October 13, 1999

Mentoring: employees and management both win

Imagine giving a new medical graduate a scalpel and free reign in the operating room.

Most people with a steady hand could make an initial incision, but then what? No doubt future surgeons are best served by exposure to and teaching by experts in the field. A company without mentoring leaves everything to chance. And I would not like to be the client taking my chances with the roster of surgeons who will operate on my project.

Then there are companies who have "informal programs." Informal mentoring is a hit-and-miss affair, like drilling for oil in random spots. Sometimes you hit pay dirt, with excellent results, but usually, it just one dry hole after another. An informal program will never have the far-reaching effects that can accrue from a formal program.

One of the problems is that many informal mentors want to help, but when the chips are down, they cannot find the time to mentor. The person who expected help feels let down, and animosity can grow out of a promising relationship that is unfulfilled, because of misunderstandings.

Quite a few companies have considered developing a formal mentoring program. There is no cookie-cutter blueprint, as each organization has a different culture and must develop its own program. But, in my experience, the backing of the principals of the firm is mandatory. And this backing means commitment, as evidenced by some form of involvement, in addition to moral support.

And managers must be made accountable to the principals to apply the program. This comes from a recognition that, while billable time may be diverted in the short term, the benefits are considerable in the mid and long terms.

I also feel that it is important for organizations to have a set of "standard operating procedures" before they attempt to establish a formal mentoring program. Each hospital operating room has strict rules of procedure from scrubbing up and sterilizing instruments, to counting swabs and sponges as patients are stitched up after the operation.

Then when an intern is being mentored, they are learning the set procedures, and not the pet methods of the mentor, that may or may not suit the overall system.

Orientation is not mentoring

Many companies believe that their orientation program is mentoring. Yet, after a new employee has been introduced around by a senior staff member, and given an office manual to read, work is assigned without further ado.

"If you have any questions, come and see me," is the closest it gets to a relationship. Should the staff member actually have a question after this, it is often redirected to the immediate manager, to human resources or to a peer to handle. That spells "the end" to the mentoring possibilities for that staff member.

The intentions are good, but there is no formal process, incentives or time to make it work. Clearly, this is not mentoring.

How to reward mentoring

How should mentoring tie into rewards and compensation? I believe that effective mentoring should be a factor that is used to evaluate and reward mentors.

What about the mentee? In some companies, the mentor evaluates the mentee and the assessment can lead to financial rewards and even advancement. Other organizations have the mentor relationship totally divorced from any evaluation or compensation assessment. It all depends on the program that best suits the style of the company.

What some firms are doing

Surprisingly few companies have taken the plunge to implement formal mentoring. I believe it is imperative that each company develops a program unique to their style of operation.

The Black & Veatch "People First" program is now two years old. The company has adapted their mentoring, evaluation guidelines and staff self-development goals to match Steven Covey's work as a set of valued behaviors. (The firm has a license with Covey). As Don Graf, regional manager, puts it, "Everyone is responsible for their own careers. We just help them along with this program."

Sparling has four-year-old mentoring program for new employees and is now expanding that program for design and management positions. "Mentoring is so important to growing and sustaining Sparling's leadership. We are developing a program that rewards and brings out the best in both mentor and mentee. It must be a win-win for all involved," said Jim Duncan, chief executive officer.

Dangers of mentoring

1. Mentors who are very knowledgeable, but caustic, rude and demeaning to the mentee.
2. Mentors who are excellent teachers but whose methods are riddled with vague assumptions and shorts cuts.
3. Mentors who are excellent teachers and technically sound, but who do not follow company standard procedures.
4. Mentors who are excellent teachers, technically sound and follow the company tracks, but who try to convert the mentee against others, or against "the way things are done around here."
5. Mentees who try to use a relationship with a senior manager to leapfrog over his or her peers.
6. Mentees who run down their mentors to others.
7. Mentees who feel themselves above being mentored and resent the whole program.

Rewards of mentoring

1. Organization rewards
   Multiple benefits including cross-training and fast-track learning. In my view, the companies with the most receptive environments are those that have a solid project management program in place. Thus the new employee's skills and experience are elevated by exposure to tried and true methods. Profit is enhanced as reworking, caused by trial and error, is considerably reduced. Leadership skills are often noted and promising candidates are identified and put on a leadership track.

2. Mentee rewards
   The opportunity to accelerate one's skills in one's profession, as taught by a very experienced professional. The opportunity to quickly become a valued team member in the organization, become rapidly integrated into the group, thereby securing the potential for more rapid advancement within the organization.

3. Mentor rewards
   Experienced and talented engineers, architects and scientists become project managers. Experienced project managers may rise into the ranks of senior management, but, in my view, the highest and most valuable role for any professional is that of mentor. Not only are you giving something back to the company, you are giving something back to your profession. Before the advent of writing, all knowledge was passed on by older men and woman, teaching the skills and knowledge to the youth of their village. Thus mentoring is one of the oldest, if not the oldest and respected of professions. It keeps the flame of proficiency alive and can be one of the best gifts any professional can pass on.

Previous columns:

• An introduction to negotiation, 09-08-1999
• Take the project management quiz, 06-09-1999
• Planting the seeds of team loyalty, 05-12-1999
• How to fill a leadership vacuum, 03-10-1999
• Communication pitfalls: reviewing the basics, 01-13-1999
• 1999: a prelude to change in 2000?, 12-09-1998
• Winners create their own luck, 11-11-1998
• High performance organizations, 08-12-1998