Mentoring Programs for Organizations

Organizations that think beyond the paycheck are known to have great people and culture. People come to work with the expectation that their work will give their life meaning and provide opportunities for their growth. Mentorship programs provide that opportunity for employees by helping them find purpose and a boost.

Organizations with mentorship programs will build a solid workplace culture with high retention rates and knowledge sharing between organizational leaders and less experienced employees.

In this article, you are about to discover what mentorship programs should look like in organizations, why every workplace needs one, and how to introduce mentorship programs into your organization.

Who is a Mentor?

Though mentoring programs are somewhat new in the workplace, the concept of mentorship has existed for long. The word “mentor” comes from Homer’s Odyssey, where he was the mentor/guide to Odysseus’s son.

Often, society likes to portray people as self-made and self-taught, but every individual needs a leader/guide that can provide long-term support on their career path. This is what a mentor is designed to do.

A mentoring program connects new or inexperienced hires with experienced mentors to guide them through their professional journeys. Mentorship programs foster professional growth, increase employee retention, boost workplace satisfaction and foster professional development.

Why is a Mentorship Program Important in the Workplace?

A mentorship program is essential in any workplace for a thousand and one reasons. First on the list is the capacity and an example it creates for new hires. The idea is that these new hires can say, “I want to be like X when I get to Y.”

Furthermore, mentors are crucial to growing employees’ professional networks. They are the right hand new talents need to plug themselves into leadership skills and positions for professional development and the chance to accomplish professional goals.

Other reasons for mentorship programs in the workplace are:

1. Improves employee retention: mentorship programs are designed to keep employees engaged and loyal to their work.
2. Develops leadership skills: with mentorship programs, mentors can become better leaders, mentees, and team players. A mentorship program provides the proper dynamics you need to allow professionals to hone their leadership skills.
3. Close the skills gap: in a world that is changing fast, companies must learn to connect their talents with company leaders to develop new skills and keep the information chain going.
4. Builds diversity: a functional workplace mentorship program can attract a diverse pool of talent that boosts diversity in the workplace, giving everyone an equal opportunity and improving the culture.
5. Reduces employee training costs: a workplace mentoring program promotes a learning environment and makes it easier for employers to access and encourage employees rather than spend heavily on training their employees with external training programs.
6. Attracts talent: job seekers continually seek opportunities that provide not just the paycheck but help them achieve their goals.
7. Creates networking opportunities: ambitious professionals need a solid network system to help them thrive in their career paths. Mentors can help fill this gap since they are typically senior and well-connected colleagues.

Types of Mentoring Programs in the Workplace

1. Developmental and Career Mentoring Program

This is the most popular mentoring program. It involves a relationship between a senior executive and a junior employee to support the mentee’s professional development.

It is an excellent option for any company looking to explore the world of mentorship or offer more growth opportunities for its employees.

What you gain.

• Increase job satisfaction
• Better career outcomes for employees
• Applicable to all levels of seniority

2. Diversity-focused Mentoring Program

This program is designed for women and people in underrepresented groups and creates equal opportunities for career development for this group.

What you gain.

• Creates/boosts equity
• Improves business outcomes

3. New Manager Mentoring Program

This mentoring program is designed to help first-time managers develop the skills to thrive in their roles and better serve the team.

What you gain.

• Builds management skills
• Builds confidence by encouraging and sharing objective feedback.

4. High Potential Employee Mentoring Program

This program is designed to provide top performers with the support and growth they need to fulfil their roles.

What you gain.

• Delivers more value to organizations
• Creates growth opportunities

5. Reverse Mentoring Program

It involves pairing a younger mentor with a more seasoned executive. This program is designed like this to create more transparency, collaboration and knowledge sharing.

What you gain.

• Increases retention
• Helps overcome biases
• Breakthrough existing barriers and allows collaboration across all age groups and seniority levels.

