The
Best Practice Framework for "High Impact" Mentoring
Programs
© By Barry Sweeny, 2008
It is NOT SIMPLE to develop and implement
effective mentoring programs that will improve employee learning,
professional growth, and performance AND increase results. If
someone else tells you they can do it "quick and dirty",
thank them and send them packing. They are in business for themselves,
not for you!
Designing such "high impact" mentor
programs is my specialty and I have been perfecting my knowledge
and strategies for this task since 1987. I will MENTOR you and
your program to excellence. I know what is needed in every
setting, and I know what is needed that is unique from
setting to setting. That means that, no matter what kind of organization
you are in, I know exactly WHAT to do, HOW to do it, and WHEN
to do it so the results YOU want happen in a planned, measurable
process.
These statements are not bragging. They are statements
of pride and are meant to reassure you that I can deliver what
I promise.
Such a planned, measurable process is NECESSARY
if your program is to capture high level support and remain sustainable
across time. There is NO OTHER WAY to achieve these ends and to
be COST EFFECTIVE, except to do it the right way.
Don't be timid about undertaking such complexities.
The point of working with me is to:
- Develop exactly the program that you need for
the goals you want to attain
- Get it right the first time, without trial
and error learning and wasting of resources and time
- Gradually develop your own internal capacity
to be self-sufficient and conduct the full program yourself.
What follows here is a GIFT from me to you.
The chart below is the WHAT or structure that an excellent "high
impact" mentoring program needs. HOW and WHEN to do these things
effectively is what I will help you learn. This chart shows the
full range of mentoring and other support program strategies which
are needed in organizations with results expectations for
those programs.
My advice is, if you DO have such expectations,
that you PLAN your program to include ALL of these components,
but that you implement them gradually over time as you
have the internal capacity to do so, until you have them all in
place.
** Since the chart relates to all forms of mentoring,
you should probably choose ONE vertical column for your program
model. You may also elect to incorporate a subset of the components
in that column, reject the full model, and I will still gladly
work with you.
Note: The last three elements (PD goals, PD portfolios
& PD action plans) may be optional IF your organization or
profession does NOT have a set of performance standards or competencies
against which employees are assessed.
| PROTÉGÉ
> CHARACTERISTICS |
- EARLY
INTERVENTION
Student or youth
targeted for later
participation or employment |
INDUCTION |
INSERVICE
|
| Novice
or beginner in the career
and new in the organization |
New employee with
prior experience in another similar job & organization
|
Current employee
increasing skills for the current responsibility
|
Current employee
preparing for or already in a new responsibility
- Leadership dev.
- Executive succession |
PROGRAM
COMPONENTS \/ |
Career
has NO
standards for performance |
Career
HAS
standards for performance |
Formal protégé
needs assessment:
- Self- assessment |
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
| - Supervisor's
assessment |
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
| - Peer/subordinate
assessment |
n/a
|
Peer
later on |
Peer
later on |
Peer
later on |
Peer/subordinate
|
Peer/subordinate
|
Orientation
to:
- the organization |
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
| - the new job |
to
the potential job |
X
|
X
|
X
|
n/a
|
X
|
| - mentoring/coaching |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Training
designed for the protégé |
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
| Observation
by protégés of experts in the same role as theirs,
OR in the roles for which they are being prepared |
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
| Protégé
peer support group |
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
| Mentoring
& coaching to ensure implementation of training &
to support & guide protégé growth in self
assessment, the reflective process & other work skills |
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
| Professional
growth goals & planning based on protege's on awareness
of needs |
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
| Goals &
plan based on protege self-assessment against standards
for performance |
n/a
|
n/a
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
| Professional
growth portfolio of artifacts related to the professional
growth goals, plan, process & results |
Save
your stuff 2 |
Save
your stuff |
Save
your stuff |
Save
your stuff |
X
|
X
|
2. Some portfolio processes may actual require
time needed for effective work, and therefore, can be counterproductive
to their own intentions. When a portfolio process, or any other
professional growth process, inhibits work effectiveness, it becomes
a useless process because it is seen as a compliance issue, not
a professional growth support system.
The Save Your Stuff approach is a portfolio strategy that is
designed to be developmentally appropriate for novice employees
who have so much to do already, and so little time in which to
do it. The requirements are phased-in over time as the protégé
can handle them, and the mentor facilitates the reflection to
ensure that it is productive and viewed as worth doing.
