Training Industry Magazine - March/April 2017 - 38

ACCOUNTABILITY IS CRITICAL TO
THE SUCCESS OF MENTORING.

To make this happen, a mentoring
platform should allow the organization
a high-degree of configurability around
the user profile, both in terms of the
type of information that is captured
(e.g., demographic, skill/competency
information) and the way the information
is captured/pre-populated.
2»Program Parameters:
Programs are Unique
Most organizations that implement
mentoring will do so to meet the
development needs of their employees
at multiple points in the employee
lifecycle. This means that over time,
they will integrate mentoring into the
fabric of more than one developmental
program (e.g., leadership development,
onboarding, high potential development),
and each program is likely to have
unique needs.
A good mentoring provider will allow
for flexibility and configurability on
a program-by-program basis. At a
minimum, organizations should be able
to configure:
»Audience Controls
Who is allowed to participate in each
program? What roles can they play?
Within a given program, is an individual
permitted to be a mentor, mentee, or
both? Might the same individual need
to be a mentee in one program (e.g., in
a new manager group) and a mentor in
another (e.g., as a "buddy" in a one-on-one
relationship with a new employee)? The
platform needs this flexibility.

| 38

»Types of Relationships
Some program administrators will limit
the types of relationships in which
people can engage. For example, a
high potential program administrator
may want to emphasize or even limit
participation to one-on-one mentoring,
whereas the administrator of a new
manager training program may want
only group/cohort-based mentoring.
The choice should be made by the
people running the program.
»Matching
How will participants be matched up
with one another? Will it be self-directed?
Administrator matched? A combination
of these? In the case of a succession
planning program, the organization may
want control over the matches. Whereas
in a diversity and inclusion program, the
organization may want to promote the

value of mentees choosing their own
mentors from the pool of available experts.
»Communication/Announcements
These features allow program managers
to easily communicate with participants.
For example, to announce an upcoming
webinar for new hires participating in the
onboarding program, or share a reminder
to complete relationship evaluations. The
platform should have mechanisms for
easily reaching out to specific audiences
with targeted announcements.
»Content
Some program administrators may need
mentoring software that can curate
and link to suggested content (e.g., job
aids, e-learning modules, videos) that
supports the participants in the various
programs. For example, the administrator
of the high potential program may have

MATCH MAKER, MATCH MAKER
A mentoring platform should allow organizations to choose from various
matching options. At a minimum, these should include:
* Self-directed matching
This is where mentees can
select their own mentor
from a list of suggested
individuals via the platform.
* Administrator matching
This is where an administrator
matches pairs and/or groups
of people together using
the suggestions made by
the mentoring software.

* Facilitator matching
This is where a third party
who is not the administrator
matches people up in
mentoring pairs or groups
(e.g., a department manager
or instructional designer
puts a mentoring group
together to focus on a
specific learning need).



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - March/April 2017

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