If you're losing good people, look to their immediate supervisor. More than any other single reason, he is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he's the reason why they quit, taking their knowledge, experience and contacts with them. Often, straight to the competition. "People leave managers not companies," write the authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. "
But i would like to cite an exception. Indians constitute a major chunk of the workforce (both blue collar and white collar) in Gulf Countries. In the past, blue collar workers have been the majority but over the past few years, the percentage of white collar workers have gone up. Many of the people work under tyrannical supervisors or managers but still they stick with the same employer for years. For them, compensation is the only priority and they are willing to undergo any hardship. So why is there an aberration? I invite readers to give their comments..
Monday, December 31, 2007
What's in a Name?
Lots. Interesting designations keep staff motivated!
Title works and keeps employees in good humour. While the debate on monetary versus job satisfaction as an engagement tool rages on, India Inc, has discovered a novel way not just to keep its flock together, but happy too. Scores of companies are bringing a designation dimension to a corporate framework. Right from engaging top management in various key roles, to motivating and ‘exciting’ employees about the organisation’s charted vision, scores of companies are customising and coming up with offbeat designations to define roles with clarity. And give a notional sense of achievement to the employees in the process. Cisco India has a chief globalisation officer in Wim Elfrink and a senior manager, diversity & inclusion, Tracy Ann Curtis. This reflects Cisco’s global strategy of shifting from a geographical focus to a business management approach focused on skill sets and talents. Not to be left behind, IBM India has a work-life integration leader, Kalpana Veeraraghavan, a diversity leader besides a chief fun-officer. Similarly, Sapient has a director of people success in Binoo Wadhwa and designation like chief brand architect, chief privacy officer, chief competitive officer, to name a few. Some time back, Infosys founder Narayana Murthy’s becoming ‘chief mentor’ has expanded the scope of his role. If mentoring of Mr Murthy’s calibre is aimed at sustaining leadership, the designation that made news recently was ‘gardener’, when Mindtree chief Subroto Bagchi donned the new role to shape the aspirations of the workforce. Analysts see it as an apparent attempt to keep excitement alive. “Designations are all about ego massage,” says EMA partners International managing partner K Sudarshan. “After a point, the fatigue of designations begins to set in and one needs to be innovative to keep it at bay.” Besides, in young organisations where the workforce is energetic and full of life, these kind of initiatives help attract attention. Add to this is ever-diversifying companies and newer areas of operation, which calls for focused attention to people issues, like work-life balance, globalisation, diversity and privacy. A cross section of people say that designations are a motivational and exciting tool that can help employees to be in sync with the organisation’s vision and mission. “Exciting designations are fundamental to every organisation and mentoring or developing leadership is an internal challenge for companies if they want to sustain their vision,” says Take Solutions’ vision holder-cum-vice chairman H R Srinivasan. For over six years now, since the organisation came into being, Srinivasan has been the vision holder. The vice chairman designation was added against his name a year ago. But titles gain more relevance, especially at the lower levels within organisations. “Designations like chief impression officer (for a receptionist) or a car manager (instead of a driver), are ways of showing respect to the positions and functions,” says Blueshift chairman Sankaran P Raghunathan. “Such designations also act as motivators as roles like that of a receptionist are the ones that create the first and lasting impression for a company. Assigning designations like front leading officer or a chief impression officer will work much better and motivate employees, than fancy titles, as the jobs too get the required significance.” Two years ago, Chennai-based GRT hotel chain introduced the designation loss-prevention manager to lend more respectability and accountability to the security function.
