not only fulfills a deeply felt need, but also makes the Association relevant to a whole new generation.

This message is not new. For some time now we have been advocating mentoring programs as an ideal tool for Associations to engage Millennials. It turns out that we have been preaching to the converted. In a recent survey of hundreds of business leaders, consultants and executives in professional associations in the US, Canada, Australia and India, we discovered that Associations are already well aware of the potential of mentoring programs.

The study showed that 87.3% of key Association stakeholders agreed that it was becoming increasingly difficult to attract young people, and a whopping 94.3% agreed that mentoring should be a key focus of Associations to attract young people.[3]

If the solution is so obvious, why then aren’t all Associations actively running structured mentoring programs? The answer of course is that there are hurdles to getting a mentoring program off the ground. The key challenges identified in our survey related to resources and structure.

Finding a sufficient cadre of qualified mentors, the time required both for set up and participation and the cost all present internal road blocks. Association stakeholders also worry that they do not have the right structure to successfully sustain a mentoring program.

There is no doubt that a mentoring program does not happen with the snap of the fingers. But the prize of continued relevance is worth pushing through the challenges. We have some solutions that may help.

First, consider “virtual mentoring”.   This term simply refers to mentoring activity that does not take place face-to-face. However, today’s technology has made available virtual mentoring programs that offer a suite of training and communications tools. Better programs also provide tips, guidelines and tools to assist with effective matching of mentors and mentees. These virtual programs offer the structure many Association stakeholders feel they lack.

The other advantage of virtual mentoring is that it broadens the scope of your program, making it easier to access participants with time or geographic constraints. You now have a much larger pool from which to source qualified mentors.

Also, by using tools like Skype, email and messaging, virtual mentoring speaks the language of the younger generation, reinforcing the Association’s relevance in a digital world.

The second thing to consider is your funding model. There is no question that an effective mentoring program is going to come at a cost, whether it’s accessing outside tools and consultants or diverting internal resources, or most likely both.

However, by thinking creatively it is possible to offset these costs, or even run your program at a profit. Consider charging mentees for participation, which not only generates revenue but also ensures mentee commitment. Consider seeking sponsorship. It is likely that the big players in your industry are also seeking ways to engage Millennials and may be willing to help fund an industry wide program.

Associations’ stakeholders know the importance of engaging Millennials and understand the potential of mentoring to realise that engagement. It’s time to get serious about knocking down the road blocks, and establish structured mentoring programs to attract new blood and stay relevant.

Art of Mentoring specialises in developing mentoring programs for professional associations. Contact us today if you are interested in exploring the potential of mentoring to engage your members and grow your association.

[1] The Deloitte Millennial Survey, January 2014.

[2] The Deloitte Millennial Survey, January 2014.

[3] Attracting Young Members to Associations, An Insight Report from Art of Mentoring, 2015.

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.

How Associations Can Afford a Professional Mentoring Program

How Associations Can Afford a Professional Mentoring Program

Associations are increasingly aware of the potential value of association-led mentoring programs. Current members find a reason to stay, and young industry entrants a reason to join. Leadership capabilities are cultivated within the association itself and the industry as a whole. Industry or association goals such as building diversity or managing change are made easier to achieve.

There is furious agreement that mentoring programs add value. Where there is less concurrence is when it comes to the cost. Too many associations are eyeing the benefits of mentoring but telling themselves they can’t afford it.

We see things differently, and this article is to help all associations, no matter how small, see the potential to run a professional mentoring program well within their budget (even if that budget is zero).

Two Options to Fund Mentoring Programs

There are two clear options to help fund an association-led mentoring program.

Charge a Fee to Mentees:

A mentoring program provides significant benefits to both the mentee and the mentee’s employer, so there is plenty of justification to charge a program fee. This can be paid either by the individual or by their employer.

In our experience fees ranging from $50 to $3,000 have been charged, usually depending on the seniority of the cadre of mentors. We suggest that the sweet spot for most association-led programs would be $150-300 per mentee.

