Ensuring A Successful Mentoring Scheme for Your Organisation

Hilarie Owen- Author of The Complete Guide to Mentoring

Introduction

To deal with and flourish in today’s world, what is needed at executive, top team and organisational levels is wisdom and judgement that goes beyond process and policies. This only develops through experience if a person has the capability to learn from those experiences. Extracting insight from experience is an ability much needed in business because working professionals so often face uncertainty and complexity on a daily basis from which there is no practical guidebook. Instead, decision makers rely on judgement.???

Wisdom and judgement, at individual and organisational levels, is made up of curiosity to learn about one’s environment. It is through questioning and challenging the assumptions that we take for granted that different worldviews and perspectives enable us to gain wisdom. In other words, we grow as individuals through engaging with the world, changing, and being changed by it. However, there is a problem that was first identified several years ago at a United Nations Conference when one of their senior officers said.:

“I’ve dealt with many different problems around the world, and I’ve concluded that there’s only one real problem. Over the past one hundred years, the power that technology has given us has grown beyond anyone’s wildest imagination, but our wisdom has not. If the gap between our power and our wisdom is not redressed soon, I don’t have much hope for our prospects.”?

We don’t need to look far to see how these words resonate. To strengthen judgement and wisdom in organisations the best way is to have a mentoring system based on excellence. Mentoring is a powerful process for making sustainable progress in organisations and can be used for a multitude of reasons that include:

·??????Preparing to take up a new role.

·??????Succession planning

·??????Support for the first year in a new leadership role

·??????To address diversity?

·??????To develop the top team/board

Mentoring is also an important part of developing leadership capability. Daniel Goleman, who popularised emotional intelligence, wrote about the organisation he had been working with. “When we assessed high level leaders at a large integrated-energy company, those we found to have a healthy repertoire of leadership strengths all told us the same story – they had first cultivated their strengths early in their careers, under the guardianship of a mentor.”?(Goleman 2002)?

He went on to add that two chief executives had come from the mentoring scheme in the company. Therefore, finding a good leadership mentor whose purpose is to give support and guidance is a crucial part of leader development. They will understand that leadership is more than job performance and includes self-awareness, understanding of and influencing others, being a master of the context you operate in, understanding the wider world, staying positive even when things are tough, and giving purpose to the work you do and the life you live.?

However, we found in our research into over 200 organisations in both the private and public sector that the mentoring scheme had either not worked or was only working for a few who used it as a tool for progression rather than improving their abilities. This was an issue all too often with the Police Service. Yet amongst these organisations were a handful of success stories and from these we identified the key factors for success.?

Organisation Ready?

It was found that for success an organisation must be ‘ready’ to ensure that people will participate. To test this, we have developed a set of questions to ensure the readiness such as: Will the culture actively support a mentoring scheme? What are the challenges facing your organisation? What are the gaps between the challenges and the capabilities within it? There are over 12 questions, and each enable the team who are setting up the scheme to reach the first stage.?

The next step is to work with a small group of employees and build scenarios. Here we build three scenarios that enable clear vision of what the organisation will look like with the right mentoring scheme. We found that organisations who didn’t carry this out ended up starting a mentoring scheme that wasn’t effective and then having to start again with a different model. However, never create more than three scenarios.?

This was followed by a third step to scope the mentoring scheme. Does the need for developing people extend across all functions or a specific group?

The fourth step is to assess how many people would put themselves forward as either mentor or mentee. Where are they in the organisation? How many of the top team would put themselves forward to be mentored as well as mentor??

The next step is to consider certain logistics such as what is in place if the mentor and mentee do not ‘hit it off?’ How could this relationship end without blame on either side? How do line managers feel about their teams having mentors higher up??

The sixth step is to be clear about how the mentoring scheme is to be evaluated. This requires clarity before the scheme starts. This must include both how well the scheme is working within the organisation and how it is adding value to the organisation and its people. Data will be important to assess this. When helping organisations, we find this crucial as well as make a real difference.?

The last step at this stage is to decide how the scheme is going to be communicated across the organisation and externally. Communication must be ongoing to ensure rumours that have a negative influence are nipped in the bud. Failure in this often results in conversations such as ‘only those on the scheme will get promotion’, resulting in ‘them’ and ‘us’ behaviours that damage performance and productivity.?

Thus, there is much work to be done before embarking on a mentoring scheme – and we have only touched the surface here. For this reason, setting up a mentoring scheme is a team activity, not something for one person only to set up. With a team, it is also helpful at this stage to identify what success would look like.?

Identifying Mentors

What are you looking for in a mentor??Mentors should not be chosen purely on position and experience.Organisational life often encourages self-interest and self-promotion. A mentor has to work at breaking patterns such as ‘knowing best’, fixing problems, controlling and feeling important. A mentor has to focus on the other person, not just by listening but by seeing things from the other person’s perspective, being authentic and emotionally intelligent.?

Finding your mentors will require two questions and two approaches.?

·??????Where will the mentors come from?

·??????Will they be willing to give the time, energy and commitment?

The two approaches are to either ask for volunteers or to ask for nominations or recommendations. If you ask for volunteers, it is best to explain upfront that not all volunteers will be selected but that ALL will attend a short programme to develop mentoring skills and behaviours. If you ask for recommendations, then ask why they are being put forward.?

Remember you are seeking people who can demonstrate:?