- Article by Hemamalini Venkatraman & Shreya Biswas
Title works and keeps employees in good humour. While the debate on monetary versus job satisfaction as an engagement tool rages on, India Inc, has discovered a novel way not just to keep its flock together, but happy too. Scores of companies are bringing a designation dimension to a corporate framework. Right from engaging top management in various key roles, to motivating and ‘exciting’ employees about the organisation’s charted vision, scores of companies are customising and coming up with offbeat designations to define roles with clarity. And give a notional sense of achievement to the employees in the process. Cisco India has a chief globalisation officer in Wim Elfrink and a senior manager, diversity & inclusion, Tracy Ann Curtis. This reflects Cisco’s global strategy of shifting from a geographical focus to a business management approach focused on skill sets and talents. Not to be left behind, IBM India has a work-life integration leader, Kalpana Veeraraghavan, a diversity leader besides a chief fun-officer. Similarly, Sapient has a director of people success in Binoo Wadhwa and designation like chief brand architect, chief privacy officer, chief competitive officer, to name a few. Some time back, Infosys founder Narayana Murthy’s becoming ‘chief mentor’ has expanded the scope of his role. If mentoring of Mr Murthy’s calibre is aimed at sustaining leadership, the designation that made news recently was ‘gardener’, when Mindtree chief Subroto Bagchi donned the new role to shape the aspirations of the workforce. Analysts see it as an apparent attempt to keep excitement alive. “Designations are all about ego massage,” says EMA partners International managing partner K Sudarshan. “After a point, the fatigue of designations begins to set in and one needs to be innovative to keep it at bay.” Besides, in young organisations where the workforce is energetic and full of life, these kind of initiatives help attract attention. Add to this is ever-diversifying companies and newer areas of operation, which calls for focused attention to people issues, like work-life balance, globalisation, diversity and privacy. A cross section of people say that designations are a motivational and exciting tool that can help employees to be in sync with the organisation’s vision and mission. “Exciting designations are fundamental to every organisation and mentoring or developing leadership is an internal challenge for companies if they want to sustain their vision,” says Take Solutions’ vision holder-cum-vice chairman H R Srinivasan. For over six years now, since the organisation came into being, Srinivasan has been the vision holder. The vice chairman designation was added against his name a year ago. But titles gain more relevance, especially at the lower levels within organisations. “Designations like chief impression officer (for a receptionist) or a car manager (instead of a driver), are ways of showing respect to the positions and functions,” says Blueshift chairman Sankaran P Raghunathan. “Such designations also act as motivators as roles like that of a receptionist are the ones that create the first and lasting impression for a company. Assigning designations like front leading officer or a chief impression officer will work much better and motivate employees, than fancy titles, as the jobs too get the required significance.” Two years ago, Chennai-based GRT hotel chain introduced the designation loss-prevention manager to lend more respectability and accountability to the security function.
- Article by Hemamalini Venkatraman & Shreya Biswas
Can Google Stay Fun?
Making Google a great place to work has been the plan from the get-go. Co-founder Sergey Brin reveals that even as the company is supersizing itself, it's doing all it can to stay Googley.
Google is unabashedly engineering-centric. Doesn't that irritate the nonengineers?
The fact that we are fairly engineering centric has been misinterpreted to mean that somehow the other functions are less important. The fact is that we want everybody in the company to be innovative. You can see that in our legal or financial work - with the IPO, for example - and with our compensation systems.
Google seems to enjoy thumbing its nose at the outside world. True?
It's important for people to always ask, "Why not?" What's accepted is often arbitrary.
As it gets bigger, does Google risk becoming less zany?
Definitely. At the same time, we have far more resources. If we decided that we need to have a big island for some operations tomorrow, we could afford to buy an island. We have no such plans. But the resources do give us opportunities.
What types of people fail at Google?
I think you have to be flexible. For example, we don't usually tell people what they're working on until they show up, because our priorities might change. So somebody who's really obsessed and needs to know, 'I'm going to be working on X' probably wouldn't enjoy it.
What happens to the culture when Google no longer has the wind at its back?
I think we're going to have our cycles. There's no getting around it. But if you really believe in your mission and your values, as we do, then you ride through the tough times.
Google is unabashedly engineering-centric. Doesn't that irritate the nonengineers?
The fact that we are fairly engineering centric has been misinterpreted to mean that somehow the other functions are less important. The fact is that we want everybody in the company to be innovative. You can see that in our legal or financial work - with the IPO, for example - and with our compensation systems.
Google seems to enjoy thumbing its nose at the outside world. True?
It's important for people to always ask, "Why not?" What's accepted is often arbitrary.
As it gets bigger, does Google risk becoming less zany?
Definitely. At the same time, we have far more resources. If we decided that we need to have a big island for some operations tomorrow, we could afford to buy an island. We have no such plans. But the resources do give us opportunities.
What types of people fail at Google?
