Does your company have a mentorship program? If not, studies show it’s worth considering.
I’ve benefited from fantastic mentorship myself and had the privilege to work with other professionals to help them grow. When a mentoring relationship goes well, it’s fulfilling for all parties involved—including the company as well as the employees.
The evidence isn’t just anecdotal, it’s backed by data. Employees with mentors consistently exceed in their roles and grow at their companies, which leads to better retention. Research shows 70% of Fortune 500 companies offer a mentoring program. Most leaders agree mentorship is important and say they are mentors themselves. However, this is still a place where many people and companies struggle.
When a mentoring relationship goes well, it’s fulfilling for all parties involved—including the company as well as the employees.
Finding a strong mentor isn’t easy. Employees often struggle to find mentors even when they’ve identified they want one. After all, junior-level employees outnumber senior-level employees, and time is a finite resource. In a scenario where all junior-level employees have a mentor, senior leaders would be needed to mentor 5 to 10 people, based on company size and structure.
Also, once a connection is made, both parties need to have a strong understanding of expectations to get value out of the relationship. Without this, a mentorship opportunity might become just another meeting on busy calendars without much benefit to either party.
So, how can we overcome the quantity and quality pitfalls?
Break from the traditional: Mentor Circles
Traditional mentorship relationships are one-on-one, but Mentor Circles allow leaders to provide guidance to a larger group of employees. If you’re in a leadership position at a company realizing that you need a mentorship program that scales easily, Mentor Circles are a practical option to consider.
Mentor Circles mitigate challenges that more traditional mentorship programs face.
Mentor Circles mitigate challenges that more traditional mentorship programs face. They have specific and trackable goals, defined expectations for the mentors, and an ability to reach large numbers of employees. This type of program is popular among large companies for these reasons. It is an excellent way for companies to provide a solution for a larger group of employees, helping them feel supported, grow skills, and improve employee retention.
So, how does a Mentor Circle work?
In a Mentor Circle, one leader leads a discussion with up to a dozen employees. By meeting regularly, i.e. once a month, the leader can build a relationship with each of them and give them an opportunity to network with each other.
Circles can be designed to meet a variety of needs. They can be based on job level or type, for example Software Development Engineers in one and Product Managers in the other. They can also focus on topics that interest and impact the employees, like work-life balance or new manager skills. Like with any mentorship relationship, the goals should be established for each session, with everyone involved clear on what they’re learning and why.
Circles should run for a specific amount of time with a set number of meetings. In my experience, no mentorship relationship should go on indefinitely and this rule applies to Circles as well. To give time to build connections, most Mentor Circles run for 6 months or a year.
The best part of Mentor Circles is that you have the opportunity to train your mentors in advance—this is key to bringing in new leaders who otherwise might be hesitant to be a mentor. Through training, you help them be effective Circle Mentors by giving them the information needed to lead a conversation on specific topics. This builds their confidence levels and enables them to effectively mentor, eliminating the chance of them becoming “marginal mentors”.
Undeniable benefits
There is nothing better than a one-on-on mentorship, but these relationships have major limitations. When companies implement Mentor Circles, they capture many of the benefits of traditional mentorship while side-stepping some of the pitfalls.
Mentor Circles capture many of the benefits of traditional mentorship while side-stepping some of the pitfalls.
Mentor Circles address the pain points of traditional mentorship. It allows leaders to meet with a large number of mentees while preserving their time and ensuring that the relationship is focused on specific outcomes. It gives employees who wouldn’t have found a mentor on their own an opportunity to learn from leaders they otherwise wouldn’t have access to. Also, if your company hasn’t provided mentorship opportunities before, it’s a great way to introduce the concept and build a culture of mentorship within your organization.
Cadence has helped many companies set up their mentoring program and train their mentors. We’re excited to see the continued growth of these companies and their employees.
