How to manage a mentoring program ?

Mentoring programs are getting more and more popular in companies around the world. But to have a successful mentoring program matching mentors and mentees are not enough.

 While a good mentoring relationship can develop naturally time has shown that helpful guidelines and milestones can lead to a workplace that is structured and have more formal approaches.

Mentoring programs can vary depending on the size and culture of an organization also the needs and desires of the companies are different. The first a company must do is define their mentorship to his employees, this includes what is expected from the mentors but also from the mentees and most importantly what are the goals of the mentorship program. (1)

The next step for the company is to choose their mentors and mentees during this process learning objectives that they will pursue together can be set. By setting goals and objectives gives mentors a chance to verify their commitment and knowledge to teach the what mentees wants or needs to learn.

Secondly, setting timelines, not only progress milestones but defined end points, this way the pairs can stay focused. Because a mentorship relationship is on the long run the tracking of the process can get harder, by having timelines the progress can be supervised. to stay successful not only mentees but also mentors can be trained as well, to learn new strategies and techniques to keep the relationships strong. 

Lastly providing the right tools and resources can support mentors and mentees during their developments. (2)

Resources :