I think you have to be flexible. For example, we don't usually tell people what they're working on until they show up, because our priorities might change. So somebody who's really obsessed and needs to know, 'I'm going to be working on X' probably wouldn't enjoy it.
What happens to the culture when Google no longer has the wind at its back?
I think we're going to have our cycles. There's no getting around it. But if you really believe in your mission and your values, as we do, then you ride through the tough times.
Attrition Blues
Hema was skilled, punctual and efficient and had the right qualifications for the job, so she was hired to do it. By the third week, she began to look for a new spot. Despite the work being what she wanted to do, the pay being just right and the company feeling she was doing it well enough, something irked her enough to put in her papers within six months. The company management still doesn't know why she left and is busy looking for her replacement.
It's a fact that it's people that add value to organizations. It's also a fact that humans are a restless species who, unlike the immovable Banyan Tree, cannot stay rooted in one place. People need to move on for one reason or another and the organization stands to lose. Attrition is inevitable but a high rate of employee turnover spells `Unproductivity' in capitals. If a company gets associated with the Here today, gone tomorrow syndrome, it will be inferred that there is something wrong with itself and not with those ships that have passed in the night!
Agony of Attrition
Apart from causing the company a monetary loss and breaks in their day-to-day operations, attrition contributes to knowledge transfer, which is a loss that is horrific and adversely affects business. In the war for talent, the company suffers many casualties and requires focused strategy to keep workers on the job. Why employees are jumping the ship is a matter for concern - is something wrong with the ship, the captain or the weather?
Attacking Attrition
To deal with employee turnover, the first step is to find out what's making them leave and what can be done to stop them from leaving.
Money matters: Could it be the pay? Maybe the organization did not follow up on the promised appraisal and salary hike. Maybe it's time to raise the bar for the green-circled employee and win his loyalty. Maybe it's time to lay on the perks.
Pressure levels: Too much or too little to do? Some employees just can't take the pressure. Others leave because they are underused. Match performance expectations with ability. Create opportunities for those who can scale up but avoid overloading the scales.
Growing pains: What are the growth prospects you offer? Make sure that the employees are learning and building experience. They should have the experience of adding to their skills through work, training and responsibilities.
Ego massage: Self- esteem is a big key and HR should focus on giving credit to achievers. Employees feel they are valued and build organizational loyalty. Have in-house counseling and workshops on soft skills to increase effective communication and build self-awareness.
The battle against attrition should start from every employee's first day of work. A wise company could begin with a flower in a soda bottle as a welcome and carry it forward with performance appraisals, mentoring programmes, counseling, smart training and appropriate incentives and rewards. It's all about instilling a sense of loyalty and drive in employees to keep them on the job.
It's a fact that it's people that add value to organizations. It's also a fact that humans are a restless species who, unlike the immovable Banyan Tree, cannot stay rooted in one place. People need to move on for one reason or another and the organization stands to lose. Attrition is inevitable but a high rate of employee turnover spells `Unproductivity' in capitals. If a company gets associated with the Here today, gone tomorrow syndrome, it will be inferred that there is something wrong with itself and not with those ships that have passed in the night!
Agony of Attrition
Apart from causing the company a monetary loss and breaks in their day-to-day operations, attrition contributes to knowledge transfer, which is a loss that is horrific and adversely affects business. In the war for talent, the company suffers many casualties and requires focused strategy to keep workers on the job. Why employees are jumping the ship is a matter for concern - is something wrong with the ship, the captain or the weather?
Attacking Attrition
To deal with employee turnover, the first step is to find out what's making them leave and what can be done to stop them from leaving.
Money matters: Could it be the pay? Maybe the organization did not follow up on the promised appraisal and salary hike. Maybe it's time to raise the bar for the green-circled employee and win his loyalty. Maybe it's time to lay on the perks.
Pressure levels: Too much or too little to do? Some employees just can't take the pressure. Others leave because they are underused. Match performance expectations with ability. Create opportunities for those who can scale up but avoid overloading the scales.
Growing pains: What are the growth prospects you offer? Make sure that the employees are learning and building experience. They should have the experience of adding to their skills through work, training and responsibilities.