As well as helping to fund the program, the fee also helps to qualify mentees. Where payment is required both the mentee and their employer are more likely to take the program seriously. Unmotivated mentees can drain the energy from a mentoring program.

Secure Sponsorship:

Associations are in a unique position to secure sponsorship for their mentoring programs.

There is likely a range of companies interested in building brand awareness and goodwill amongst your members. These companies will be interested in leveraging the rub off from the feel-good effect of mentoring.

As well, corporate objectives often align with association objectives. So, for example, an association designing a mentoring program to upskill young leaders in the industry, will likely find themselves aligned with the objectives of many employers in the sector.

Using one or both of these strategies in combination, it is possible to run a professional mentoring program at break even, or potentially at a profit.

Read: 4 STEPS TO SPONSORSHIP

How to Ask for Sponsorship

There is a bit of work involved in securing sponsorship, but existing relationships and tools should make this process less onerous.

The first step is to have a mentoring plan in place, so the potential sponsor is clear about your offer. The plan should include an overview of the program, how it will run, what it will cost and what you expect it to achieve. If you engage the services of a professional mentoring consultant, they should provide a preliminary mentoring plan as part of the initial discovery process, which means there are no costs involved at this stage.

Consider what organizations will benefit most from brand exposure to your membership and/or that share the same objectives. Most associations already have relationships with industry organizations that may be helping to fund conferences or events.  In our experience the most obvious candidates tend to be insurance companies, banks, recruiters or suppliers to the industry or profession.

Once you have a mentoring plan and have identified the target sponsors, the next step is to put together a sponsorship proposal. Art of Mentoring can provide a template that will make this process easier.

You will need to consider exactly what benefits you are able to offer to potential sponsors. The most common would be branding on all mentoring program materials, brand mention at events or even an opportunity to speak at a training session. Sponsors are looking for ways to connect with your members, and build relationships with them. You can personalize the benefit even more by suggesting that their financial support will allow “x number” of mentees to participate, that would not have been able to access a mentor otherwise,.

Be careful not to compromise your program simply to gain sponsorship. Your mentoring program must be structured to achieve the stated goals, and should never be diverted by a sponsor’s agenda.

With all the advantages that a mentoring program has to offer to associations and their members, we hate to see costs stand in the way. We are very happy to work closely with associations to assist them in creating a plan that both meets the organization’s goals and fits within whatever budget is available.

Contact us to talk about developing a fully funded mentoring program.

The Path To Best Practice Sponsorship

The Path To Best Practice Sponsorship

Abby Clemence, Founder of Infinity Sponsorship and the world’s first online Sponsorship University for Not-for-Profits says that to build a successful sponsorship strategy for your Association, there are four things you need to know above all else.

  1. How to PLAN your sponsorship approach.
  2. How to FIND the sponsors that want to work with you.
  3. How to CONNECT with the right brands for your organisation.
  4. How to KEEP your partners year after year.

PLAN

Planning in sponsorship is THE most underestimated stage of creating a successful strategy. When you decide that you are ready to engage sponsors, you also need to put a plan into action that ensures you have everything in place by the time you make your approach to a brand. Your plan should focus on maximising internal support and ensuring you have robust organizational processes that set you up for success at all levels. Correct planning includes creating a culture of ‘sponsorship friendliness’ that promotes whole-of-organisation commitment to support your efforts. Associations that have been successful at engaging corporate support are the ones that know why their supporters are a potential target market to a sponsor and what communication channels they can offer to leverage the ideal partnership.

FIND

Finding brands that are the ‘right fit’ for your organisation is a vital part of the sponsorship process. Unfortunately, this is where most Associations choose to START their journey. The high priority need for more funds drives many  organizations to approach ANY brand without fully understanding just how successful they could be if they had a clearer action plan. The challenge of commencing your sponsorship journey in THIS phase means that you have missed vital steps in the process (like forgetting to create the foundation of your new house before putting the walls in!) Unless you know what you have to offer, are supported internally and have policies in place that define how your organisation sees corporate partnerships, then you are potentially building your house on sand…  and we all know how that turns out! Finding the brands that are willing to align with your organisation is not just about asking ‘who are we going to approach?’ It means taking the time to value your offering to sponsors, do your research to ensure a strong alignment and build relationships with potential partners before you send them a proposal.

