The Power of Mentoring

Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by one who teaches, gives help to, and/or provides advice to another. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and professional growth and development of a mentee. Having the right structures in place for a mentoring program can make all the difference for participating mentors and mentees.

Since 2020, we have worked with the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (FHLBNY) on developing and executing their organization-wide Mentorship Program. Today, we hear from Chiquita B. , Senior Diversity & Human Resources Business Partner Officer about her experience being in the program, managing it, and seeing the positive outcomes of it.

Interview by James T. Carter , Impact DEI Consultant.?

James: What were the FHLBNY's (Bank) goals for launching the Mentoring Program?

Chiquita: Our Program is designed to connect our mentors and mentees throughout the FHLBNY to share their knowledge and experience, and work towards a mutual relationship that fosters personal and professional development, growth, and connection.

At the individual level, the program is to encourage, develop, and help advance employees, as well as increase their exposure to senior management. Some employees feel so stuck in their roles; they don't know how to move out. We wanted the Program to give employees access to others to network, discuss other opportunities, and create a mutual exchange between the mentors and the mentees. We do have three locations - New Jersey, New York, and Washington DC.?Sometimes the offices may not necessarily interact with each other unless they're working on a project or if they're invited to a particular meeting. So, by creating this type of program and matching them across offices, it gives employees a new network.

From an organizational level, the goal is to strengthen our workplace culture, support and promote our inclusion, and build a strong and diverse talent pipeline from a leadership perspective to invest in our next-generation leaders.?So, when senior managers are thinking about future projects, they might say, "Oh, I was Chiquita's mentor and I think she would be great for that project." If that mentee never had that mentoring relationship, they may not have come to mind for that highly visible project.

James: Wow, even with multiple locations, it sounds like there are several organic opportunities that can arise out of the program, which is great.

Chiquita: Right. And I think as a Bank, we do a really great job of communicating. It worked out well with how Impact matched our folks. I have to say, I have had a great relationship with Impact. I feel like they're one of the vendors that get us, and they've done a fine job. I hope to work with them on other projects in the future. ?I think it all matters with who you work with as well. And Impact has just made this a very easy process.

James: I am obviously glad to hear that and I'm a little biased. Which leads into our next question: what criteria did you select when choosing a partner to help envision and stand up the program?

Chiquita: We started by looking at our data - we had employees that were leaving the Bank that were here less than five years. So, we really just wanted to focus more on those employees as our mentees. We also wanted our program to have a range of people that included various subgroups like ethnicity, gender, office locations, etc. From a mentor perspective, we wanted to have folks in a higher rank that will be able to coach, guide, and be a great resource to our mentees. Additionally, most of the mentors are long-tenured employees of the organization. Therefore, they understand the Bank's culture, have the institutional knowledge, and are well respected. These folks consisted of Group Heads, First Vice Presidents, and Vice President Directors.

The last piece of the puzzle was finding the right vendor partner to help us reach our goals.??In selecting the vendor, Impact just had, as my manager would say, "this big buffet" that we could choose from. The greatest part about Impact is that they had the flexibility to match what we were looking for. The team was warm and friendly no matter whom you worked with. We wanted someone who could provide us with options to help us meet our goals as we piloted the Program. It's just been a great partnership overall.

James: That's good to hear. Because I think we often talk about being agile and flexible. A lot of organizations describe themselves that way, but it doesn't always pan out especially when they have a "Well, this is how we do it" mentality. And I think Impact's approach is more, "How can we do this with you?" in a way that makes sense.

Chiquita: Yeah. And that's exactly how it happened. As far as this program, there's been so much positive feedback from it.?And Impact provides great ideas and suggestions trying to help us to improve things based on the feedback and responses from mentors, mentees, as well as the planning team. Coming in, I think they lived up to their name and made an impact.

James: Great! From the lens of the company and the participants, what benefits and goals do you feel were achieved by the program?

Chiquita: Employee inclusion hands down, especially after the pilot. I was a part of the Pilot Program as a mentee. And I didn't want to do it. I was too busy and had so much on my plate. Thankfully, Ana encouraged me to do it. Ana Monge was our DEI Specialist at the time and eventually went to work with Impact. ?She was part of the first piece in selecting Impact. So, I gave it a try and it was the best thing for me at that time in my life, because I had a mentor that created a safe space for me. This is also a similar experience that other folks in the Program have had.

The sessions with my mentor were so fulfilling to me. Every time I had my meeting with him, I felt full of knowledge and motivated to do what we said we were going to do. Our discussions were mostly structured and organized. However, if there wasn't an agenda, we would discuss anything and I was able to get constructive, open, and transparent feedback from my mentor.

We felt like inclusion, professional development, focus on learning, and care are what participants received from the Program.?As I spoke with people to invite them to join the second iteration of the Program, I told them my story and they were convinced that the Bank cared for them and was willing to invest in them. At the end of the day, it's nice for people to feel like somebody cares for them.

James: My next question is, also from the lens of the company and participants, what lessons would you say have been learned and derived from the Program?

Chiquita: I am going to go back to building a safe space. When you build that safe space, it helps people put their walls down and ensures them that it is ok to do so. Because mentor and mentee pairs range across the business, we can learn lessons about the culture and about dealing with and working through tough situations or conflicts.?Mentors can also learn from their mentees about their roles and area of business, etc. So it can work both ways. I was able to help my mentor make connections and further understand what I did. Our relationship grew so much that we were able to take off the mentor/mentee hats and just have a conversation and learn from each other as people.

James: So, the main thing I'm hearing, that I think is fantastic, is that mentorship is mutually beneficial. You can see the benefits for mentees and mentors in different ways that strengthen working relationships, among other things.

Chiquita: I think so because at the end of the day, they are two humans, right? A mentee can coach a mentor on Excel, a new technology tool, etc. Ultimately, we can all teach somebody something higher.

James: I think it's important that the program is structured in a way that sort of lets that happen. And that the relationships can build in a way that lets the mentor and the mentee see the value in developing mutual respect for one another. I think that's really great and I'm glad to see that this is an organic feature of the program.?

Chiquita: You said it best with “mutual respect”, but I also think that courage and confidence come from that too. From the mentees' standpoint, they get more courageous and more confident in what they can do because sometimes you need that push from somebody else.

James: Do you foresee mentees becoming mentors in the future? Do you see a shift in the Program to make it more self-sustaining?

Chiquita: I think it's possible. While I'm not a Vice President at the Bank, I’ve been asked to informally take off my HR hat and mentor people. The Mentoring Program goes beyond the title - it's an opportunity for people to build relationships and be able to provide constructive feedback to someone without rank and tenure getting in the way.

James: I love that. So, the last question I have is what advice would you provide to others who are considering launching or participating in a Mentorship Program?

Chiquita: I've spoken to our sister banks and had conversations with them about our Program. After the conversation, they could see the benefits of the program, what they like about it, the challenges they faced, etc. But I think it's crucial for organizations to have clear criteria for selecting mentors and mentees. That way a vendor can help the organization work towards its goals. I would also recommend starting a pilot program, that way you can decide if it’s something you would want to continue or not. And finally, evaluations are key, especially in the middle and end of the program, to know what's working and not working with the mentors and mentees. So, if you do continue the program, you know what you need to improve for the next cycle.