Ego massage: Self- esteem is a big key and HR should focus on giving credit to achievers. Employees feel they are valued and build organizational loyalty. Have in-house counseling and workshops on soft skills to increase effective communication and build self-awareness.
The battle against attrition should start from every employee's first day of work. A wise company could begin with a flower in a soda bottle as a welcome and carry it forward with performance appraisals, mentoring programmes, counseling, smart training and appropriate incentives and rewards. It's all about instilling a sense of loyalty and drive in employees to keep them on the job.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
How Mentoring Benefits both Mentor and Mentee
You probably knew that mentoring benefits mentees. But did you realize it benefits both partners?
An effective mentoring relationship involves a special bond of friendship and trust. Both partners must contribute their best efforts for a successful outcome.
Mentoring benefits both mentors and mentees by exerting a positive influence on work ethics, professional development, leadership skills, and motivation.
First, mentoring has a positive influence on work ethics. Research suggests that mentees tend to emulate the discipline and work ethics demonstrated by their mentors. An interesting side effect is that modeling good work habits can be beneficial to the mentor as well.
Consider the following case:
"My mentor modeled disciplined work habits and a strong work ethic. After working closely with her for several months, I found myself adopting her behaviors."
"I tried to set a good example for my mentee and ended up operating at a higher performance level myself."
Second, mentoring contributes to the mentee's professional development. The beauty of the close relationship between mentors and mentees is that it facilitates individualized professional development that contributes to the mentee's career goals. Another advantage is that mentees receive on-the-job training tailored to the demands of the job.
A mentor can help the mentee conduct a comprehensive skills assessment, which includes the mentee's self-assessment along with evaluations from his co-workers, supervisor, and mentor. Any of these alone is not enough to produce an accurate assessment.
The mentor and mentee work together to prepare the mentee's professional development plan, which is based on the mentee's career goals and the current demands of his job. Often, the mentee drafts the plan and takes it to his mentor for suggestions.
The mentee's training is based on her professional development plan. She may receive training directly from her mentor, other company experts, or outside sources. Her training shouldn't be limited to just what her mentor can provide.
A third benefit of mentoring relationships is that they develop leadership skills in both mentors and mentees. The mentor models leadership skills in her interactions with her mentee, giving the mentor additional opportunities to hone her own skills. At the same time, the mentee has a chance to observe and learn from the mentor's example and begins to demonstrate leadership skills of his own.
Meanwhile, mentors often find their own careers revitalized by the challenges of mentoring. Being exposed to the new ideas and enthusiasm of mentees also can rekindle passion for their work.
When mentoring relationships are working well, both partners invest time and energy, and both realize a return on their investment.
An effective mentoring relationship involves a special bond of friendship and trust. Both partners must contribute their best efforts for a successful outcome.
Mentoring benefits both mentors and mentees by exerting a positive influence on work ethics, professional development, leadership skills, and motivation.
First, mentoring has a positive influence on work ethics. Research suggests that mentees tend to emulate the discipline and work ethics demonstrated by their mentors. An interesting side effect is that modeling good work habits can be beneficial to the mentor as well.
Consider the following case:
"My mentor modeled disciplined work habits and a strong work ethic. After working closely with her for several months, I found myself adopting her behaviors."
"I tried to set a good example for my mentee and ended up operating at a higher performance level myself."
Second, mentoring contributes to the mentee's professional development. The beauty of the close relationship between mentors and mentees is that it facilitates individualized professional development that contributes to the mentee's career goals. Another advantage is that mentees receive on-the-job training tailored to the demands of the job.
A mentor can help the mentee conduct a comprehensive skills assessment, which includes the mentee's self-assessment along with evaluations from his co-workers, supervisor, and mentor. Any of these alone is not enough to produce an accurate assessment.
The mentor and mentee work together to prepare the mentee's professional development plan, which is based on the mentee's career goals and the current demands of his job. Often, the mentee drafts the plan and takes it to his mentor for suggestions.
The mentee's training is based on her professional development plan. She may receive training directly from her mentor, other company experts, or outside sources. Her training shouldn't be limited to just what her mentor can provide.
A third benefit of mentoring relationships is that they develop leadership skills in both mentors and mentees. The mentor models leadership skills in her interactions with her mentee, giving the mentor additional opportunities to hone her own skills. At the same time, the mentee has a chance to observe and learn from the mentor's example and begins to demonstrate leadership skills of his own.