CONNECT

Connecting with partners who are aligned with your mission and can see the value of you being a direct route to their target market is a milestone worth celebrating! Understandably, many Associations get to this stage of the process with feelings elation, knowing the value of this investment, but this natural excitement can all too often lead many to take their focus back to their ‘core work’ and new sponsors and fresh promises are left forgotten, leading to difficult conversations, uncomfortable relationships and no chance of renewal or investment for the following year. You must secure the connection. Ensuring you have the right tools and processes in place to make it as easy as possible for a partner to stay with you and enjoy the experience of becoming part of your ‘community’s family’.

 

KEEP

Keeping sponsors is the name of the game! Don’t employ months of hard work only to lose them because you haven’t delivered what you promised, or worse, created expectations that you weren’t able to keep. It’s inevitable that partnerships will come to an end at some point and as long as you are able to identify what is happening then you can still maintain respectful and collegiate relationships. However, sometimes things just don’t work out – what then?  This phase is about ensuring that you are in control and can identify what’s best for your organisation to maintain your sustainability.

Sponsorship health checkWant to know the health of your sponsorship strategy?  It’s free and could save you thousands of dollars and countless hours spent doing tasks that may in fact be hindering your ability to attract and engage sponsors!  Give your sponsorship strategy a FREE and much needed check up here!

The Three Legs of a Successful Mentoring Program

The Three Legs of a Successful Mentoring Program

A lot has been written about the detailed processes for running a mentoring program, but we too rarely take a top-level view to understand the core elements required to ensure mentoring program success.  In our view, there are three essentials to successful mentoring and like a three-legged stool; when one leg is removed things fall flat.

The Three Legs Successful Mentoring Stands On

For any mentoring program to succeed it must stand on three legs:

Program Manager

Mentoring programs simply do not run themselves.  Technological advancements give companies access to database functionality, matching algorithms and even some automation of key administrative tasks.  But don’t be fooled that technology eliminates the need for a program manager.

A good program manager will act as an internal champion for the program, ensuring ongoing management support, as well as evaluate program effectiveness and recommend improvements.  Most important he or she will problem solve, guide and encourage participants at an individual level and as a group, a nurturing role that ensures that both the organisation and participants get the most out of the program.

Expertise

While mentoring is a powerful tool to achieve a range of organisational objectives, it is also a major investment for an organisation, at the very least demanding a considerable amount of time from key staff members.  It only makes sense to run a mentoring program using best practice techniques as well as professional training and support resources to maximise your return on investment.

There are two options here.  Either you can employ a program manager with specific mentoring expertise and experience, or you can support your inexperienced program manager with outside guidance and resources for program design, management and participant training.

Technology

Mentoring programs increasingly rely on technology to optimise outcomes. Where a program is large in scope or covers a broad geographical territory, different technologies such as program administration software, webinar access for program events and high quality eLearning for mentors and mentees, are essential to success. Technology allows mentoring programs to be delivered into remote areas or pairs to be matched up across regions or countries. Ideally, these technologies should be integrated to simplify access and optimise the user experience.

Why a Two Legged Stool Falls Over

The most important thing to understand is that a successful mentoring program requires ALL THREE legs, remove one and your program will fall flat. Worse still, remove two legs and your program may never get off the ground.

Expertise + Technology

It may seem possible to build a strong mentoring program using expert resources and technology alone.  But without the nurturing of a program manager, the mentoring pairs tend to lose momentum.  Yes, some pairs will have success regardless, but others will falter, reducing the effectiveness of your program.

