Onboarding training of Mentoring program

Mentoring Process 1

Onboarding training of Mentoring program

Don’t forget the MENTEE!

When you start a mentoring program, do you organize onboarding training for your mentors?

I have almost no doubt that most of you answered YES.

 

 

Do you organize onboarding training for your future mentees?

I am sure that a smaller amount of you have said YES.

Why do you need training not only for mentors but also for mentees?

When we talk about mentoring, we often underline the Mentee’s responsibilities and roles in the mentoring.

 

We say that the Mentee controls the mentoring process:

 

  • Before mentoring, they evaluate their knowledge, experiences, qualities. They know what they want. They have an idea of how a mentor could help them. Mentees discuss everything they have selected and planned with the mentor and agree on how they will work together.

 

  • They initiate the meetings. They are that person who writes, calls, plan, and so on.

 

  • They arrive at the meetings ready. It means they have situations they want to talk about and have questions they want to ask. And they did the homework that they planed on in the previous meeting.

 

  • They take action. Mentee doesn’t meet they mentor to chat. During or after the meeting, the Mentee makes their own decisions (not the mentor) and then acts.

 

  • Mentees have to reflect on their and the mentor’s activity (How everything went? What you both agreed on? What was especially useful? What do you have to do next? etc.)

 

  • Mentees look for opportunities how they could help the mentor. One way to achieve this is to give the mentor feedback.

BUT DOES YOUR MENTEE

KNOW ALL OF THIS?

It seems evident to us, but do they know?

It’s why Mentees need onboarding training. Like that, they know what they have to do and what they can expect from mentoring. For example:

 

 

– How long will the mentoring take?

 

– What should they expect from the mentor?

 

– What is a mentee’s responsibilities and their roles in the mentoring?

 

– What are the goals of the organization that is organizing the mentoring program?

 

– Who can they contact if they need help?

 

– Etc.

! ! ! ! !

My own experiences auditing existing mentoring programs in organizations and interviewing mentors, mentees, program managers, and colleagues show the Mentees’ lack of onboarding training.

 

 

Maybe you would like to say that your organization has prepared a tutorial, booklet, or document for Mentees with the information needed? It’s a great tool, but it isn’t enough. They need to have a space to discuss what they read or heard about and figure out the nuances.

 

 

 

Training for mentees is also often precisely this field where organizations have to improve if they wish to accredit their mentoring programs (several Mentoring Associations perform a mentoring program’s accreditation).

When you try to achieve successful mentoring, do you give all of the tools to the mentor and the Mentee?

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What is a good mentoring program? Part II

Accredited mentor

What is a good mentoring program? Part II

THE STANDARTS FOR MENTORING PROGRAMS

 

Snippets of mentoring conversations.

***

– Hi Lina, Aurelie just called and he still doubts we are ready to start. The purpose of our mentoring program is still unclear to her. She says that in the previous mentoring program it was absolutely clear who, to whom, and the like.

And now, there are some more uncertainties for her.  Maybe we should review ourselves again and then meet all the managers again? So that no one has questions anymore and everyone understands in the same way what, how and why we do.

***

– Listen, I have achieved so much in my field! I have agreed to mentor and share my knowledge, and you tell me that there are some other competencies I need? And that I should take this into account?  You may not have used the dictionary? Do you know a definition of mentoring?  Mentoring is the help of the more experienced for the less experienced. And that’s it. What other competencies? What other training? I will help as I wish!  

***

– Maybe you can take a look today at the document I sent you. There I wrote down the criteria according to which the system would allow to choose the most suitable mentor for the mentee. The point is that the system automatically selects the three most suitable mentors, and then the mentee himself can decide which mentor to apply for mentoring. Like that we will keep the nuances of freedom and responsibility, because mentees will be able to choose a mentors for themselves. And at the same time, we will allow them to choose only those who can help them the most, based on certain criteria.

***

– It’s been a full month since the start of our third mentoring program. I am so happy and hope that we already have the seeds of mentoring culture!

Yesterday, what I had been waiting for a long time happened at the meeting

 Imagine, again, we tried to find a solution to that stuck project where opinions clashed between departments. Every leader in the meetings kept trying to prove he was the most right.

And today, completely unexpectedly, I heard Mark say to Idu “your idea is quite good, maybe after a little adjustment it could work”.

 It seems to me that that proposal has been made many times before, only that there was no desire to hear and appreciate it.

In the past, those two only communicated through joint meetings, they did not encounter anywhere else. And the opinions about each other’s unit weren’t the best. One shouted that we know best because we work directly with clients, and another shouted that you are stuck in everyday life and no longer see the bigger picture.

 What has changed?

It turns out Mark was the mentor of one of Ido’s employees. And by interacting with that mentee, he unknowingly learned more about how Ido’s unit works. And what he learned, he quite liked. And then the desire to hear and consider the opinion of another appeared.  

– Well, it’s enough about that, better tell me how the mentoring program itself is going, what problems are we facing, what help was needed? Did anyone need to change the mentor?  