Meanwhile, mentors often find their own careers revitalized by the challenges of mentoring. Being exposed to the new ideas and enthusiasm of mentees also can rekindle passion for their work.
When mentoring relationships are working well, both partners invest time and energy, and both realize a return on their investment.
Benefits of eMentoring
Use this Guide to review the potential benefits each group may gain from e-Mentoring
The Organization
The Organization
- Employee Loyalty
- Increased productivity
- Improved internal communication
- Better skilled staff
The e-Mentor
- Improved leadership skills
- The satisfaction of guiding the company's success
- Pride in sharing the work experience with others
The e-Mentee
- Individualized training
- Better job skills
- Increased chances of promotion
- Bigger professional network
Ending a Mentoring Relationship
Make a checkmark after these questions if they apply to the relationship between you and your mentor. If you've checked off everything on this list, then it's time to end your mentoring relationship.
- You've achieved the goals listed on your professional development plan.
- You've made a list of new goals on your professional development plan.
- Your mentor can't help you with your new goals.
- You don't feel like you're learning much when working with your mentor.
- You've learned more from others you've met through the mentoring program than you have from your mentor.
- You know you can still ask your mentor for advice when you need it.
How Mentoring Improves Recruiting and Retention
Recruiting and training qualified employees is costly. How can mentoring help you improve recruitment and retention?
Effective mentoring can keep your human resources department from operating like a revolving door. You can use mentoring to attract recruits and improve their chances of remaining on the job by providing individualized professional development, training updates, and emotional support.
Offering individualized professional development attracts qualified candidates and helps them adjust to the requirements of a new job. First, mentors help their mentees identify training needs by conducting a skills assessment. Mentors and mentees then work together to create a professional development plan. Individualized training might include instruction from the mentor (within his areas of expertise), other company experts, or outside experts or classes. It should not be limited to what the mentor can provide.
Training should include hands-on experience. According to the constructivist learning theory, learning is most effective when the new knowledge and skills are used on the job, allowing the learner to construct meaning for himself within the context of his interactions with others.
Mentoring also facilitates training updates. With technologies becoming obsolete more quickly than ever before, workers in many fields require frequent training updates to stay on the cutting edge.
Finally, mentors improve recruitment and retention by providing emotional support. In today's environment of reorganization and transitory jobs, the friendship, trust, and stability offered by mentors is a welcome prospect for new recruits. Mentors help new employees adjust by providing guidance and support in a nonjudgmental and confidential environment. However, mentors should not attempt to be counselors unless they have the necessary credentials.
Your company invests time and money into hiring and training qualified employees. Mentoring can help you get a return on your investment. You can use mentoring to attract recruits and increase their likelihood of remaining on the job by providing individualized professional development, training updates, and emotional support.
Effective mentoring can keep your human resources department from operating like a revolving door. You can use mentoring to attract recruits and improve their chances of remaining on the job by providing individualized professional development, training updates, and emotional support.
Offering individualized professional development attracts qualified candidates and helps them adjust to the requirements of a new job. First, mentors help their mentees identify training needs by conducting a skills assessment. Mentors and mentees then work together to create a professional development plan. Individualized training might include instruction from the mentor (within his areas of expertise), other company experts, or outside experts or classes. It should not be limited to what the mentor can provide.
Training should include hands-on experience. According to the constructivist learning theory, learning is most effective when the new knowledge and skills are used on the job, allowing the learner to construct meaning for himself within the context of his interactions with others.
Mentoring also facilitates training updates. With technologies becoming obsolete more quickly than ever before, workers in many fields require frequent training updates to stay on the cutting edge.
Finally, mentors improve recruitment and retention by providing emotional support. In today's environment of reorganization and transitory jobs, the friendship, trust, and stability offered by mentors is a welcome prospect for new recruits. Mentors help new employees adjust by providing guidance and support in a nonjudgmental and confidential environment. However, mentors should not attempt to be counselors unless they have the necessary credentials.
