Dr. Sherry Hartnett
If your organization is like most, you employ knowledgeable, business-savvy leaders and rising high achievers. But are you connecting those two groups in a meaningful way? Many organizations 补谤别苍鈥檛鈥攐r at least they 补谤别苍鈥檛 doing so in a way that maximizes the wealth of knowledge and experience your most experienced people possess.聽Senior employees are some of your most valuable resources. They represent a lot of value that you鈥檙e leaving on the table if you don鈥檛 have a well-designed, well-executed, scalable mentoring program.
There are numerous proven benefits to such a program. A great mentoring program helps you attract and retain talent. It improves employee satisfaction. It drives organizational performance, builds a deep bench, and reduces training budgets. However鈥攁nd this is a big however鈥攜ou鈥檝e got to do it right.
The good news is, building a thriving mentoring program with great ROI is within every company鈥檚 reach, regardless of budget or experience. Here are seven vital steps to help companies create a robust, successful, and lasting mentoring program:
Step 1: Define Your 鈥淲hy鈥�
Decide what you want your program to achieve. For instance, do you want to increase the number of minorities in leadership positions, retain valuable employees, or onboard high-potential new hires? When you articulate how mentoring will improve your organization, you can thoughtfully shape a successful program and get buy-in from leaders, mentors, mentees, and other stakeholders.
Step 2: Find the Right Program Champion
The person who heads up your program will have a profound impact on its strategy, execution, and, ultimately, its success. His or her primary focus should be leading your mentoring program, as adding such a large task to an existing workload would cause the champion to struggle on both fronts. I also recommend this person be an opportunity-focused connector who is confident, tenacious, and accountable.聽Put a lot of thought into this decision, because it will make or break your program.
Step 3: Set Goals and Metrics
Align your mentoring program with your business objectives and identify metrics you can use to measure movement toward those goals. For instance, you might want to increase top-employee retention by 10 percent from last year, or double the number of women in management positions within 18 months.聽Tracking this data will tell you whether your program is succeeding and what you may need to change. It will also tangibly illustrate to senior leaders why mentoring should be a continued priority.
Step 4: Build Your Program (but Start Small)
I warn against 鈥渄iving in.鈥� Before the first mentor-mentee pair meets, you should secure any necessary funding, staff, and supplies. Systems should be in place for selecting mentors and mentees, training and communicating with participants, and evaluating the program.聽But remember, the enemy of greatness is perfection. It鈥檚 okay to start with a small pilot program to work out any kinks.
Step 5: Recruit and Connect
It鈥檚 essential to attract, screen, and train great mentors (but don鈥檛 make it compulsory!). Likewise, decide what your ideal mentee looks like (e.g., people who have been with the organization at least three years or high-potential new hires). Then, thoughtfully match mentor resources to mentee needs, striving for common interests between the two.聽Both parties must understand up front what the length of the mentorship will be (I suggest a renewable 12-month period), how often meetings will take place, what the goals are, and that there will be work involved.
Step 6: Nurture Your People and Your Program
Even the best-designed mentoring program won鈥檛 function for long on autopilot. It鈥檚 crucial to provide plenty of ongoing support. Organizing a keynote speaker at a meeting, setting up a networking event, and publishing a regular newsletter are all great ways to reinforce initial training and nurture the connections being made. Also, find ways to invite regular feedback from each participant and use that information to improve processes.
Step 7: Measure to Improve
Whether capturing results and feedback is accomplished through surveys, performance reviews, or other methods, data is vital to the progression and scalability of your program. It allows you to review, revise, and continuously improve your mentoring program.聽I suggest measuring outcomes semi-annually or annually. You can also informally poll and interview participants throughout the year. And don鈥檛 underestimate the little things鈥攕mall tweaks can lead to significant results!
Don鈥檛 skip any of these seven steps; all are crucial to successfully achieving your organization鈥檚 mentoring goals. And when you reach the end of the seventh step, circle back to the beginning. Continuing to cycle through these seven steps and always giving critical thought to improving your program will keep it vital, relevant, and results-driven for years to come.