Organisations that wish to develop a learning culture seek to create an environment that encourages the support and development of all its people within the organisation. However, this does not always happen naturally and ensuring structured learning such as coaching and mentoring programmes, are in place can boost outcomes and, equally importantly, positively impact the culture of the organisation.
The statement that “mentoring is a collaborative and often reciprocal exchange of knowledge, practices and ideas that helps predominantly less experienced people learn from more experienced Leaders” is certainly where the vast majority of traditional mentoring sits, however, there are many nuanced approaches to mentoring that can achieve strong results such as:
Mentoring for well being
Mentoring of specific groups such as emerging talent or minority groups
Reverse mentoring
Peer mentoring
Group focused mentoring
All mentors share wisdom to foster learning and progress. How they do this, and the beliefs they hold can significantly increase the impact they have on the person they mentor i.e. the level of motivation, ability to grow and develop, and their contribution to the future success of the company. This requires a strong focus on positioning and planning the program of activity, carefully matching mentors and mentees appropriately and training and supporting the individuals involved to maximise any outputs required.
At Taylor Clarke, we will help you to develop a Mentoring programme as well as a cohort of skilled mentors. We will also help you pay close attention to wider issues such as how the mentoring is promoted and supported by senior managers. This is important to ensure the right level of senior staff buy-in, and support delivery of a mentoring programme that works for the unique needs of your organisation.
Our Approach
The Taylor Clarke approach is to help you assess your current mentoring programme, should you have one, or help you to design a new one that supports the development of the culture and vision of the organisation.
This is supported by developing highly focused intensive behavioural skills training at the same time as helping individuals cultivate the growth mindset and relationship skills that will foster a successful mentoring partnership. The key components of the service are
Review existing mentoring programme, should you have one, and help you develop a great mentoring programme that directly links to the goals of the organisation and its culture development
Building a structure to the programme and identifying the areas, levels or groups of individuals that would benefit from mentoring
Develop a matchmaking system that best supports the development of the mentees.
Provide a learning programme to develop the skills and capability of mentors. This will include topics such as: how mentoring differs from other areas like coaching and performance management, rapport building, listening skills, questioning skills, encouraging flexibility of approach within a mentoring conversation to maximise the impact
Creating internal processes and mechanisms to ensure the mentoring is reviewed and measured at appropriate intervals, thereby ensuring its ongoing effectiveness and continuous improvement
I believe that a successful mentoring scheme is hugely beneficial in organisations experiencing high levels of change. This may be either at senior level, or within the organisation due to re-structure and/or mergers. Mentoring can help to mitigate against the loss of cultural norms and those more hidden aspects of tacit knowledge required to be effective as more experienced staff move on or retire.
I also believe that wisdom does not come simply from seniority, and the creative combination of mentors and mentees from across, or sometimes from out with the business can yield great results in a surprisingly organic way.
If you would like to talk to one of our experts about developing or refining your mentoring programme, please contact us here or email Anne Houston at anne@taylorclarke.co.uk
Written by Nic Boyle, Taylor Clarke Associate
Nic has developed vast knowledge and experience, not only as a senior leader in large organisations, but also in developing himself as a Professional Executive Coach, who has a strong bias for supporting people at all organisational levels to develop and build their own futures and successes.
Over the years he has continually developed his own learning journey having an Hons degree in Business, being an Emotional Intelligence Practitioner and also worked with all types of businesses from entrepreneur’s to global corporates.
Nic has spent a lot of time in mentoring programmes, also designing mentoring programmes and developing both mentors and mentees. He believes they are a vital part to the overall development of people as well as an organisation’s learning culture.
Nic stresses that people who build paths to understanding of self and also the impact they have on those around them, will develop a strong leadership capability based on emotional intelligence and collaboration. This helps build knowledge of the organisation and it adds to the pool of emotional capital that is needed to be a strong and successful business.”
Comments