Mentoring: An Age Old Idea whose Time has Come.

"Those who seek mentoring will rule the great expanse of heaven" according to Shu Chang, who in the sixth century BC wrote this in the Chinese Book of History. While the mentoring model that organizations use today is different from what was preferred just two decades ago (let alone 25 centuries ago!), the reasons for pairing employees with others who take an active part in their development over time are as compelling as ever.

Mentoring Inspires Employee Loyalty

Today's employee has seen massive layoffs across corporate North America and consequently has only a tentative and circumspect sense of loyalty. The employee's unspoken psychological contract with his company is likely, "I will stay with you as long as it suits me... and that depends on how you treat me." It is no wonder that attrition is a great concern and expense for so many corporations -- even for those within the Fortune 100 ranks.

Many corporate giants such as AT&T, Merrill Lynch, Federal Express, General Motors, J.C. Penny, Bell Labs, DuPont, and Sun Microsystems have discovered that mentoring is a mutually advantageous way to both attract and retain employees. One of my clients recently saw a 15 percent drop in attrition after installing a formal mentoring program.

The individual, or "mentee," thrives under the knowledge that the organization is taking a special interest in his or her development and gains knowledge that may not be had any other way. With the encouragement, support, and friendship of mentors, employees generally become more productive, report greater career satisfaction, and enjoy accelerated career growth. Studies show that employees with mentors reach the executive level an average of two years sooner than their counterparts without such help.

For the organization, mentoring serves to preserve "institutional memory" by sharing information and experience from one to another. This need to pass along corporate learning and develop bench strength within the organization is particularly critical now that downsizing has created flat and lean organizations and as baby boomers begin to retire, taking their know-how with them. Mentoring programs are an inexpensive way to inspire future leaders, improve management and staff relationships and prepare people to succeed an aging workforce. (They should not, however, be created to raise awareness of, and appreciation for, diversity. There are many other forums better suited to this type of learning.)

Not All Programs Are The Same

Mentoring programs can be either informal (not organized and sponsored by the organization) or formal (created and maintained as a corporate function). Of course, employees will only give your company "credit" for those programs that you officially sponsor. If we leave employees to find their own mentors, it can feel like a popularity contest or a political game to them. Instead, by formalizing a program, we ask employees who are willing to make the commitment to develop new skills to step forward. In matching them with mentors who can provide the next level of learning, we go a long way toward assuring that we provide "just-in-time" development to those aspiring to grow. Mentoring programs can be either inter- or intra-company. Intra-company programs are naturally easier to organize and administer. While mentors in other firms and other industries from your own can be useful resources, they obviously cannot help with an employee's need to learn the ins and outs of a particular organization, or technical skil ls specific to your company's industry.

Formal programs have an endpoint -- typically mentors and mentees transition their relationship into another kind after a year or two. (Note that this transition is not only natural and healthy, it is desired!). In contrast, the endpoint in informal programs is usually less defined, and that can lead to a painful period in which one or both parties are trying to dance away from the other.

Mentoring programs can be designed so that a single mentee is paired with a mentor for one-on-one coaching and counseling, or so that small teams of four to six mentees work together with an assigned learning leader. The mentoring goals may be different for each pairing or grouping, but will fall into one of three categories:

* To assimilate an employee into an organization or to integrate two teams together.

* To develop the mentee's technical skills. This may be needed when, for example, a sales rep is assigned a new territory or product line and needs to learn about it. Or, it could be called for when a person who has worked in operations for years makes a lateral move into marketing and now needs to learn the tasks and skills of a marketer.

* To enhance an employee's business acumen and political savvy. This is usually done for employees who aspire to senior management roles.

Whichever goal is set, the content of the learning is based on the mentee's needs and thus 100 percent relevant for him or her. The mentor/mentee relationship can be one of the most rewarding experiences of a person's career and, not coincidentally, one of the most productive programs a company can sponsor.

Success Depends Upon The Individuals and Training

Chip Bell, author of Managers as Mentors, contends that the relationship works best if both parties have four characteristics: humility, an insatiable curiosity, the courage to trust each other, and the willingness to really listen.

People who want to give, are happy with themselves, and value what they know logically make the best teachers and therefore the best mentors. But, the best mentors are not necessarily teachers by profession. Nor are they necessarily of the same gender, or like their mentees in personality or background. And neither are they necessarily older than their mentees.

In choosing a mentor, employees should look for someone who has the skills, knowledge, and/or contacts that meet their developmental goals. They should select someone who has an interest in them, is easy to talk to, and who shares openly.

To give even the most motivated mentees and mentors the best possible start, their relationship should begin with a one-to-two-day training program. In fact, a great deal of research suggests that one of the leading causes for failure in mentoring relationships is the lack of training. Being a mentor is different from being a manager, and being a mentee is different from being a subordinate.

The US Dictionary of Occupational Titles defines mentoring as "one of the most complex of all human activities." Without training, mentors and mentees are often not prepared for the challenges that can occur in the relationship: how to deal with disagreements, how to make sure progress is being made, how to "stretch" one another, and how to establish a sense of confidentiality, for example.

In effective mentor training, both mentees and mentors are taught their roles and given the opportunity to get to know one another. In particular, mentees are taught that they are responsible for guiding the direction of the meetings with their mentors; successful interaction is mentee-driven. Here are some simple "do's and don'ts" for hopeful mentees:

DO

* 1. Show a desire to learn

* 2. Assess your talents, abilities, and blind spots

* 3. Set clear goals for yourself

* 4. Look around to see who is doing what you want to do or who knows what you need to know next

* 5. Exhibit the qualities that mentors look for: intelligence, ambition, loyalty, commitment to the field, the ability to form alliances and the desire to accept power and take risks

* 6. Start slowly with a prospective mentor; invite the person to breakfast or lunch

* 7. Listen and find ways you can turn the tables and help your mentor

* 8. Be specific about what you want to learn

DON'T

* 1. Don't approach someone about being your mentor until you've built an enjoyable relationship with that person first

* 2. Don't monopolize all of the time focusing on your issues

* 3. Don't put your mentor on a pedestal so that you feel you can't share your challenges

The Popularity of Mentoring Is Growing For A Reason

The number of businesses sponsoring formal mentoring programs doubled between 1995 and 1996, jumping from 17 percent to 36 percent, according to a recent survey by Human Resource Executive Magazine. These companies are learning that mentors are an effective way to help employees and organizations prepare for their future. The mentor/mentee relationship can be one of the most rewarding experiences of a person's career and, not coincidentally, one of the most productive programs a company can sponsor.

Shawn Kent works with people who want to influence others and with organizations that want to develop powerful communicators. Ms. Kent completed her Masters Thesis on mentoring, has helped numerous groups set up formal internal mentoring programs, and created the Mentorus Network, an inter-company mentoring service.