Mentoring is a great way to build a culture of learning and improve employee engagement. However, LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report in 2017 found that time and money were the two main barriers to building a mentoring program within an organization.
Fortunately, there are ways that you can ensure your mentoring program succeeds. The first step is to create a plan for your mentoring program. This includes creating a vision for your program, identifying key goals and metrics to measure success, and selecting the right mentoring software solution to manage your program.
1. Provide Mentoring Training to Participants
Mentors can become more effective when they receive training on the mentoring process and how to provide support and guidance to their mentees. These workshops should focus on the specific skills that the mentor and mentee will be working together on throughout the mentoring relationship, including communication, receiving feedback, and addressing conflicts.
2. Match a Pool of Mentors With Mentees
The most successful mentoring programs rely on a diverse pool of mentors and mentees. These individuals can come from different professional backgrounds, industries, and geographic locations.
It is important to select your mentors and mentees based on their individual needs and career goals. The selection process should include a variety of questions and an interview to get a better sense of what each candidate can offer.
3. Set Up a Matching Survey to Automate the Matchmaking Process
Developing a matching survey for your mentoring program will help you to ensure that your mentors and mentees are matched based on their goals and strengths. This type of survey can remove biases from your process and make it easier to identify candidates for your program.
4. Recruit Volunteer Mentors
When setting up your mentoring program, it is important to recruit a broad range of people to serve as mentors. This includes experienced professionals who can offer valuable advice and insight into the career path a mentee may be considering. It also includes individuals who may be able to help with leadership development, public speaking or other skills that the mentee is looking to improve on.
5. Determine a Target Population for Your Mentoring Program
When implementing your mentoring program, it is essential to target children in a high-risk or underserved community. These youth are often at-risk for school dropout, juvenile delinquency and substance abuse.
This is an ideal population for your mentoring program because they will likely need the most support and growth opportunities. Moreover, this population has been proven to deliver 91% more value to organizations than non-HiPo employees.
6. Establish a Role for the Program Manager
To run an effective mentoring program, you need to have a program manager who is knowledgeable about the mentoring process and who has the necessary resources to support it. Your program manager should be able to oversee the recruitment and selection of mentors, monitor progress, and ensure that your program is meeting its objectives.
Your program manager should also have the ability to support your mentors and mentees through their relationships with each other. This includes making sure that the mentors and mentees meet regularly to discuss their progress, providing training as needed, and offering support to any questions or concerns they might have along the way.