What makes a great mentoring programme

12 critical questions for success

Evidence from the International Standards for Mentoring and Coaching Programmes (ISMCP) and from international network of independent mentoring specialists Coaching and Mentoring International provides a consistent picture of what makes mentoring programmes work well. Some of the factors are relatively obvious; others much less so.

A core skill of mentoring is asking questions that make someone think, so here are some questions to throw light on these factors.

1. Who wants and needs this programme?

Issues to consider include: What business objective does it address? What precisely is the issue that mentees need help with? What’s in it for potential mentors? Research shows that mentoring relationships thrive when participants understand the broad purpose of the programme, as well as how it will benefit them.

2. What are the potential drivers and barriers to mentoring in this environment?

Many programmes stumble because of unforeseen obstacles — for example, an organisational culture that does not support people taking work time for self-development, or a belief amongst mentees that mentoring conversations will not be confidential. Identifying these issues up front, along with factors that might help make the programme work, is essential in setting up for success.

3. Whose support can you enlist?

This might also be expressed as “Whose support do you need?”. This might include champions from within an organization’s leadership team; intermediaries such as Human Resources, or teaching staff; and a steering group representing stakeholders. The steering group can be a valuable source of support, both in promoting the programme and in programme management.

4. What level of preparation do you need in terms of programme design?

The more effort that goes into preparation, the less time, energy and resources you will expend on troubleshooting later.

5. How will you acquire, select and match participants?

Key elements here are a marketing and communication plan, clear criteria for who should be invited to become mentors and mentees, and a robust process for pairing participants. Some element of choice by participants leads to relationships with higher commitment the “shotgun marriages”.

6. What training is needed and how will you deliver this?

Mentoring programmes that don’t train participants have at best an average of 30% of relationships delivering significant value. Training mentors doubles this and training mentees, along with briefing their line managers (in a corporate setting) or teachers (in an educational setting) pushes the success rate to well over 90%. Initial training needs to cover at a minimum roles and responsibilities, how the relationship evolves, core skills and relationship logistics. Additional training input over the first 12 months is recommended good practice, though this can be relatively light touch and need not be classroom based. Indeed, some mentoring training programmes are delivered entirely virtually, although this is much less effective in terms of practising and becoming comfortable with mentoring tools and techniques.

7. What on-going support do participants need?

It’s easy for mentoring relationships to run out of steam, if they are unsupported. Occasional check-ins from a steering group help. So does having a database, which participants can access for guidance on issues mentors and mentees encounter. Some programmes “buddy up” new and experienced mentors.

8. How will we know it’s working?

Periodic review of mentoring relationships helps focus the attention of mentors and mentees on how to make their relationship work well.

9. How will we wind up each cohort of the programme?

How the formal relationship ends has a strong influence on mentors’ and mentees’ perceptions of how successful it was. Participants often need reminders and support in how to manage this transition, avoiding the twin dangers of both dependency and feeling abandoned.

10. What’s the role of the mentoring programme manager?

Having a strong, well-connected and preferably well-trained mentoring programme manager also makes a difference to programme success.

11. How will we make the programme sustainable?

We don’t have an accurate figure, but an estimated 50% of mentoring programmes disappear after their first one or two cohorts, because they don’t have continuing support. Unless the programme addresses a one-off need, the time to plan for continuation is at the start of the initiative.

12. What are the key things NOT to do?

Some of the common mistakes we see include:

• Conflating the roles of line manager and mentor (there is too much role conflict to create an open and honest dialogue and managers, who try to be a mentor to some of their direct reports and not others, create conflict between team members)
• Conflating the roles of mentor and sponsor – both can be valuable, but the benefits of each tend to be cancelled out when they are vested in the same person
• Too much bureaucracy or too little support. Work with participants to establish how much formality is appropriate – typically they want to feel supported but free from intrusion
• Assuming you know what the mentees want – for example, does a disadvantaged group want to be labelled as such, or do they want to be part of a wider mentoring programme for talent in general?

Benchmarking against other mentoring programmes can also provide insights that will help you set up your programme for success. You can also use the international standards as a guide to good practice internationally. After all, if you are going to have a mentoring programme, surely you want it to be a great one?

© David Clutterbuck, 2017

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

www.coachingandmentoringinternational.org
e-mail: info@coachingandmentoringinternational.org
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