·??????Willingness to help people and develop leadership.

·??????Credibility with their peers and those they will be mentoring.

·??????A passion for learning that continues today.

·??????Strong inter-personal skills, especially empathy.

·??????Can and do take responsibility.

·??????Good communicators and listeners.

·??????Know how to use personal power and influence to get things done.?

·??????Are a positive role model (very important)?

·??????Willingness to give honest feedback.

·??????Knowledge about the organisation, its goals, and its environment.?

Mentors need to go through a screening process – regardless of who they are, followed by a more detailed interview and then onto their development programme. They will also need to feel valued.??How will you achieve this and reward them in a non-monetary way? Different rewards will suit different mentors, so flexibility is required. There are also benefits and dangers and we check these when working with organisations. It is recommended that each year, mentors have further development.?

Case Study 1 European Financial Services Company

HA put himself forward as a mentor because he not only had many years with the company but had worked in three different regional office in Germany and understood regional differences. These days he is engaged in international projects dealing with different cultures and perspectives. As a mentor he said:

“You get déjà vu experiences which you can’t remember at first until you work with a mentee and remember. You suddenly see yourself as the mentee and feel the same feelings as years ago, facing the same issues. The difference now is you can reflect on the decisions you took, so you have lots of empathy combined with wisdom. I try not to give advice and tell them what to do but ask questions. In an open discussion, you let the mentee come to their own conclusion. It’s hard though with those déjà vu experiences.”

Finding the Right Mentees?

What is your aim in setting up a mentoring scheme???Who is the target group and why? Most organisations use a self-nomination and line manager’s nomination process but beware that self-nomination can be ego-driven. Very often the best individuals are quiet and not as confident but keen learners. It should also be made clear that promotion and financial incentive is not guaranteed for mentees. This should ensure the right people apply.?

You should expect to find people who:

·??????Are willing and able to take responsibility for their own development rather than expect or wait for the organisation to provide development.

·??????Have a high level of motivation to set goals and implement strategies to achieve them.

·??????Receive feedback positively and are open minded to different perspectives, willing to share information and feelings as well as discuss honestly within the ethos of confidentiality and respect.?

·??????Are willing to take risks, try new ways of doing things and look for solutions to problems.?

·??????Seek challenging assignments and are willing to act on their initiative.

·??????Are motivated by learning rather than status.

·??????Are reflective, making time and space to review their experience, values and skills and identify areas that need work.

·??????Are willing to keep a learning log.

·??????Are self-discipled, following through on action plans and assignments.

·??????Are enthusiastic and positive, prepared to exert effort, looking for opportunities and not passive in challenging situations.?

Before the mentoring scheme begins, the organisation and mentee must agree how the time for mentoring will be allocated. This may be entirely during working hours, during the mentee’s own time or a mixture of both. In most situations we found the time is during working hours, which demonstrates that learning and development, regardless of who you are, is an important part of the job.?

Case Study 2 Global Technical Services Company?

The division for research and technical services introduced mentoring in 2017. While mentoring had already been in the company, this was the first time the focus was on personal development including leadership. In this division, where the focus was on cutting edge research and technological consultancy, the structure was team based with only two layers of hierarchy: the management committee and the teams. Responsibility for budgets and strategy was handled within the teams that included new graduates. Therefore, taking on responsibility early on was the norm.?

While the senior management supported the scheme, they wanted to control the process of finding mentors and matching them with graduates. This acted as a block in an environment where responsibility and self-management was the norm. The mentees were suspicious of the control, while the senior managers took this as apathy. It was deadlock and nothing happened for months.?They needed to look again at what they were trying to achieve and how they were going to do it.?

Removing controls and treating both mentors and mentees as responsible adults resulted in an active mentoring scheme based on openness and trust, with ALL graduates participating. When we evaluated the outcome of the change it was found that giving the graduates the ability to choose their own mentors was fundamental to its success.??So, while the first effort didn’t work, having the courage to address the scheme according to the culture of the organisation, resulted in success. Sometimes having someone outside the business can see things more clearly. It also demonstrates why evaluation is so important and why you need to decide how you will evaluate a scheme before it begins. We provide methodologies that are effective for this.?

Nuts and Bolts?

When working with companies the ‘nuts and bolts’ ensure that the process works effectively. For this we have developed forms and a code of conduct that companies can use. Our work with organisations includes case studies from global companies, public sector organisations and government initiatives whereby mentoring is used to bring about real transformation as well as develop pipelines of talent.?

In our research and work with organisations, we found where things often go wrong is in the evaluation. Mentoring is not static or a quick fix. As part of a social structure, it is dynamic and constantly shifting. Evaluation isn’t about measuring a fixed point in time to justify itself but rather to seek actions that can be taken to enhance and improve it.?

Conclusion

Organisations grow their present and potential leaders be helping individuals learn from experience and mentoring is a good way to do this. By using deep reflection with a mentor, the mentee is able to have a better understanding of who they are; realise what matters, and how they can emerge stronger and more resilient in a fast paced, demanding and unpredictable world. When mentors do their work well, they not only help the mentees to achieve their role successfully, but also enable themselves to see the broader context that gives their work meaning.?

Finally, the role of mentee at the end of the mentoring process is not only able to make better decisions, but also strive to continuously develop leadership in others. So, the circle of organisational life continues.?

Hilarie Owen?[email protected]???07770 826801?