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4 Ways to Supercharge Workplace Mentorship Programs for Women

By Kalia Simms

A successful mentorship program should take the time to make careful matches, be both flexible in its approach and focused on its objectives, and drive a genuine conversation that benefits both mentors and mentees. A program that achieves all these things builds trust, helps identify problems (and their solutions) in a timely manner, and emphasizes that offering staff meaningful support is a priority for the company. It can also serve as a vital tool for addressing the many challenges that women often face in the workplace. Both by demonstrating support for women and by acquiring their honest feedback, which can help make policies and processes more fit for purpose, mentorship programs for women keep them engaged and help prevent them from leaving the organization.

Companies have a duty of care to all their staff, of course. But considering the unique challenges women face in today's workplace, companies should take special care to support their female colleagues, especially since fostering diverse talent is a key driver in business growth. In a recent conversation with Great Place to Work, the chief operating officer of Standard Chartered Americas and a champion of its Gender Equality Network, Nancy Wisniewski, spoke about how her company's mentorship programs help keep female staff motivated and feeling supported and sheds light on four strategies that organizations can take to build successful mentorship programs for women.

Take the time to get the pairings right.

A tailored approach that clearly establishes the mentee's needs and identifies a suitable mentor to meet them can yield an impact-driven program that facilitates meaningful conversations and prompts genuine opportunities to learn and grow. Obviously, the type of support needed will differ from person to person. (Someone facing specific challenges around promotion or advancement, for example, will be looking for different guidance from someone struggling to find work—life balance.) The right mentor might be someone whose experiences are similar to the mentee's, such as a more senior leader in the same business area. Or perhaps they could be someone who is much further removed from the situation and can therefore provide a fresh perspective.

In some of Standard Chartered Americas' mentoring programs, mentees can review the "personal profiles" of potential mentors and reach out to the ones they think might make good fits for an initial conversation. Once a pair is matched, Wisniewski recommends taking the time to connect properly: "Resist the temptation to dive headfirst into career problem solving and advising. It's important to build trust and chemistry by getting to know each other on a personal basis. Remember, a mentoring relationship is like any other: it takes time to develop."

Set clear rules of engagement.

Even before the first mentoring session, everyone involved should understand what the objectives of the mentorship program are— and what they are not. It's not uncommon for people to sign up for mentorship when what they're actually looking for is sponsorship. Understanding the difference between the advisory role of a mentor versus the advocacy role of a sponsor will help to reduce disappointment in the long run.

Both sides should agree to a set of expectations. How much time does everyone expect to put into this relationship? How often will the mentor and mentee meet? Making sure that commitments are realistic will help to keep momentum going. But if participants turn up for meetings unprepared or constantly reschedule them, the partnership is likely to fizzle out.

"Know what you want to achieve and be clear on the ask," suggests Wisniewski. "While it's great to build a cordial relationship where you can speak candidly and share war stories, it's also important to stay focused on the objectives of the mentorship program and make sure that the sessions are effective." She also recommends including "a midway check-in point for mentors and mentees to see how things are going" and an end-of-program assessment "to share lessons learned that can drive improvements in future programs."

Mix things up.

To provide a wider choice of possible mentor—mentee pairings, an impactful mentorship program should permeate all levels of the organization. It shouldn't just match senior leaders with junior ones, because although one mentee might get the most out of working with someone who's much further ahead in their career, another mentee might need someone close to their own experience level. Similarly, the best mentorship structure isn't always one-to-one: some people benefit most from a dedicated, individual mentoring experience, whereas others might thrive in a mentoring circle setup.

The mentoring relationship doesn't have to stop at the lobby but also can extend into the community. Mentees can share what they've learned from their mentorship experiences by providing mentorship training to young people who are just starting their careers. Wisniewski explains how taking on a mentorship role in her local community (she worked with entrepreneurs in the Women in Tech Incubator at the City College of New York) helped her to reflect on her own career challenges: When I listened to the students talk about the obstacles they face at this early stage of their careers, it got me thinking about what I can do to help. Can I expand their network? What experience can I share? The opportunity to become a mentor kick-started a self-reflection process. By being on the "other side" and taking on that mentorship role, I also learned to take a much more active role in my own career development.

Drive dynamic conversations.

When mentees experience the benefits of being a mentor, they see the value of an impactful mentorship program working both ways. All participants should be able to benefit from the mentor relationship, so it's important to design a mentorship program that incorporates reverse-mentoring to ensure that the mentor's needs are not forgotten. Not only does reverse-mentoring help to keep all participants engaged, but it's also a useful tool for senior leaders to use for measuring organizational morale and obtaining timely insights on whether a particular initiative or strategy is landing well. Additionally, reverse-mentoring can be a great way to pass on particular skills. In recent years, for example, many organizations have enlisted their Millennial, digital native staff to help their colleagues improve their tech-related skills.

Investing in and retaining junior women helps an organization maintain a diverse talent pool that is ready to transition to senior leadership in the future, which helps to build more diverse management teams. Organizational advancement isn't the only benefit of mentoring, though. At any stage of their careers, women face certain challenges both inside and outside of the workplace and having the listening ear of a mentor can make a real difference in managing those struggles. An impactful mentorship program is one way to give talented, motivated women the support they need to achieve flourishing careers. An organization committed to showing that it values all of the talent pool is likely to be one that nurtures and retains talent in the years to come.

About the author:

Kalia Simms is a content contributor for Great Place to Work. She believes in the importance of using storytelling and qualitative data to help create a more equitable and just world. She can be reached at Kalia.Simms@greatplacetowork.com.