This week I worked on the importance of mentoring and trying to create a mentoring program. There are two options for a mentoring program. One way is to choose a group of leaders from different departments in the company to brainstorm a curriculum. A list of what they think makes employees successful at the company. Based on their input, you can then start to create a curriculum for the mentoring program. The other approach is to have the employees choose their own goals, and the company matches mentors and mentees based on who could best help achieve the goals. The mentors and mentees meet individually for between one and three hours every month for a year.
I think the best approach is to have the leaders of the company meet and brainstorm what is important. Based on what they think is important, then you create about three of four different curriculums. Each curriculum has a specific number of mentors. Then the employees can choose which course/curriculum they want to take, and they get matched up with the respective mentor.
The program should follow a cycle of preparation, establishing agreements, doing, and closure. In the preparation phase, the mentor and mentee have a conversation about their expectations and the boundaries of the relationship. In the establishing agreements phase, the mentor helps the mentee work out a plan, with clear tasks, for achieving his or her goal. The doing phase is when the work happens. The mentor supports the mentee in following his or her plan as well as provides feedback. The closure is a planned ending to the relationship. There should be a feedback session, what is it you’ve learned about yourself as a mentor or a mentee, what have you learned about yourself through this process, and how do you take what you’ve learned and use it later on.