To get anywhere you need to know where you’re headed. The mentoring conversation itself is framed by the questions: “where are you now”, “where do you want to be” and “how might you get there”, so if mentoring is to make a practical difference the program needs direction and people need to know what they are there for.
In a poll I ran earlier this year the majority had plans to evaluate their mentoring program but only 56% of respondents had identified success indicators and ways of measuring them.
It is imperative that you know what you want to achieve with mentoring right from the outset not just because you need to evaluate the program, but because mentors and mentorees need to know, too.
If mentoring conversations are to be more than a pleasant chat, the purpose must be clear. And, while participants are free to decide on personal goals for mentoring, the program needs specific aims, focus and objectives for them to align with.
Mentoring is used by organisations striving for employee engagement, knowledge management, skills development, succession planning and diversity. Get clear about the purpose of your mentoring, figure out what success looks like and determine how you’ll measure it because you have to know specifically, what you want your mentoring strategy to do before you can figure out how you will know that it is working. This should be the foundation for designing your mentoring program and you should do this in the early planning stages.
Complimentary Live Webinar: What Do Mentors Do? 1st May 2015 at 12 noon Sydney time
Some mentors ask what’s expected of them, others have their own ideas but if you want mentoring to be effective you need everyone on the same page, understanding the role of the mentor.
This webinar will
- Provide a framework for mentoring relationships
- Discuss the roles of mentors, and
- Outline the responsibilities of mentors and mentorees.
Webinars are broadcast live at 12 noon from Sydney, Australia. Check your local time here.
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