***

– Did Marius really sign the mentoring agreement? His behavior shows that he has heard nothing about confidentiality in mentoring! As I was just passing by, I heard him sharing fragments of his conversation with mentee in the office. Maybe we can talk to him and remind him of his responsibility and agreement?

***

Mentor:

-That’s all, I don’t know how to behave anymore, Agnes does not follow our agreements at all, she does not prepare for meetings. Looks like she’s just coming to chat with me and then she doesn’t do anything. I feel like I’m wasting my time. I need help because I already want to quit everything.

Mentoring program manager:

– I have a Zoom meeting in 10 minutes, but it will only take 30 minutes, so if you call me an hour later we could talk about it.

So what are the standards of a mentoring program?

  • Clarity of purpose.
  • Stakeholder training and briefing.
  • Process for selection and matching.
  • Process for measurement and review.
  • Maintains high standard of ethics.
  • Administration and support.

So if your program meets these standards you can expect success.

Don’t stumble while implementing. A lot of companies fall asleep after the matching phase. It looks like a mentor and a mentee are there, and then you can already be calm down.

 Definitely not. It’s just the beginning. There may be many more nuances to deal with in the process in order to really succeed.

By the way, snippets of conversations are real, heard during interviews, sharing stories. Of course the names and form were changed, but the essence remained the same.

Why are you interested in a mentoring culture? I look forward to your thoughts!  

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Why is it worth developing mentoring programs? Part II

Accredited mentor

Why is it worth developing mentoring programs? Part II

Mentoring “infection” and the consequences of all this.

Benefits of mentoring.

 

I’m talking to a friend.

She says:

– We decided that we want to buy a new car. So far, we have been buying cars that are several years old. And then when we bought a new one, friends in our environment started buying new ones. Because well, somehow that’s how we get “infected”.

You probably know a lot of such situations yourself.

Example „infects“

Well, someone you know has decided and changed jobs. As if we are infected with that thought and rethinking our situation. Maybe we should look for something new?  Do you recognize this kind of situation?

Just when that phenomenon occurs in the immediate environment, we observe what is happening, talk to friends, colleagues, we hear arguments, “measure” whether it would suit us as well. Because if we thought the opposite before, like I really don’t need it, but when it comes up next, you start thinking about it.

Mentoring “infection”

When a mentoring culture is formed in an organization, the desire to share knowledge, experience, thoughts, or to accept it from others is greater. And what shows that it is formed?

  • Mentoring is achieved by hand in an organization;
  • I can join both a formal and an informal mentoring program;
  • I can become both a mentor and a mentee at any time;
  • I can decide the duration of mentoring myself;
  • I can choose who will be my mentor and/or to whom I will mentor;
  • Competencies, knowledge that I improve or acquire through mentoring I transfer to work routine;
  • Mentoring becomes a habit and so on.

That is how this “infection” spreads. Then we notice that more and more people in the organization are starting to mentor in both formal and informal mentoring programs. Or we just start sharing with each other more often, thus developing mentoring culture.

Transferring the value created by mentoring to other work activities

And even better is that after creating a mentoring culture, all that we apply in mentoring is involuntarily transferred to other work activities:

  • We listen and hear each other more during meetings.
  • We enter the discussion in search of the best solution for the organization, not defending our position.
  • We reflect. And it allows you to stop and understand what is going on, what emotions arise, where there are opinions, and where there are facts. This helps to create the positive work environment.

And this is only a small part of the value created by that mentoring culture for the organization.

This is one part of my puzzle about mentoring. You can search for other details in the picture by following the paths below.

 Good luck and see you!  

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WHY TO DEVELOP A MENTORING PROGRAM? Part I

Accredited mentor

WHY TO DEVELOP A MENTORING PROGRAM? Part I

Mentoring Culture

 

Mentoring Program vs Mentoring Culture

Why do organizations should to create a Mentoring culture instead of a Mentoring program?

It is surprising that even those organizations that have already felt the benefits of the Mentoring program do not use it more than just for one or another target group.

 

Why can only new employees gather the benefits of Mentoring in an organization? Or just executives? Or those who are referred to in the organization as “talents”?

Why is mentoring not available throughout the organization and for a wide variety of target groups? Why do we not allow informal mentoring to spread? Why do we not promote it? Why do we not give the tools to do that? We do not use the work, competencies that have already been acquired during formal mentoring.

 

It is quite known that the benefits of formal and informal mentoring are slightly different. Why don’t we combine everything so we can enjoy the benefits of both?

I’m sure you haven’t just thought about it yet. Or your organization isn’t ready for it yet and expecting preparatory steps is a must in anticipation of success.

Is your organization prepared for the Mentoring Culture?

Mentoring experts can create an amazing, potentially highly effective mentoring program for you. But it is also crucial to know what your organization’s situation is today. Will we be able to implement that program today? Perhaps this program would only suit your organization after a few years of consistent work.

