Chief Learning Officer - December 2007 - (Page 21) learning solutions 1. Create a mentoring culture. Shift your mentoring paradigm from merely having a program to the bolder, deeper and more comprehensive learner-centered concept of a mentoring culture. This means establishing ownership, promoting shared responsibility, maximizing resources, valuing mentoring excellence and shortening ramp-up time. A mentoring culture does this by creating readiness, providing multiple opportunities and building in support. Creating a mentoring culture begins by looking in the organizational mirror with an honest appraisal of the organization’s vision, its business processes, how it treats its people and how it demonstrates its values on a daily basis. 2. Think alignment. Ask yourself the following questions: How does mentoring align with other similar efforts? Does mentoring in our organization align with our espoused values? Do we have a shared vision of what mentoring is or should look like in our organization? Do we actively work at creating awareness and understanding of how mentoring fits in with our strategy? Does the structure we have created to support mentoring align with our organizational practices? Do we consistently and effectively communicate up-to-date information about mentoring in general and our organizational expectations in particular? 3. Practice accountability. Ask yourself: Have we set goals for mentoring? Clarified expectations? Defined roles and responsibilities? Are we monitoring progress and measuring results? Do we listen and gather feedback regularly? How quickly do we integrate process improvements? How qualitatively different is our program today than it was yesterday? 4. Raise mentoring visibility. Add mentoring to routine meeting agendas at organization, unit and team levels. For example, a participant, coach or department head talks about how mentoring has transformed their organization. Meeting materials include an update that incorporates any or all of the following: participation data, recent successes and outcomes. Mentors and mentees share their experiences at mentoring orientation sessions. Organizational mentoring champions tell their personal mentoring story and are prepared to share other success stories. Senior leaders look for opportunities to engage employees in informal and formal conversations about mentoring. 5. Reward, recognize and celebrate mentoring. The practices of reward, recognition and celebration help create value and visi- bility for individual and organizational mentoring in numerous ways. While many organizations believe that mentoring brings its own psychic rewards (personal satisfaction, meaning and contribution) others engage in a variety of reward practices and reap considerable benefit from doing so. Some say that reward is a powerful motivator for promoting accountability, because it sets a standard for excellence. Some see its virtue as an alignment tool. In addition to rewards, the organization can offer financial incentives that respect the time and effort spent on mentoring. Mentoring recognition, like mentoring reward, runs the full gamut of practice and possibility. Be alert for ways to be inclusive in recognizing people. Celebration adds value and creates visibility for mentoring excellence. Raise the bar on mentoring practice in your organization by celebrating and showcasing mentoring excellence wherever and whenever feasible and appropriate. 6. Include mentoring competency as part and parcel of the leader’s performancedevelopment plan. Doing so increases recognition and acceptance of the importance of mentoring and reminds employees of its importance as part of their own and others’ development. 7. Carefully select, groom and grow your future mentoring leaders. Ensuring mentoring leadership continuity is a challenge, because the reality is that people, positions and situations change. Preparing the next generation of mentoring leaders creates long-term mentoring sustainability. Decide what competencies are required for mentoring leaders. Make sure that they are not just committed to mentoring but to the practice of mentoring excellence. Create a succession plan to build and develop them in their mentoring role. 8. Allocate and protect mentoring time. Realistically assess the amount of time mentoring is expected to take and encourage employees to allot ample time for mentoring. Allow time for mentoring even if it competes with project time commitments. Communicate clearly with supervisors regarding the time expectations for mentoring so they don’t feel blindsided. Leadership is indispensable to long-term mentoring success. When leaders are personally and organizationally committed to mentoring, they enlarge their own capacity to lead, support the growth and development of their people, and positively impact learning throughout the entire organization. Creating a mentoring culture begins by looking in the organizational mirror with an honest appraisal of the organization’s vision, its business processes, how it treats its people and how it demonstrates its values on a daily basis. 21 December 2007 Dr. Lois J. Zachary is president of Leadership Development Services LLC, a consulting firm based in Phoenix, Ariz. She is also the author of The Mentor’s Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships and Creating a Mentoring Culture: The Organization’s Guide. She can be reached at editor@clomedia.com. I www.clomedia.com I Chief Learning Officer http://www.clomedia.com
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