By Lynne Williams, graduate faculty, Purdue Global School of Business and Information Technology
One of the best ways to help women up the ladder in any organization is mentorship.
In my first article, I shared thoughts on how to go about various informal routes. In this article, I’ll share how you can set up a formal program in your organization.
Whatever your field, there are a number of practical considerations as you get started to help guarantee your program’s success.
- Cast a wide net
Drawing on different departments or areas within the organization is always a good idea. This generates a wealth of different viewpoints, offering unique growth opportunities for participants that otherwise wouldn’t exist. For instance, pairing someone in an administrative role with someone in HR could provide perspective on how administrative decisions affect personnel from an HR angle. It helps to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. You can’t fully empathize with someone else until you’ve experienced their point-of-view. - Select a mentoring “champion”
A mentoring champion is someone who can represent your group with upper administration or management.
In initial communication, it’s important to demonstrate how mentorship supports your organization’s mission. Consider how you can use testimonials or business cases to make your case After the launch of your program, the mentoring champion also acts as a communication conduit. Upper administration might expect periodic updates on progress and results. As with all other recommendations, specifics depend on your organization. In a corporate or business setting, the manager might be expected to speak to how mentoring has made mentees more effective at their jobs. In an academic setting, you might point to successful research projects or grant applications.
Ideally, the mentoring manager should have prior experience in mentorship, or might consider taking related online courses.
Explore mentoring courses on LinkedIn Learning, available through CAREER MAX membership in the Purdue Alumni Association - Formalize a mentoring task force
The task force should consider the following stages of the mentoring initiative:- Determining the program’s goals
- Choosing the right mentoring model (see below)
- Identifying the selection criteria for mentors and mentees
- Defining other critical components of the program — these will vary based on your organization
- Recruiting and interviewing potential candidates
- Matching participants
- Evaluating results
- Evaluating results
As far as evaluating results, what this looks like will also depend on the model you choose. (see below)For the traditional model, the mentee may choose the time when they feel they’ve drawn everything they need from the relationship. The same would be true of the resource-based model.Due to the narrow scope, training-based mentoring effectively ends when the mentee becomes adept at the specified skill set.On the other hand, group mentoring might not have an “end of program” delineation and could potentially continue for years depending on the participants as they come and go.As you’re evaluating the success — or failure — of the pilot, remember that failure isn’t necessarily a bad thing! It could simply mean that the mentoring program requires some modification. For instance, the mentoring model that worked for another organization may not be the best suited for yours.
Mentorship Models
Though the names may differ slightly, generally speaking these are five of the most commonly understood mentorship models.
One-on-One
This is the most common model: the traditional mentor with a mentee. The two develop a personal relationship with the mentor providing support for the mentee.
Resource-Based
Willing mentors add their name to a list and the mentee chooses a mentor. It’s up to the mentee to initiate contact and specify what sort of support they need.
Group Mentoring
A mentor supports several mentees — usually less than six or seven. They meet regularly for discussions where the mentor can share her expertise. The model can be lacking in personal touch, and regular meetings are often hard to schedule.
Training-Based
Narrow in scope, training-based mentoring is typically tied to a formal program focused on developing a specific skill set.
Executive
Senior administrators are the mentors and junior personnel are the mentees. This is a good model for creating an organization-wide mentoring culture, but depends on the availability of senior administration.
This article is an offering of the Purdue Alumni Association in partnership with Purdue Global for the Purdue Women’s Network.
Lynne Williams has taught IT courses for more than 20 years and joined Purdue Global (formerly Kaplan University) as a full-time faculty member in 2007. She teaches graduate courses in IT with an emphasis on cybersecurity and oversees numerous innovations in curriculum, including modularized curriculum and competency-based programs. Her research has been published in a variety of journals and books and she has been cited for her expertise on cybersecurity and online privacy issues. Williams has a bachelor’s degree from New Mexico State University, and a master’s and PhD from Capella University.