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of you are visiting our website every month. We greatly appreciate
your visits, suggestions, questions, and orders for mentoring
products.
In a previous column, we listed several best practices used by
successful mentoring programs. Here are some additional strategies
other winners use:
- Brown University's Mentoring Program for Managers features
a "3-D" model: active involvement of mentors, mentees,
and the mentee's immediate supervisors. All three groups
receive training and materials, and all three attend "mentoring
touch points," facilitated meetings held midway and
near the end of their six-month partnerships. The touch points
include candid exchanges in separate meetings of the
three groups about what's working and what could be improved.
This is followed by a fourth session in which all the findings
are shared and the groups figure out how they can help each
other succeed. Although relationships between mentors and mentees
remain confidential, supervisors learn how to support these
relationships and how to use mentoring with all of their employees.
- American Family Insurance's mentoring program uses the video
package, "Mentoring that Makes a Difference," as
part of training for mentors and mentees (they use proteges).
The training facilitators use segments of the video to illustrate
points and to demonstrate effective mentoring in action. During
program evaluations, supervisors of mentees and supervisors
of mentors are asked for their impressions (of aspects of
the program and whether or not they have noticed development
on the part of their employees).
- Unemployment Agency, State of Michigan, has a formal program
to train managers at all levels of the Agency. Because of the
geographical distance between many mentors and mentees, pairs
schedule numerous phone meetings and always meet before
or after the Agency's customer service meetings, which occur
quarterly. Several pairs claim their best interactions are while
playing 18 holes of golf! In addition, all pairs get together
periodically to compare notes and attend a workshop facilitated
by an invited speaker.
For additional ideas and best practices on planning, implementing,
and evaluating a mentoring program, see The
Mentoring Program Coordinator’s Guide. |
