According to the Association for Talent Development (ATD), formal mentorship programmes are in existence at 71 percent of Fortune 500 organizations. This figure shows the significance of mentoring programs in organizations nowadays.
A decade back Businesses were only focused on their growth. Surprisingly, this expansion is now occurring on a bigger scale. It also involves their employees.
For the past 4-5 years organizations have understood the importance of mentors to professionals and that is why you can see different kinds of mentoring programs, that encourage you to enroll for future benefits.
In your company, you may be a part of various L&D sessions, training and one-on-one mentoring sessions and you may be getting good benefits out of it. But to truly utilize the learnings both the mentors and mentees need to work with consistency and be prepared for the mutual investment of their knowledge and skills.
But I don’t want you to get stuck in various lingos, that is why today I will be sharing the 3 C’s of various effective mentoring programmes which will help you to choose the right mentor.
Let’s go through it. Shall we?
Clarity
Before enrolling in any mentorship programme you need to get clarity about what exactly are you looking for. The purpose behind your choice ought to be clear so that the right expectations can be set for both the mentors and mentees. This is actually for the mentors because once they have got the mentees, they need to figure out the further process.
There are 4 simple steps through which you a mentor can attain clarity -
- Building a mutual trust - Try to understand their thoughts and what are they actually feeling about certain challenges in their life. This would help you to guide them in a particular direction.
- Effective listening - The purpose of the mentorship program is that you will guide your mentees but it is also about “listening” to your mentee’s fears, insecurities, and any pattern that they have been repeating which needs an upgrade.
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Asking the right questions - For a long time you have been encouraged to ask questions for a deeper understanding but for mentors, you need to specifically phrase the questions in a way so that your mentees can easily communicate with you.
Personalized feedback - Do not just summarize your mentee’s learning and knowledge in a brief manner. Create a system of feedback -
- Inform them about their limitations
- Focus on their potential and what else can they do, motivate them
- Wisely have the difficult conversation
Communication
In the 3 C’s of Effective Mentoring Programmes, Communication plays a vital role. You know many organizations encourage their business leaders to be mentors to their employees. Now, these people are not easily available but they are a goldmine of knowledge and experiences. So it is important to communicate the benefits of mentorship to them, how they will upgrade their knowledge, and how they can mould an individual into an effective leader through their mentorship.
Commitment
For any mentorship programme to be successful, the business, the mentors and the mentee have to commit to their specific roles and the process. This needs to be an ongoing process, depending on the duration of the programme.
It is not just about theoretical commitment, but once the mentor and mentee are involved they need to show that through their work, their way of communication and the way they accomplish the tasks.
The 3 C’s Of Effective Mentoring Programmes provide benefits not only to the mentor and mentee but the organization as a whole, they grow annually, in the market and on a personal front as well.
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