In the beginning, it is very important to have a good analysis of the basis you are resisting in creating and nurturing a Mentoring culture in your business.

You will not create it in a day or a week. But if you start today, you’ll build faster than if you start in half a year.

What is the situation of your organization in the field of Mentoring?

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WHAT TO ACHIEVE FROM MENTORING PROGRAM? Part II

Engagement & Respect

WHAT TO ACHIEVE FROM MENTORING PROGRAM? Part II

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

 

My friend, reviewing her daily routine in recent months, she remembers having a particularly large amount of work, that they were not reduced during the quarantine, and that they have to be done in a shorter time than usual, depending on the situation. And she added that such a shorter deadline is likely to remain after the quarantine as the employees handle their work. But they are a little sad, they have little motivation to try and do.

As I read her letter, it quickly connects with the thoughts expressed during many of my interviews with employees, that it is very important for them to feel that their work is valued, respected, their comments are understandable, noticeable.

Engagement in organization

As Kristie Rogers states, “Show your employees that they are valued and your business will flourish”

Employee engagement is one of the goals. Most organizations declare that they seek it. They are looking for ways, but still spinning in a vicious circle. Those employees seem to be so stubborn and unwilling to get engaged in any way.

Whatever you think, most employees want it. To be involved, be part of the organization. They want an environment that helps them achieve organizational results where they feel psychologically safe and supported. And as a result, they are determined to donate more than one hour to the prosperous organization in which they are working. But they must also feel that what they are doing is valued by top executives, that each particular employee is part of the success of the company.

Owed and Earned Respect

According to K. Rogers, her research reveals that employees distinguish between two expressions of appreciation, respect –OWED (by itself) and EARNED.

The first, the OWED respect, is the same for all employees, available by itself. It responds to the need for all of us to feel involved, belonging to a particular group, to feel valuable. The second, the EARNED respect, is our recognition for some of our competencies, qualities, tasks performed. It responds to our need to be valued for our good work.

 

Creating a respectful environment in the organization, ensuring both of these types of respect promotes the personal growth of each employee. Those employees who feel that they are respected, their activities and results are valued, are loyal to the organization, achieve better results, prefer to cooperate with each other, are more creative, tend to trust the decisions of managers.

Mentoring and Engagement

Employees engagement is one of the answers to the question “What we achieve from Mentoring program?

Mentoring helps to create exactly the kind of environment that is respectful of each other. By developing the competencies needed for mentors, by constantly mentoring, we naturally transfer all these skills into our daily activities. By creating a Mentoring culture, we expand our acquaintance network, which leads us to smoother collaboration, support, help each other, easier agreements, and the discovery of more effective solutions.

When evaluating the engagement of your organization’s staff, consider the existence of both of these types of respect and Mentoring culture. This will help in selecting or refining measures to encourage employee engagement.

 

Are the staff in your organization feel engaged?

Let me a message 🙂

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WHAT MAKES A GOOD MENTORING PROGRAM? Part I

Mentor and mentee

WHAT MAKES A GOOD MENTORING PROGRAM? Part I

LEADERSHIP

 

Do you have a mentoring program in your organization?

Do you also have a mentoring program manager?

I invite you to think about what we forget too often in Mentoring.

 Mentoring Leadership

This is an essential thing that I researched in my Master’s thesis. This work is probably my first written source, which also captures my thoughts on Mentoring Culture. The work was defended in 2014, but the culture of mentoring haunted me much longer. Like the perception of what kind of mistake we as leaders keep repeating in mentoring.

Process Management

All leaders are well aware that processes need to be managed. No, I will not talk about process management. However, neither ten years ago nor now do I understand why leaders do not pay enough attention to the management of the Mentoring process. And yet they expect results.

Mentoring Program Manager

The role played by the third party, the Mentoring program manager, is highlighted by most authors writing on the topic of Mentoring.

However, after many of my interviews with both the leaders of the organizations themselves and with the Mentors and mentee, the picture emerges that the focus is on mentoring pairing. And here it stops. As if that’s all. Here is a mentee, here is a mentor assigned to the mentee. Let’s go. Start mentoring. Create benefits for each other and the organization. So they start creating.

 Usually they do it the way they know it. What if there are 20, 30 or more Mentors in an organization?… And is there no program manager or he is not very active? Or the process itself and his own functions are not very clear to him? Then we will have not a single purposeful Mentoring process in the organization leading to the desired result, but many different small Mentoring processes. Some will be more successful, others not very successful. Some will be closer to the goal we hope to achieve, while others will fall far short of the arc.

The Mentoring program manager is one of the most important factors in determining the success of mentoring programs.

Whether an organization is implementing a Mentoring program or fostering a Mentoring culture will lead to those promised Mentoring benefits is highly dependent on who will be the guide who will lead to that goal.

 

 

That was just one parameter that let us to expect to have an effective mentoring program. Next time I will look at other components.

So take a look at your own mentoring programs.

Haven’t you lost any component that would lead to your success?

Do not hesitate to let me a message 🙂

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