responsibilities. This system can be used as a supplement to formal training and orientation programs. Team Mentoring. Mentoring has traditionally consisted of a two-person relationship, where each person offers assistance in a specific area. With team mentors, a specific area is discussed by each person. Other companies offer formal mentoring teams made up of an employee from human resources, department managers and senior partners. Each of these individuals will play a role in coaching a group of protégés. Consultant Mentors. Some firms do not have employees that possess a specific skill set or range of experience that is needed to assist newcomers. Therefore, businesses sometimes will seek out the knowledge of a consultant to help expand their middle managers who are seeking to expand or take on new roles. When choosing to use this particular program, a consultant should be balanced through mentoring from the inside of the organization. It is an especially important mix for individuals in financial departments because they are required to be familiar with organizational issues on a grander scale and of the corporate culture’s nuances. Reverse Mentors. It could go without saying that there is no substitute for learning from individuals with experience; however, some firms have discovered the benefits of infusing their corporate strategies with a new form of knowledge. Employees that are at the beginning of their career are able to provide new perspectives on newly implemented products and services, as well as younger markets that will prove beneficial. They also may be more computer and technology savvy.
CREATING A PROGRAM Mentoring relationships can be established and succeed on an informal basis, but there are several advantages to
creating a formal system. A formal program will allow for performance based goals and boundaries to be set. Determining the scope and how the program will be managed is the first step in creating a mentoring system. An organization should begin by evaluating their current and long-term needs. For example, the company could have a department that has recently suffered a high degree of downsizing. Through the creation of a mentoring system in this area, there is the potential to keep staff and improve recruiting efforts. It also allows for individual employees to greater concentrate on career development. No discrimination should be shown when choosing program participants; however, there may be cases where mentoring is considered especially needed. A company may be worried about recruitment so they will want to, at the beginning, concentrate the program toward entry-level staff. Sometimes by pairing a more experienced manager with a newly hired junior employee, it will better help the new person acclimate to the company. The coordination of a mentoring program is dependent on the size of an organization. A small company has the ability to create a companywide program that can be managed by one person; however, a larger firm may need to implement a program solely for individual departments. The beginning step to setting up a mentoring program is to establish a roster of potential individuals to be mentors that would be both capable and willing to participate.
BEING A PROTEGE Through mentoring, a junior staffer receives personal attention he or she will need to round out their professional and interpersonal skills. When starting at a firm, more and more applicants are inquiring about the various benefits and the corporate culture of the company when they are in a job interview. A job candidate may actually decide to accept a job at a firm that has a mentoring program because they feel like they will not get lost within the large organization. By joining a mentoring program, mentors and protégés have the opportunity to develop a long lasting relationship. I am sure if you were to ask many senior-level managers who they feel deserves credit for helping to assist them rise to their success, they would credit some kind of mentor. In fact, individuals that are mentored often go on in their careers to become amazing mentors themselves, helping to pass on the best from their own experiences. - continued on page 47