STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOURAL
More time Increase/improve communication
More formal structure Mentees take initiative to drive the process
Training on mentoring Mentee investing more of their own time
More informal mentoring interactions Mentors changing their approach
Focus on people in own office More mentor ‘check-ins’
More frequent mentoring interactions More focus on professional vs. technical
More female mentors Build stronger relationships
Table 1. Desired changes to mentoring relationships
MENTORING NEEDS TO BE TALKED ABOUT,
PROMOTED AND ACTIVELY ENGAGED
IN BY SENIOR MEMBERS OF STAFF.
Baby boomers and Gen-Xers focused on structural changes,
whereas Millennials tended to focus on behavioural changes.
The structural changes also tended to be desired by individuals
engaged in informal mentoring relationships. The behavioural
changes were desired by individuals engaged in formal mentoring
relationships. The differences between the desired structural and
behavioural changes reflect the differences between informal mentoring
relationships that develop organically and lack any formal
structure, and formal mentoring relationships, which are managed
and potentially can feel forced.
The study investigated the effectiveness of informal and formal
mentoring systems. Interviewees’ organizations had either
an informal mentoring system only, or both a formal and an informal
mentoring system. Interviewees were asked to estimate
the percentage of staff in their group, office or organization who
had a mentoring relationship of any kind. This is the “take-up”
percentage.
Interviewees were also asked to estimate the percentage of these
individuals who they felt were in a meaningful mentoring relationship.
This is termed the “meaningfulness” percentage. Mentoring
system effectiveness is calculated by multiplying the take-up percentage
by the meaningfulness percentage.
Only minor variations were noted between the three generations.
Informal mentoring in organizations with a formal
mentoring system is the most effective at 55 per cent, followed by
informal mentoring in organizations with no formal mentoring at
42 percent. Finally, formal mentoring has only 36 per cent effectiveness.
The effectiveness of informal mentoring in organizations
with formal mentoring is attributed to mentoring being openly
discussed and promoted, and the organic development of informal
mentoring relationships being more meaningful.
How can mentoring be made more effective from an organizational
perspective? Mentoring needs to be talked about, promoted
and actively engaged in by senior members of staff. This can be
achieved through establishing and clearly articulating the organization’s
goals and objectives for mentoring, be it formal or informal.
Time needs to be allocated for mentoring.
If your company’s mentoring program is currently managed and
highly structured, it may benefit from work to improve the quality
of the individual mentoring relationships. If your company’s
current mentoring program is informal and unstructured, it may
benefit from the addition of some structure. Either way, a good
starting point to maximize the effectiveness of mentoring in your
organization may be to undertake an audit of the program, and
talk to those involved in it. n
Bryan Leach is a professional engineer and the principal catalyst with
Imparando Consulting Ltd.
mentoring
30 ❚ MARCH 2017 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL