The Great Mentoring Comeback! With Remote and Hybrid Workforces- Here Are 5 Reasons to Get Started NOW (PART 1)

The benefits of mentoring have an incredible ripple effect of bringing out that side in human nature where we are of great service to each other. We see each other and we understand each other's needs to grow and evolve personally and professionally. Mentorship happens in pay-it-forward chains, where your mentor has a mentor and the chain continues. It's a professional living legacy.

 Here are five key reasons you need to start a mentoring program now

1] WE’RE LOSING THE WATER COOLER CONNECTION—Let’s face it, there is no normal in this new normal and our country faces a mental health crisis. As a leader you must take on employee wellbeing as a primary focus in this new hybrid workplace. People are burnt out and distressed. We know that Zoom and Microsoft Teams are terrific technologies, but our employees are tuning it out. Zoom fatigue is real. Look at the group calls you are on with more than four people. You likely see people electing not to join by video as much. What do you think the engagement rate is on the latest corporate strategy when CNN/Fox/ABC news is on in the background, Amazon shopping is just one delightful click away, more Peets coffee can be made, and Fido needs a walk?

Remember that according to UCLA research, before COVID America was dealing with a significant loneliness epidemic where over 60% of people felt they didn't have someone to speak with.

I was running a program for a major insurance company and found that when we set the stage for people to have 1:1 meaningful mentoring conversation (our Virtual Flash Mentoring experience) engagement rates increased from 50% (talking heads session) to 95% (when employees were actually learning/helping one another). People need human connection and real conversations. We yearn for learning and sharing about what's really going on, how to succeed in our roles, and these conversations reinforce the notion that we are not alone and can get to a better place with strategic action and together. We also need to push each other, be accountable to another and get that skip back into our step.

2] DRIVING DIVERSITY, INCLUSION + BELONGING-- A few years ago I was working with a US agency in law enforcement and I asked them how many had mentors? Out of 35 people, a few hands went up. "Someone you can go to on an ongoing basis for professional advice?" I asked. A few more hands went up. I then asked "How many of you are currently mentoring others?" and only two hands went up out of 35, BTW they were the only two white men in the room. This startled me. I saw a similar response at a renowned Spanish owned bank- less than 10% stated they were mentoring others. Most women also said their professional mentors are/were men.

When we first started building a business around mentoring we knew it was ‘apple pie’ and wrongly assumed that at least 50% or more of executives were participating in mentoring. People often mentor in their own likeness and if we want more diversity, we need to champion people who do not remind us of ourselves or look just like us. We also need to engineer a program with a beginning, a middle, and an end to give people the permission they are looking for to engage.

The good news is that there IS willingness. People are very willing to help if they are asked and there is a framework to the relationship. In starting a mentoring program, think about inclusion mentoring and how we cumulatively can match with people who do not mirror us physically, in religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, learning styles, and more.

Part of it is also confidence. "Am I enough" to mentor someone else? A little training and engineering goes a long way. People may also be concerned about the level of responsibility given other priorities. How about 1-hour 2x a month for 6-9 months? That is a 12 - 18 hour annual commitment to change the life, feel more belonging, align with a new during COVID buddy.

Have your team members do 1-hour a month to start if you are concerned about timing. Did you know mentors get promoted 6x more than people who don't mentor in a major Wharton/Gartner study. Mentees 5x more and 20% increase in employee retention. Now that’s ROI!

3] LEADERS LEAD, SO LEAD!-- This is something my mentor told me that I took to heart. Leadership is taking action. But how do you lead if others are not willing to join you and/or follow you? As a leadership development play, your executives should learn the nuance between mentorship and sponsorship in your program. A sponsor will champion their protege to others, help them rise to new levels and advocate for them. The difference is action and taking one who is deserving under your wing.

So as an example, I might contact 20 HR leaders on behalf of Beatrice to help a dynamo-executive who is out of work get a new job (sponsorship). I might also contact my boss and ask him/her to meet Beatrice for coffee to discuss an upcoming contract and lay the case for her candidacy (sponsorship), and/or I might share with Beatrice how I re-invented myself and started a fulfilling new career and what pitfalls to avoid (mentorship). Leaders lead, so lead. When we mentor and sponsor we have a choice and as leaders, we should have a deliberate plan for 2021 on whom we will champion.

One executive whom I worked with ran a 10b division of a company and she told her entire team that mentoring is part of their year-end bonuses, a big part. "I will not be a weak link in the mentoring chain," she said to them after sharing how she got her job through mentors and sponsors.

Here is an exercise we do with executives that you can try. Have your team think of themselves as sitting on a plane. Whom will they invite to sit in first class (who will they sponsor) and who will sit in coach? Think of the implications here on succession planning. I have executives list people by name and then ask them if they have selected a diverse group of people (women, different ethnicities, ages, and more). If not, back to the drawing board! We then move into action planning for each relationship to be incredibly well thought through. One company that really impressed me did a 180 and had their entire executive team mentored by people under the age of 30! I recently reached out to someone much younger than me to mentor me on a go-to-market strategy I'm working on. I took 5 pages of notes! Helpful (thanks Chelsea).

Next Week, we’ll round out the remaining two reasons and talk more about our offering at C4G!

Meanwhile, Take this 5-minute readiness assessment (followed by a schedule called with one of our mentoring experts) and let's begin your company’s mentoring journey together. CLICK HERE.

About the Author

Julie Kantor is an ‘all-in’ roll-up your sleeves leader committed to building mentoring cultures to drive a happier more inclusive workforce. Whether in a board room with top executives or working with collaborative teams, Julie instills excitement, inspires commitment, and demonstrates an unwavering drive to succeed on behalf of her clients. Kantor's company Twomentor merged in August 2021 with the C4G family to dramatically expand quality service opportunities for clients with a focus on leadership, culture, employee engagement, and DEI offerings.

Contact us @ info@change4growth.com