Your company invests time and money into hiring and training qualified employees. Mentoring can help you get a return on your investment. You can use mentoring to attract recruits and increase their likelihood of remaining on the job by providing individualized professional development, training updates, and emotional support.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Offering a Mentoring Program
Four Guidelines for offering a mentoring program
1) Base the program on voluntary participation
Dos - Have a mentee create a list of her goals and needs
Dos - Ask her to review a list of each potential mentor's skills and areas of expertise
Dos - The mentee should choose at least two possible mentors, just in case her first choice declines for some reason
Don'ts - Don't let the mentee make her choices until she's had the opportunity to compare her list to the mentor's lists.
3) Allow the mentee to choose a mentor
Dos - Accept the mentee's choices.
Dos - The best way to respond is to tell the mentee that the choice of mentor is hers alone to make.
Dos - When the mentee makes her choice, tell her you will contact her preferred mentor -- her "first choice" as it were -- as soon as possible.
Dos - When you contact the potential mentor, do so without the mentee present.
Don'ts - Don't make the choice for the mentee.
Don'ts - Don't recommend a mentor, even if the mentee asks.
Don'ts - Don't express your opinion if the mentee makes a choice that you disagree with.
4) Give the potential mentor the right to accept or decline
Dos - When talking to the mentee, you need to make it clear that the mentor might decline. You should assure the mentee that if the potential mentor declines, you will then ask the second mentor she chose.
Dos - When you contact the potential mentor, give him the mentee's list of needs and goals.
Dos - Let the potential mentor decide whether to accept or decline the mentee's invitation.
Don'ts - Don't say anything that will influence the mentor's decision.
Don'ts - Don't pressure the mentor in any way.
1) Base the program on voluntary participation
Dos - It's ok to discuss the benefits of the mentoring program
Dos - Tell potential participants that it won't be held against them if they choose not to participate in the program
Don'ts - In no way should you pressure anyone -- mentor or mentee -- to participate
2) Provide an opportunity to match needs with skillsDos - Have a mentee create a list of her goals and needs
Dos - Ask her to review a list of each potential mentor's skills and areas of expertise
Dos - The mentee should choose at least two possible mentors, just in case her first choice declines for some reason
Don'ts - Don't let the mentee make her choices until she's had the opportunity to compare her list to the mentor's lists.
3) Allow the mentee to choose a mentor
Dos - Accept the mentee's choices.
Dos - The best way to respond is to tell the mentee that the choice of mentor is hers alone to make.
Dos - When the mentee makes her choice, tell her you will contact her preferred mentor -- her "first choice" as it were -- as soon as possible.
Dos - When you contact the potential mentor, do so without the mentee present.
Don'ts - Don't make the choice for the mentee.
Don'ts - Don't recommend a mentor, even if the mentee asks.
Don'ts - Don't express your opinion if the mentee makes a choice that you disagree with.
4) Give the potential mentor the right to accept or decline
Dos - When talking to the mentee, you need to make it clear that the mentor might decline. You should assure the mentee that if the potential mentor declines, you will then ask the second mentor she chose.
Dos - When you contact the potential mentor, give him the mentee's list of needs and goals.
Dos - Let the potential mentor decide whether to accept or decline the mentee's invitation.
Don'ts - Don't say anything that will influence the mentor's decision.
Don'ts - Don't pressure the mentor in any way.
Understanding Mentoring
A mentor is defined in dictionaries as a trusted and wise counselor or teacher.
In business, traditionally a mentoring relationship has been between a senior member of a company, the mentor, and a more junior member, the mentee. The mentor takes an interest in the younger person, offering advice, coaching, and lots of Socratic questioning to guide the mentee's career.
Mentoring is a crucial component of the learning organization's culture and its devotion to sharing knowledge. Mentors can help instill learning and knowledge attitudes needed in a learning culture. They can also model coping skills for dealing with constant change.
Constant change has left many people with no idea of how to carve out a career path. Mentoring helps put skills and opportunities into perspective.
Becoming a mentor
Perhaps you're thinking about becoming a mentor. Below are some reasons people give for being a mentor:
Ø It helps a promising person.
Ø It helps the company.
Ø It's a form of service.
Ø It makes you influential.
Ø It's a conduit for wisdom that might get lost.
Ø It creates personal growth.
It keeps you young and stimulated.
