The document outlines steps to create and sustain a mentorship program, emphasizing the importance of starting with clear goals and organizational commitment. It discusses various mentoring formats, benefits such as improved retention and engagement, and the significance of trust and culture in mentoring relationships. The author highlights the role of mentorship in onboarding and supporting underrepresented groups, while encouraging continual evaluation and improvement.

1. How to Create & Sustain a Mentorship Program

2. Steps to Creating a Mentorship Program

3. Begin with the end in mind. What is your intent?

4. There should be measureable goals

5. Organizational commitment from the top

6. Participants: Prep & Orientation

7. Who will the participants be? Mid-level, senior, etc.

8. Interns and/or full-time hires? This will drive duration.

9. Nature of Interaction

10. Single leader mentoring circle: one mentor and many mentees

11. Mixed level mentoring circle: a mixed group of mentors and mentees

12. Peer mentoring: each member of the group is on the same professional level

13. E-mentoring: implements the use of phone and e-mail in order to interact with participants

14. Reverse mentoring: junior employees mentor senior staff

15. Evaluation & Review

16. How will you define success?

17. What measures are in place?

18. Have you committed yourself to a process of continual improvement?

19. Benefits of a Mentorship Program

20. Win:Win:Win

21. Mentees will certainly benefit

22. Mentors often learn from their mentees

23. Organizations benefit from increased retention, engagement levels and overall effectiveness of their employees

24. Foundation for Success

25. Helps on-board entry-level employees to new organizations and the quality of the new hire experience

26. First 90-120 days is key in determining both short- and long-term success

27. Over time, a level of trust and candor develops where the mentor can sometime tell the mentee things they “don’t want to hear” (tough love)

28. Underrepresented Groups

29. Mentors often offer access to the “system” that is often challenging for these groups to gain access to

30. Attracting and Retaining New Hires

31. Commitment to Development (Attract)

32. The presence of a mentorship program speaks to a company’s commitment to developing their associates, enabling them to be successful, etc.

33. Stronger Organizational Commitment (Retain)

34. Increasing Performance Levels

35. Culture

36. You can’t operate successfully within an organization if you’re unaware of its cultures, its norms, values, principles, etc.

37. You gain access to and an understanding of these things through mentoring relationships

38. Organizational Intel

39. It allows you to better understand where you fit, how you fit, and where your contributions are best suited

40. Unwritten Rules

41. You gain it through trusted relationships, and these often take the form of mentoring relationships

42. Creating a Comfortable Environment

43. Commitment

44. To each other, to the process, to the mutually established and communicated expectations, objectives, etc.

45. Trust

46. A base-line level must be established up-front and not violated

47. You can’t build immediate trust, but you can lose it almost immediately

48. Sincerity

49. The mentor needs to display a sincere care and concern for their mentee and that they are sincere with respect to their commitment to the role

50. Candor, Humility & Transparency

51. Before You Act/Speak, Ask Yourself: What’s My Motivation?

52. Why am I in this relationship?

53. What am I hoping to obtain?

54. Making the Most of Your Time

55. Rules of engagement (in-person, on the phone, ad hoc, planned, etc.)

56. Have a plan! (when, how, why, where)

57. Questions?Heather R. Huhman, founder & presidentCome RecommendedHeather@ComeRecommended.comDave Cofer, founder & presidentCofer Consulting SolutionsDavid.Cofer@CoferConsulting.com