DEVELOP A FORMAL MENTORING PROGRAM

BY

Professor Elaine Estervig Beaubien

Tenured faculty, School of Business

Edgewood College

CEO,

Management Training Seminars

6520 York Heights

Waterloo, WI 53594

www.elainetrain.com

920-478-2811

elainetrain@aol.com

“A means to facilitate, guide, and encourage continuous innovation, learning, and growth.” Mentoring by Harold Johnson.

“A fundamental form of human development where one person invests time, energy, and personal know-how in assisting the growth and ability of another person.”  Mentoring by Gordon Shea.

Organizations of any size and complexity can benefit from a formal, planned mentoring program.

A mentor is an advisor, a teacher, a contact, a friend, a guide, a trainer, a consultant.  Someone currently in your organization who can assist a new employee or an employee new to a specific job in making the transition from confusion to enlightenment, from uncertainly to understanding, from novice to seasoned professional.

A mentee is someone in need of assistance in making a transition into a new organization or getting grounded in a new job with their current employer.

“None of us is as smart as all of us!”  Ken Blanchard

WHY ESTABLISH A MENTORING PROGRAM? 

There are several reasons, but basically it will take your organization to a new level of excellence.  Having it all happen by design is a sign of good solid planning.

Improved productivity.

People new to their jobs or new to the organization can get up to speed much more quickly with a guide.  The mentor provides inside information, job related expertise, answers to questions and insight into techniques that will reduce the mentee’s learning curve.  It also helps eliminate trial and error and the costly consequences of those errors.

Higher morale.

Mentees will have someone they can talk to when they have questions related to the job, processes, procedures, people, informal rules, unwritten expectations and other information necessary to do their job more effectively.  This relationship can increase satisfaction and create a sense of belonging.

Enhanced employee retention.

Employees who do not feel connected to an organization, its mission, its people, or their job will look for other opportunities.  Organizational loyalty can be cemented by an early commitment to the individual.  Both confidence and competence are enhanced through mentoring.  Create a relationship as soon as possible, then strengthen the bond through personal attention and professional development.

SKILLS NEEDED BY THE MENTOR:

Listening and counseling

Some of the mentor’s time will be spent listening to concerns, responding to questions, helping with individual problems and assisting the mentee’s personal and professional growth. 

Organizational knowledge

Mentors must have knowledge of their job, their organization and their environment.  If they don’t have direct knowledge, they need to know where to go to get it. 

Teaching, training, coaching

Mentors should not only know their job, they should be good teachers and trainers.  They should know how people learn and how to facilitate that learning.  Put mentors through a training the trainer program, provide them with education and information on individual learning styles and have them spend time preparing how to share their knowledge and expertise. 

A commitment to the concept

Mentors need to be completely sold on the idea of mentoring and be passionate about the process.  This should not be a superficial activity, but should be something that the mentor considers an important part of their job.  Mentors should clearly understand the relationship between mentoring and reduced turnover, improved productivity and organizational loyalty.

Passion for the job and for the organization.

You want the mentor to infect the mentee with the attitude of hard work, excitement for the job and high regard for the organization.  Someone who loves what they do will project a positive manner and a more affirmative approach to orientation.  Passion is contagious.

Integrity

Some of the philosophies and values of the mentor will be passed on to the mentees.  If you are going to clone the mentor’s standards, be sure they are high and above reproach.

MENTOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES:

• With the mentee, sets clearly defined and high expectations of professional performance and personal development

• Delivers timely feedback

• Offers bits of wisdom

• Sets a professional example of excellence and a personal role model

• Is truthful and straightforward

• Builds confidence and well as competence in the mentee

• Listens, listens, listens

• Advocates and stands by the mentee in times of trouble; intervenes when necessary

• Pushes the mentee out of the comfort zone and into full potential

• Helps make connections, contacts, and finds others who can fill in any of their own experience or knowledge gaps

The Outcome is an independent, empowered professional!

• Mentees will find their own way of doing things
• Direct, don’t dictate
• Help define your Mentee’s frame of reference as successful accomplishments
• Encourage optimism, discourage negative thinking

PAYOFF FOR THE MENTOR:

Learning along with the mentee

There are some concepts, principles, values and traditions as well as work related skills that take practice and frequent updating. One truly learns through the process of teaching. Being challenged increases the mentor’s preparation and encourages life-long learning.

A network of competent and grateful disciples.

As the mentees move up and out, they will forever be grateful to the people who helped them along the way. The mentor’s impact on people’s attitudes, ideals, values, skills and core competencies is tangential and can be the foundation for further growth. It lasts long after the completion of the formal mentoring period. Networking is still a proven way to influence outcomes.

A feeling of contribution: to the success of the individual, the organization, the community.

Giving back to the organization and contributing to the professional excellence of the larger community is both good business and good practice. Activism and taking responsibility for improving individuals, and by proxy, the organization itself gives the mentor a feeling of accomplishment and good will.

THE PROCESS OF CREATING A FORMAL MENTORING PROGRAM.

Place someone in charge.

Someone in the organization, usually someone in Human Resources because they are familiar with the process, should be responsible for the formal mentoring program. They should oversee the following process.

Choose mentors carefully.

Candidates should be skilled and well suited to the responsibilities of mentoring. This should not be an incidental part of a person’s job or an after thought.  It should not be a perfunctory choice, but part of a well developed plan.  Use the same process and level of care you employ when you chose any candidate for an important position within your organization.

Have people apply to be a mentor.

Choosing mentors should be a serious, significant event.  There should be a job description and a selection procedure.  It need not be elaborate or time consuming, but if you want the mentors to be hardworking and professional, treat this like any other professional assignment.

Screen the applicants for compatible with the new hire.

Try to match interests, skills, preferences and needs of the new hire with the pool of mentors.  Make sure they are well matched, similar in temperament, companionable, and that the mentor has what the mentee needs both in expertise and in personality.

Train the mentor.

Prepare mentors for their role, through training, education and other development activities. Instruct the mentors on how people learn.  Provide them with specific guidelines on your expectations.

Orient the mentee.

Give the new person information on their mentor, the requirements of the mentoring program and their responsibilities in the relationship.  They need to take the initiative in requesting assistance, asking questions and seeking out their mentor.

Set up the initial meeting and encourage regular communication.

Introduce the mentor and mentee, presenting them with information they will need on each other, the expectations of the relationship, and a process for contacting each other.

Periodically follow up with both the mentor and the mentee.

Find out how things are going and make adjustments as necessary. 

Mentors need to be compensated for their role. 

Invest in your mentorship program by awarding either monetary compensation through some kind of bonus or substantial release time.  Some companies increase a mentor’s base salary.  Others award a lump sum bonus.  And others have successfully rewarded mentors by having some of their regular job duties reduced.

Many partnerships and valuable relationships form between new people and seasoned employees in a spontaneous, informal way.  Whatever you can do to facilitate and accelerate this process will greatly enhance the new employee’s initial experience.  You have only one chance to make a great first impression.  Be proactive.  Create a mentoring program as part of your initiatives to develop competency and increase satisfaction.

“Destiny isn’t a matter of chance, it’s a matter of choice; it’s not a thing to be waited for, it’s a thing to be achieved." William Jennings Bryan