Or perhaps you're thinking about becoming a mentee. There's a lot of research showing that a mentoring relationship leads to early career advancement, higher income, career mobility, and greater job satisfaction for the mentee.
Learning organizations need mentoring programs. Studies show that mentoring leads to performance improvement. And for today's self-directed learners, mentors are resources for information not available elsewhere.
Mentoring programs
Companies have recognized the benefits of mentoring and have tried to create formal programs based on what has traditionally been an informal process. This has not always worked.
Formal mentors are less willing to take risks on behalf of their mentees. However, even formal programs have their benefits, and there are specific things a learning organization can do to create successful mentoring programs.
The following are some things that organizations can do to promote mentoring:
Design formal programs to emulate informal ones: Traditionally, mentors and mentees came together by choice. Some common bond would draw them together. Let mentors and mentees choose each other, if possible.
Don't make mentoring compulsory: Again, choice needs to be the driving force in a mentorship.
Build in reward systems: Both mentors and mentees may need incentives to participate. Special recognition programs or opportunities to discuss accomplishments are needed.
Use creative approaches: Ideas such as seminars, where groups of mentors and mentees meet together frequently, are being used successfully.
Technology and mentoring
Technology has enabled a creative approach to mentoring being used by many individuals and companies.
Online mentoring is now a viable option, using both synchronous and asynchronous methods. Real-time chat rooms, led by experts in the field, are becoming more popular as Internet technology becomes more familiar. Asynchronous methods, such as e-mail, make it possible for experts to respond within 24 hours to individual questions sent at any time.
Traditional mentoring is still important for an individual's career development, but other options, such as online mentoring and EPSSs, may have more performance-based advantages for this fast-paced business world. Learning organizations should provide both of these options for their knowledge workers.
Does Mentoring Work?
Usually organizations subscribe to mentoring with the perceived end result in mind but unfortunately most of the mentoring relationships end without meeting the objective or goal. It is a huge waste if you take into account the time spent by the mentor, mentee and the HR executive who would have been made responsible for coordinating the mentoring program.
Why does this happen?
There are various reasons which cause mentoring relationships to fail:
a) Senior Sponsorship - This goes just beyond signing a corporate memo! Unless the Senior management walk the talk and extend support, the mentoring practice is bound to have a quick death.
b) Selection criteria - Lack of clear (if any) selection criteria results in a generic confusion over why a candidate has been selected. Is it recognition of ability or deficiency?
c) The need - If the mentoring relationship is not tailored to meet the mentee's needs
d) Setting Mentoring Objective - If there are no clear measurable objectives set at the start of the mentoring relationship, it is bound to fail. Neither the mentor nor the mentee will be clear about what is expected out fo the mentoring relationship.
e) Time Bound - Depending on the set objectives, define the time period by which the objectives can be achieved. If not, the mentoring relationship will not stay focused.
Different management behaviour is required in the start-up phase of a programme to that of maintenance. Getting a mentoring programme off the ground requires good communication, encouragement and active support. Once established a successful mentoring programme will create its own momentum. It certainly isn’t a numbers game; one successful mentoring relationship is better than 20 unproductive ones.
Why does this happen?
There are various reasons which cause mentoring relationships to fail:
a) Senior Sponsorship - This goes just beyond signing a corporate memo! Unless the Senior management walk the talk and extend support, the mentoring practice is bound to have a quick death.
b) Selection criteria - Lack of clear (if any) selection criteria results in a generic confusion over why a candidate has been selected. Is it recognition of ability or deficiency?
c) The need - If the mentoring relationship is not tailored to meet the mentee's needs
d) Setting Mentoring Objective - If there are no clear measurable objectives set at the start of the mentoring relationship, it is bound to fail. Neither the mentor nor the mentee will be clear about what is expected out fo the mentoring relationship.
e) Time Bound - Depending on the set objectives, define the time period by which the objectives can be achieved. If not, the mentoring relationship will not stay focused.
Different management behaviour is required in the start-up phase of a programme to that of maintenance. Getting a mentoring programme off the ground requires good communication, encouragement and active support. Once established a successful mentoring programme will create its own momentum. It certainly isn’t a numbers game; one successful mentoring relationship is better than 20 unproductive ones.
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