Source

How to Implement Mentoring Programs in the Workplace: Key Steps

It’s one thing to admire the good that a mentorship program will bring to your workplace, and it is another to implement an effective one. To do so, here are vital steps to note:

1. Define the goals of the mentorship program.

The first thing to do is to define the program’s goals. For instance, some organizations might prefer to focus on new hires; hence, the mentorship program is integrated into the onboarding. Some may choose to use the program to groom talents for leadership roles. So you want to ask:

• Where is the talent in their professional journeys?
• What are the developmental needs the program will address?
• What can motivate these individuals?
• What is the long-term goal of the program? Employee satisfaction? Retention? Better customer service? Knowledge sharing?

Once you’ve gotten that out of the way, the next step is to outline the process.

2. Design the mentoring program.

As you design the program, make sure to consider the following:

• Budget
• Measures of success
• Skill gaps to the bridge
• Measures of progress
• Structure: How will mentees apply or enter the program, mentor-mentee relationship
• Duration

You can use a diagram to visualize the critical steps.

3. Select program participants.

A mentoring program always involves the mentor and mentee. With your program goals and outline, you make the best selection for your mentors and mentees.

As you select, it is a good idea to interview the mentees about their career goals so that you are clear on what each person needs.

It is also advisable that you choose mentees that are dedicated to the job and positioned for advancement, and for the mentors, make sure they are good at what they do and well-respected within the company.

4. Match mentors and mentees.

For this step, you can either ask mentees to choose their mentors or pair mentees and mentors based on what the mentor can offer and what the mentee needs.

However, we strongly recommend allowing mentors and mentees to participate in the selection process. You can provide the mentor with three candidates you’ve identified based on your assessment to enable them to choose one.

5. Provide mentorship training.

Sometimes the mentor or mentee might need clarification on what to expect in this new relationship. It is always helpful to train the mentors so that they understand the company’s expectations and the best way to support their mentees. You can discuss the following:

• The program’s goal
• The benefits both parties enjoy
• How often mentoring (sessions) should occur
• The best format.

Other key notes

1. Be thoughtful about the matching process.
2. Don’t start a mentoring program until you define the goals for the program.
3. Choose the right mentoring program
4. Have a system that measures and evaluates the program regularly.

Examples of Effective Mentoring Programs

General Electric

General Electric is one of the first companies to embrace reverse learning. It is known for its diversity-focused approach to mentorship. Visit their website to see how they connect mentees to sponsorship programs. The program is created to connect high-level executives with employees to optimize personal and professional development.

In addition to this mentorship program, GE offers employee resource groups like the GE Women’s Network and Early Development at GE (EDGE).

Mastercard

Mastercard’s vision for its mentorship program is to break down barriers and connect employees with co-workers with similar ambitions and interests across the business. The leading global payment platform leverages its talent marketplace to generate mentor pairings based on ambitions and capabilities instead of matching solely on seniority.

Mastercard is seeking to demystify mentoring through its opportunity marketplace. They are making people see that mentoring is not just for career advancement but more about skill and domain knowledge.

Gumi and Company

The Gumi Mentoring Program, is designed to pair Gumies (talents) with mentors (senior leaders) to provide an avenue for sharing, learning and growth.

The program allows the mentee to have someone they can go to for counsel on their journey and a supporter who can advocate for them. For the mentor, it is a relationship that allows them to share knowledge and experiences, develop leadership skills and replicate success.

The program focuses on developing non-technical areas that connect back to contribute to the mentee’s self-realization, satisfaction and success.

Wrapping Up

Mentoring is one of those interactions that are super instrumental in the success of anyone. No wonder we have a lot of talents constantly writing emails to high-level individuals to mentor them.

The mentor is positioned to observe the mentee and offer constructive feedback and other meaningful interactions.

In a mentorship program, the winning party is both parties because this program can equip the mentors with the necessary tools and skills they need as leaders.

References

1. https://gloat.com/blog/successful-mentorship-programs/
2. https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/7-benefits-of-mentoring-programs-in-the-workplace/
3. https://torch.io/blog/5-types-of-mentoring-programs-for-the-workplace-you-need-now/
4. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/workplace-mentoring-program
5. https://360learning.com/blog/mentorship-programs/
6. https://www.betterup.com/blog/mentorship-programs