Communicating the mentoring programme

What is the best way is to go about communicating the mentoring programme? If you do not have support from an internal communications department to provide guidance and/or do it for you, here is a suggested approach. It is good to think through each of the following areas:

• Who
• Why
• What
• When
• How

Who

This will largely depend on the purpose of your programme. Is it aimed at onboarding graduates or engaging and developing your talent? Once your mentee group is defined the “who” will be clear. Then based on the numbers you hope to get involved you will look to who your mentor pool would be.

Why

Depending on the design of your programme, the reason for communicating with staff will differ. Think about:

• what you want to change as a result of the communication
• whether the purpose is simply to give general information
• whether you are trying to generate interest and recruit participants, particularly mentors
• whether the scheme is being launched in support of another development initiative

Objectives for a general awareness campaign would normally be to:

• ensure that potential participants understand the purpose, rationale and benefits of mentoring
• establish a clear link with any business goals
• encourage mentors and mentees to come forward (and, equally, to stop unsuitable people from applying)
• start to manage expectations of mentor/mentee early on
• gain acceptance and commitment from all parties, including mentees’ line managers and peers

What

Many of the aspects outlined earlier in the ‘General Guidelines’ section of this Chapter can be included in your material,

Whether you are launching a new programme or trying to re-launch an existing one, any communication content should ideally include:

• what mentoring is (you may want to highlight the difference between mentoring and coaching)
• what the purpose of the mentoring programme is
• who it is aimed at/why people should get involved, i.e. what’s in it for them – a good list of the benefits that you feel will appeal to your target group
• what previous participants have said
• how people can get involved
• where they go for further information

It is also important to ensure that the positioning of the scheme is appropriate. It should be seen as ‘positively developmental’ in nature and not:

• remedial (‘you get a mentor if you’ve got a problem’)
• elitist (‘only the chosen few get a mentor’)
• trendy (the mentor as a ‘fashion accessory’).

When

The timing of any marketing activity will need to be linked to your overall timeline for the programme implementation. It is important to map this out carefully and allow plenty of time for recruiting participants. You will then also need to allow lead time from sign up for matching, training and setting up pairs. How much time you have available for marketing activities will often drive what you can and achieve in that time.

If possible allow enough time to be able to do two or three communication drives on the intended audience in case the take up is not as you would have expected.

How

You will know which channels of communication are most effective in your area of the business. There are generally a variety of methods that can be used with different benefits to each. Some suggestions are:

• Employee newsletter
• Poster campaign
• Intranet postings
• Keynote speech to engage and excite
• “Lunch ‘n learn” or other forms of face-to-face session
• Brochures or leaflets
• E-mail, with a link to a podcast or a video clip promoting the programme
• Word of mouth using champions, the steering group (if there is one), team meetings, employee networks

© David Clutterbuck, 2014

Prof David Clutterbuck
Coaching and Mentoring International Ltd
Woodlands, Tollgate,
Maidenhead,
Berks, UK. SL6 4LJ

www.coachingandmentoringinternational.org
e-mail: info@coachingandmentoringinternational.org
Company registration number : 08158710