Program Manager + Expertise

If your mentoring program is very small it is possible to run a mentoring program with a good program manager and expert resources.  But once your mentoring program scales up or demands broad geographic reach, technology will be essential to holding your program together without overextending your program manager.

Program Manager + Technology

It is certainly possible to set up a mentoring program without expertise.  Let technology do the matching and find an eager but inexperienced volunteer to administer the program.  Your program might even appear to run along satisfactorily.  But there is no question that your results will fall short of potential if the program has not been designed properly or if mentors and mentees have not been well prepared for a successful learning partnership.

At the end of the day, a mentoring program should be about delivering against organisational objectives.  Expertise is needed to design a program to specifically address core objectives and to continually evaluate and improve it.  Professional resources and expert training are essential to fostering strong mentoring relationships, upskilling participants and optimizing program outcomes.

There is simply no getting around it.  A successful mentoring campaign stands on three legs.

Self-confidence and critical thinking for mentees

Self-confidence and critical thinking are identified by mentees as top development needs

Every time Art of Mentoring initiates a mentoring program, interested mentees are asked to complete an application questionnaire.  In the last year, nearly 600 mentees from a very diverse mix of occupations and career stages have participated in our online programs and each has been asked to identify the top competencies sought from a mentor in order to meet their own development needs.  Answers were chosen from a list of about 30 options.

Recently we analysed the data from this diverse array of corporate and association mentoring programs to see if anything could be learned from their responses.

Mentees’ self-identified “top 5” development needs held some surprises and some important learning for L&D professionals.

Rank Self-IdentifiedDevelopment Need Percent
1 Developing career plans 44%
2 Developing self-confidence 30%
3 Working toward career objectives 26%
4 Decision making 23%
5 Problem analysis and problem solving 18%

No one would be surprised that developing career plans and working toward career objectives would rank highly when entering a mentoring program.  However, the other development needs present some interesting insights for us, as designers of mentoring programs, and for HR and L&D executives more generally.

The Importance of Self–Confidence

Let’s look first at self-confidence, which was identified by almost a third of respondents as a development need.  These results are very consistent with our experience in face-to-face training sessions, where lack of self-confidence is invariably raised as a concern amongst mentees.

Self-confidence is not only important to the individual, but to the organisation.  A self-confident individual knows his or her own value and is better able to articulate it.  This obviously benefits the individual, but it also helps the organisation to capitalise on that individual’s strengths. Further a self-confident employee is likely to run more successful meetings, operate with greater autonomy and step up to a leadership position when needed.

One might argue that self-confidence can only be gained through experience and maturity.  However, our experience is that mentoring programs most certainly assist in developing self-confidence in both mentors and mentees.  When we conduct surveys on completion and even one-year post completion of a mentoring program, increased self-confidence is invariably cited as a key benefit of the program, whether or not it was a goal at the outset.

We postulate that mentees derive confidence from being supported in a mentoring relationship, while mentors gain confidence by having a mentee look to them as a role model.

Critical Thinking Skills Are Needed

The fourth and fifth ranked development needs, decision-making and problem solving, are basic, core critical thinking skills.  Interestingly, we see these skills as inexorably linked to self-confidence.

Without self-confidence in general can you trust your own decisions and solutions?  If you don’t trust your own decision-making and problem-solving skills how can you feel self-confident?  If you lack sound decision-making and problem-solving skills your self-assuredness becomes cockiness – a hazard rather than a benefit for organisations.

In our experience these basic skills do not always make it onto management or leadership training courses.  Critical thinking skills can be learned but it takes some skill to teach them. So it is actually a big ask for mentors to be entrusted with developing decision-making and problem-solving skills in their mentees.   It’s one thing to provide career guidance and open doors to networks, it’s another altogether for a manager not normally accountable for L&D to be expected to role model or teach decision-making and problem-solving skills, or even know where to refer the mentee for such training.

Can L&D Offer More Opportunities to Learn Critical Thinking?

