How to guide: Setting up a mentoring scheme

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With men found to be much more likely than women to be mentored by a senior leader within their business, now is the time to ensure that your organisation is creating equal opportunities within this essential growth mechanic.  Our guide shows you how to set up a mentoring scheme.

1. Have a clear vision of the outcomes required and scope of the programme

Things to think about

  1. Who is the mentoring programme aimed at?
  2. What benefits is the organisation expecting from the implementation of the programme?
  3. Ideally, who are your mentors and why?  What value do they bring to the mentoring relationship?

 

Tips

  • Is the mentoring programme for new starters to take them from induction through their first year?  Or new managers, to help them with the nuances of managing other people?  Alternatively for senior executives to get them ready for board positions?
  • Will you choose who are mentees and mentors or will they volunteer, if they volunteer, who will you ‘weed out’ unsuitable candidates, if required?

 

2. create Clearly defined programme expectations

Things to think about

  1. Programme design includes outcomes for all participants, (mentors and mentees)
  2. The programme has a planned structure

 

Tips

  • A successful and sustainable programme has benefits for both parties
  • How often do you envisage your mentors and mentees meeting?  Is the relationship time bound or outcome based?

 

3. design a Matching process

Things to think about

  1. What criteria will you use for matching mentors with mentees?

 

Tips

  • This can be done as simply as via a questionnaire and will depend on the programme’s overall aim

 

4. check The programme has sufficient resource to run sustainably

Things to think about

  1. Resource allocation is monitored and amended accordingly based on the outcomes
  2. A review of wider goals, targets and job specs is carried out to ensure mentors and mentees have time and ideally performance indicators allocated to the success of the relationship

 

Tips

  • Do you have a mentoring programme co-ordinator?  Do they have enough time to carry out the job?
  • Help your mentors and mentees manage their time by clearly structuring their job descriptions and targets to levy the appropriate priority to the programme.

 

5. ensure the Communication flow is managed

Things to think about

  1. Mentors will require support in the first year of their mentoring relationship, who will provide this?
  2. Mentees must be given the opportunity to feedback in a safe environment if they are not achieving outcomes from the relationship or they have concerns.
  3. Mentors must be given the opportunity to discuss, safely, any concerns which fall outside of the mentoring relationships

 

Tips

  • Will the mentor’s support be delivered in peer to peer sessions, this can be helpful and can lessen drain on organisational resources
  • Mentees may have a range of concerns about the mentoring relationship, who will deal with these, remembering that their line manager may always not be appropriate.
  • Who can Mentors raise their concerns with?  And what will be the response in terms of situations which fall outside of the traditional mentoring relationship, such as dramatic evens and/or workplace bullying?
  • How will the organisation/mentoring co-ordinator deal with a problem in the mentoring relationship which could affect either participant’s professional standing/reputation?

 

6. Develop A code of conduct

Things to think about

  1. The programme has a code of conduct which covers professionalism, confidentiality and ethical behaviour, for both parties, and anything else required uniquely for your organisation/industry sector.

 

Tips

  • This can be written in line with  your organisational policies and should form part of the mentoring agreement

 

7. put systems in place for Programme Evaluation

Things to think about

  1. Systems are put in place for continual evaluation that the programme is meeting its targets, and a measurement tool as to its effectiveness against the programme’s outcomes and expectations
  2. A regular review of the programme is carried out and improvements made where required

 

Tips

  • What platform will be used for gathering feedback, will you take some feedback anonymously?  This may not only be useful for feedback on the Mentor/Mentee but also in terms of how the wider programme is viewed in the organisation.
  • How will evaluation of the programme feed into continual improvement plans?
  • What will a successful programme look like to the business?  Less spend on training budgets, quicker assimilation into company culture, heightened 360 degree or performance review scores?

 

Based on standards from the International Mentoring Association

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