Building Mentoring Programs That Work

According to the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), over 75% of executives target mentoring as one of the key factors in their business success. ASTD states that mentoring programs create many rewards for the individuals involved, and for the organization as well. Mentoring programs contribute to employee retention, greater employee satisfaction and morale, increased knowledge, rewarding personal experiences, and more.

As one mentor put it, "Powerful things happen when a respected, experienced person shows interest in and goes out of his/her way to help another individual develop, especially when that individual is open to being influenced.  Mentors can inspire you to meet challenges and achieve success. They enable you to see a wider realm of opportunities, and they provide valuable advice to help you excel in your career."

But if mentoring programs are important elements to individual and organizational success, why do roughly 90 percent of these programs fail?  The sad truth is most mentoring programs fail either because the company does not commit to the program in terms of time and money, or because of the implied simplicity in the core concept of what mentoring is all about. Although mentoring appears simple on the surface, if it is not done right, it won't be successful.

Mentoring 101

"A trusted counselor or teacher" - that is the deceptively simple definition of a mentor that you will find in the dictionary. But that implied simplicity is one of the biggest reasons that most corporate mentoring programs fail. Companies that start mentoring programs don't really make the commitment to them, because that "implied simplicity" makes people think they can do it on their own."

While the best mentoring programs duplicate what happens in the natural world, it takes time and training to make them work well. If your company plans to start a mentoring program, hire an expert.

About ten years ago, the Brown Forman Company (makers of Jack Daniels whiskey), wanted to create a program that would increase the ranks of women and minorities in upper management. To get the program started on the right foot, Brown Forman hired an expert with a solid track record in establishing mentoring programs.

What followed was six months of meetings with a committee made up of a diverse team of employees with different voices and views. Everything was discussed from how to train the mentors to who should be a protégé. Once the program was in effect it was monitored and measured for its effectiveness over several years.

The bottom line results were striking. Changes in career growth were measured over the years in both the group that was mentored (the "study" group) and a group of similar employees who were not in the mentoring program (the "control" group). There were significant positive changes in the way the people who were mentored not only felt about themselves and their jobs, but there were tangible, measurable benefits in terms of promotions and better job assignments, as well.

Why Start a Mentoring Program?

Most companies believe that mentoring provides a win-win relationship: the company wins by reducing turnover and improving employee morale. The employee wins by feeling better about their job and increased productivity. As one Brown-Forman executive put it, "Mentoring supports what the firm is trying to accomplish through its strategic priority of becoming an employer of choice, a great place for all our people to develop and advance."

One organization that has had success with establishing a mentoring program is MDRC, a non-profit policy research organization in Manhattan. MDRC knew that there was some informal mentoring going on, but that it was uneven. The more assertive staff had no problem approaching others in the organization and asking for help. But other staff were not as confident and did not know how to ask for guidance. In addition, feedback from exit interviews indicated that some former employees experienced feelings of isolation and were unsure how to pursue their career interests. MDRC knew that it had a good business case for formalizing its mentoring program.

Elements of Successful Mentoring Programs

We have found seven building blocks to creating a successful mentoring program.

• q Have A Solid Business Reason. A company should create a strong business case for developing a mentoring program. Don't develop a program because it is the current "in thing" to do.

• q Support the Program. A successful mentoring program needs visible support and involvement from the highest levels of the organization. Don't try and develop a program if you don't have support from the top. It's that simple.

• q Hire an Outside Expert and Assign an Internal Manager. Make sure that a dedicated point person is designated to ride "herd" on the program. That person should manage the internal marketing plan, provide for coaching and training for the mentoring partners, see that the program is evaluated, and make continuous improvements.

• q Look At What Is Already There. If you know informal mentoring relationships in your company exist, capitalize on them. A formal structure can support the informal by letting people in the company know that mentoring is authorized and encouraged.

• q Choose Good Mentoring Pairs. "Self-initiated pairs" work best; that is, protégés should select a mentor, and the pair will determine if it is a good match.

Developing mentor and protégé bio sheets is a good way to start so prospective pairs can learn more about each other.

Also, carefully screen protégés and mentors to assess their level of interest and commitment, and be honest with both about the time and energy needed.

• q Give Mentoring Pairs Guidance. Your company should provide training and coaching to both the mentor and protégé to help them develop specific goals. Don't expect people to know how to mentor or how to be mentored. Even senior executives who have had significant mentors in their lives may not understand how to provide similar support without some training.

• q Encourage Regular Meetings. Mentoring partners should meet at least once a month. Mentoring doesn't have to be between two people located in the same office. As long-distance communications become easier, long-distance mentoring is becoming the rule rather than the exception in global corporations. But you have to work at it to make it successful.

Evaluate

You should establish some measures of feedback to determine whether your program is working - or if not, what needs to be changed. One company introduces its mentoring program to new hires during initial induction and orientation. New hires are eligible to apply after their initial three month review period. They know that their mentoring program is working because people are coming in to HR and asking to get involved.

Mentors Benefit Too

A number of companies in which mentoring programs have been established report that mentors feel the program benefits themselves as well as their protégés. This certainly was the case at MDRC. Says Porter, "At MDRC, we were well aware of the benefits for the protégés, but what surprised us was the benefit to the mentors. They have expressed how rewarding it is to give back to the organization by mentoring less experienced staff."

Reap the Rewards

A mentor can help you network and build upon your knowledge base. Consider seeking out a mentor and help your chances of success. And take the time to be a mentor and feel the power of helping another person succeed.