For professional mentoring program designers, a key take away is the need to design training and resources for mentors that helps them to provide the self-confidence and skills training that mentees need.

Art of Mentoring training programs already provide training to help mentors to listen better, ask good questions and give constructive feedback, all of which lends itself to building self-confidence.  Skilled mentors naturally ask the kinds of questions that stimulate critical thinking and this could build critical thinking capacity in their mentees.  However, most mentors and mentees needs assisitance so there is also room for us to supplement our training with specific assistance in testing and improving mentee’s decision-making and problem-solving skills.

For organisations, it is time to start tackling these issues from an overall L&D perspective.  Obviously we would advocate for the use of mentoring programs, which have already proven effective in fostering self-confidence.  Perhaps it is also time to go back to basics and offer training for core skills like decision-making and problem-solving at a number of levels within the organisation.

Organisations also need to consider the role of the line manager in building self-confidence and core skills.  It’s time to consider how to upskill managers to coach and give better quality feedback to build self-awareness and confidence in their direct reports.

Building self-confidence, and the key skills needed to foster self-confidence, should be considered a priority in organisational learning and development.  Mentoring programs have an important role to play in nurturing and building organisational confidence.  What other tools and resources can L&D professionals employ to build core skills and self-confidence?

Melissa Richardson is one of Australia’s experts in coaching and mentoring having worked in the field for nearly 20 years. She has designed and implemented programs across many public and private sector organisations.

At Art of Mentoring we provide tools and resources for all aspects of the mentoring program design, implementation and evaluation. Please contact us for more information or take a look at our blog for more articles on mentoring.

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Linear vs systemic perspectives on talent and succession

Linear vs systemic perspectives on talent and succession

This is a guest blog by Professor David Clutterbuck

In our continued work with organisations on systemic talent management strategy, we frequently find that – consciously or unconsciously – it is the mindset of the leaders and the HR team that determines what is possible and over what period. Some of the blockers relate to the process of change itself – for example, the implicit assumption that attitudinal and behavioural change is something that needs to happen at operational levels, rather than in the leadership team itself. (HR is not immune to this kind of thinking, either!)

 

The table below illustrates some of the differences we have observed between a traditional, linear mindset about talent and succession and a systemic mindset. You can use this chart to assess prevailing mindsets in your organisation by asking a sample of senior managers and HR people to score on a seven-point scale a) their own beliefs and b) what they consider to be the prevailing mindset in the organisation.

 

Linear Systemic
Talent is innate and focused on the individual Talent is contextual and dependent on the individual and the systems, of which they are a part
Clarity of succession is important Flexibility of succession is important

 
Performance is dependent on individual behaviour Performance is dependent on both individual, team and system
Motivation and reward should be individually based Motivation and reward should be collectively based
Leadership skills are generic Leadership skills are contextual

 
It’s important to identify talent It’s important to create conditions where talent can emerge
Potential is fixed and measurable Potential is contextual and largely unmeasurable
We need to invest most developmental resources in high potentials We need to create conditions, where genuine high potentials can create their own developmental networks and pathways
Job roles are relatively stable Job roles are constantly evolving

 
Job descriptions should focus on qualifications and experience & on how to do the role as it is Job descriptions should focus on outcomes and potential to transform the role
The role of HR and the top team is to reduce the impact of change The role of HR and the top team is to embrace and encourage change
Predictability and clarity are critical Managing paradox is critical

 
Talent strategy is a top down process and responsibility Talent strategy is a collaborative effort between HR/ Senior Management and talented employees
Our workforce is the people currently on our payroll Our direct employees are only part of a wider resource of overlapping systems that include past, current and future employees, contractors and other contributors
We expect loyalty from our employees We expect engagement from our employees
Diversity is one of our biggest problems Diversity is one of our biggest opportunities

 

© David Clutterbuck, 2016

At Art of Mentoring we provide tools and resources for all aspects of the mentoring program design, implementation and evaluation. Please contact us for more information or take a look at our blog for more articles on mentoring.

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