Set Clear Objectives for Mentoring
While organizational goals are part of the equation, allowing mentors and mentees to work out their own goals makes a mentoring program much more likely to succeed.
“An effective program should encourage each individual mentoring pair to set their own specific goals," said William Taylor, senior career advisor at VelvetJobs, a Los Angeles-based career transition and outplacement firm. "While some mentoring programs focus on general conversation, I’ve found that setting clear development goals works to keep a partnership on track and produce measurable results.”
Provide Mentoring Training
Employees should not be thrust into a mentorship program without training on how to be effective. Successful organizations set the stage by training mentors and mentees on roles and expectations, effective communication strategies and relationship-building techniques, Shelef said.
"For mentors, training tends to focus on ways to talk to and build trust with mentees," he said. "For mentees, it’s often about how to ask the right questions and learn from their mentors.”
There are practical tools available to facilitate an effective mentoring program and they should be provided in the learning process just as with any learning initiative. Shelef recommended starting from the beginning, with tools and templates to walk participants through the steps, track goals and jump-start conversations.