Mentorship Program Relevance Today: Against a backdrop of shifting mentee requirement
This is the final installment in a series on mentorship where Rodger ties the series together by talking about mentorship program relevance today.
Related:
- Is Sponsorship the new Mentorship?
- Is Corporate Mentorship Passé? By Rodger Harding
- How to break-up with a Mentor! by Rodger Harding
From my vantage point, managing and participating in diverse mentorship programs, there seems to have been a gradual, but distinct shift in mentee program requirement.
Two general mentee groupings have prominence:
- Middle-management individuals who feel trapped in a career path and are looking to explore options more in line with dreams and aspirations
- Younger folk, who have been unable to break into the desired career field/preferred niche activity – It would appear that early on positions were taken from a position of necessity/availability, rather than choice
Mentor Identification
To meet the above requirements, identifying available mentors willing to take the time to comprehend and acknowledge mentee frustration/emotional realities is a consistent and increasing challenge. Similarly securing qualified mentors, who are available, often means that coordinators have to leverage personal relationships, oftentimes outside the orbit of the various industry parameters, rather than drawing on a fixed mentor resource pool.
As a guideline, a mentor will ideally have the ability to:
- Identify and understand mentee potential
- Foster an open/trusting partner relationship
- Acknowledge/validate mentee excellence via direct/uninhibited feedback
- Enable the way forward – Provide clues/suggestions that give subjective meaning to the mentee situation, in contrast with objective market/workplace realities
- Step back from outcomes – Mentorship is not coaching…Program benefits will ideally stimulate mentee action immediately or in time to come…
Photo of Rodger Harding
Action Items/Issues/Concerns
It is important to emphasize the importance of investing in a thorough assessment and a meaningful mentor/mentee match. A successful program hinges on hands on assessment, as opposed to abstract matches made without direct participant interviews/contact.
This process brings several ongoing housekeeping points to the forefront:
- The ability of a mentee to articulate strength/weakness, as well as definite program goals. There appears to be an increasing and unrealistic expectation that a mentor will somehow mind-read, dig, or delve into the mentee circumstance
- Mentors are oftentimes apprehensive as to their ability to meet the challenge, especially in the face of an inarticulate mentee
- Both mentors and mentees are on occasion, despite intense briefing, unable to address relationship glitches or misunderstandings. Oftentimes partnerships simply dissolve, without issues being addressed.
- A worthy program coordinator in this instance will have, more often than not, to assume the role of mediator, prompter, prodder …
- As is so often seen today, busy schedules/priorities result in long periods between partner communications
Suggestions to ensure ongoing Mentorship Program Relevance
- Vigorously market the mentorship program as a leadership initiative. This would mean that mentees with distinct leadership potential will be matched with senior mentors
- Orientation programs for mentors would go a long way to building mentor confidence and will harness their awareness and potential participation in the corporate program
- Promote the role of mentor within senior areas of influence; (Sadly, busy seniors oftentimes tend not to respond, even in the negative, to requests to participate as mentor)
- Include self-awareness, negotiation and leadership initiatives, linked to the mentorship program, in the roster of professional development offerings. Both subjects are, in my opinion, excellent vehicles to bridge core gaps in individuals striving to achieve their deserved place in the workforce!
About Rodger Harding
Rodger is a dynamic, free thinking, Business Leadership Consultant. His fierce belief in who/what people are, rather than who/what they are expected to be, has resulted in a consistent demand for his career transition and mentorship expertise from a diverse client base.
His thriving Toronto based practice draws on an extensive business, legal, diplomatic and military experience accumulated internationally over two decades. His fields of expertise are Leadership, Career Transition, Corporate Intelligence Awareness and Conflict Management/Mediation.
Rodger is proud of his ability to access individual contribution within the larger framework of business objectives. His ability to interact effectively with people from all walks of life derives from an interesting career evolution that has ranged from the sophisticated diplomatic lifestyle of Paris, France, to the survival of death threats from mercenaries in the Indian Ocean, as well as the management of multi-million dollar aid projects.
At all times, he highlights the unique role of the individual to contribute to the ongoing evolution of good business.
To find out more about his successful Toronto based consultancy, visit www.HardingIntl.com