When you start talking about mentorship programs, you'll usually get one of the following reactions:a collective grunt about the extra work a program might entail, intimidation about getting started, or excitement from people who have experienced successful mentor relationships and the growth that comes with it.
However, almost any business can benefit. Mentoring programs not only improve relationships and engagement, they are also useful for targeting underperforming programs, emerging leaders and mid-level performers who are often the forgotten middle.
Your top performers will have the ability to get real-time guidance and your mid-level performers will often be inspired to take it to the next level, while the people doing the day-to-day work may be the ones who benefit the most.
Quality mentorship is extremely beneficial when it happens naturally on its own, and in a structured program it can be an even more powerful tool for driving corporate engagement, leadership development, and business initiatives. . Here are three ways to start your program.
Related: 7 ways to be the best mentor ever
1. Find enough people.
To get started, your business needs to have enough critical mass for mentoring to actually happen. You don't want managers coaching their direct reports because a management relationship involves giving out specific job-related feedback. A mentor may provide a different type and advice because they are a coach, not a supervisor.
Receiving coaching from people who are not your managers exposes you to different viewpoints and perspectives. It gives you the opportunity to ask questions and explore different parts of the business, which is especially important with topics like company politics, company history and company politics. company.
If you are part of a small business, consider finding a sister company with similar values and aligning mentors and proteges. You might find that it ends up working almost like a think tank, where your companies are able to share lessons learned and apply history to issues and initiatives, even if you're in different industries.
2. Start with a pilot.
An effective way to test the waters of a formal mentorship program is to launch it as a pilot with a few mentors and proteges. When you start a program, you want to create a structure so that it doesn't look like zero time. Setting up regular sessions, general goals, desired outcomes, and a discussion pattern can be helpful and are more likely to produce a concrete result.
Related: 6 Mentoring Do's and Don'ts
During the pilot program, seek to match mentors and protégés based on their common interests and skills; if teams start with something in common, it will make it easier to connect as the relationship grows. Have your pilot pairs meet once every two months with guidelines and agendas.
During this time, you can assess what is working well and what could work better at large launch. program scale. If it's crumbling, maybe it's because there wasn't enough mutual benefit for the parties or maybe there wasn't enough interest or energy behind that to begin with.
3. Involve the boss.
A program that does not involve the C suite will fail, as management will fill the time with other issues that prevent the mentorship program from having full effect.
The high management should be strongly involved in defining program guidelines, actions and objectives. The more membership, the more support. Ideally, you want executives to participate as mentors as well, but since they usually have less time available, a good alternative is to have them host breakout sessions. This way, too, proteges can benefit from their wisdom and insight without the undertone of favoritism that might otherwise arise.
At the end of the day, whenever employees feel valued and invested, you'll find an increase in performance, teamwork and retention. What do you have to lose?
Related: Leaders:you can't (and shouldn't have to) lead alone
