Mentee Perspectives on Company Mentorship Programmes

To say I was surprised by the general sentiment in a poll I ran on LinkedIn and Twitter about company-allocated mentors is putting it mildly. Especially given the incredibly positive perspective I get from talking with HR departments, including Learning & Development managers, in companies themselves. A strong reminder to me that different stakeholders can have very different perspectives on the same topic!

​So, given I’ve written about other company initiatives like rotation programmes and career returner programmes before, why not write an article on mentorship programmes too? 

Read more to learn what the poll results were, plus some suggestions on how to enhance company mentorship initiatives, ending with thoughts on other programmes such as those run by non-profit organisations or professional bodies.

Poll Results
The polls covered a mixture of positive and not-so-positive statements about company-allocated mentors, and I was expecting a more balanced outcome. Instead, less than 15% said company-allocated mentors ‘give great career advice’ or ‘become strong sponsors’! Note that those participating could choose only one of the options given.

Almost 40% of respondents said they don’t have a company-allocated mentor, which possibly reflects a number of factors: that some companies only offer mentoring to selected employees, that some companies don’t have mentoring programmes, and that some individuals are independent consultants or contractors, so miss out on the opportunity to learn from more senior colleagues.

More than 30% felt that they have superficial chats over coffee with their mentor, indicating that some matches and programmes are not effective. Perhaps their impact and value are not being measured? 

And, 17% worried that their company-allocated mentor was biased or not independent. This is a very natural concern, given that the mentor is paid by the company, and is (at least partly) incentivised to reinforce the company culture, and convey their experiences of what worked for them. The dependence can be helpful as they understand the context, the politics, and the roleplayers, so can give context-specific suggestions and/or recommend people to engage with to solve a specific issue. However, it also brings a risk that they (perhaps inadvertently) share something more widely than a mentee had intended. Would you, for example, discuss with a company-allocated mentor your disagreements with your boss, your plans to resign, or your discomfort with executive decisions being taken? And even if they keep everything confidential for now, there is always the possibility that the mentee may one day in future work within their mentor’s wider team, with lingering memories of past candour. 

To mitigate some of these independence concerns, at Protagion we recommend that our proteges build up a board of mentors and coaches, so that they can approach different people about different things. Where available, use company-allocated mentors and coaches for the unique value they can add, but also supplement them with independent mentors and coaches. We help our proteges to find aspirational mentors, skills ones, technical ones, professionalism ones, leadership and purpose coaches, robo mentors, and even their inner mentor.

Improving company mentorship initiatives
One of the people who kindly participated in the poll asked me whether I had thoughts on how company-led mentorship programmes could be improved – thanks Tumi! 

Some suggestions – please do add more in the comments if you’d like to:

• Define upfront what the mentoring initiative is looking to achieve for the company e.g. improve retention, support Diversity & Inclusion, build talent for the future, share perspectives up & down the organisation, rolemodelling etc. 
• Put in place mechanisms to measure whether the initiative is achieving its aims, while being open to other positive spinoff effects too, such as increased morale
• Train both mentees and mentors on realistic expectations of each other, and ways to conduct themselves for good outcomes (including confidentiality, preparation etc) – see our past article on getting the most out of mentor-protege interactions for further ideas
• Put significant effort into the matches between mentees and mentors, perhaps basing it on the mentee’s career goals (and the programme’s intention), or even ask mentees for their preferences; be flexible in changing matches where necessary
• Widen access – perhaps allow individuals who want a mentor to ask for one, rather than keeping the programme constrained to certain groups only

Other programmes
As alluded to earlier, people can source mentors outside their company too. Perhaps paid professionals like those available via Protagion, or volunteer mentors via their own network of connections, non-profit organisations or professional bodies. 

There are many helpful mentoring programmes run by non-profit organisations or professional bodies, often targeted at scholars, students or specific communities that the given organisation wishes to support from a social transformation perspective. These initiatives are worthwhile and can make a meaningful impact. 

When available, we’d encourage our proteges to benefit from these resources too where they are eligible. The risk of superficial chats could equally arise there, so should be managed as far as possible by selecting mentors who take their role seriously, clarifying expectations and goals, and preparing for each session.

What have your experiences of mentorship programmes been? Have you found them helpful at different stages of your professional career?