Learning and Development - Mentoring methods to raise leaders

Mentoring methods to raise leaders

Most economies are grappling with change and uncertainty, therefore good leadership at every level of an organisation is a necessity. The quality of people in an organisation is the key to sustaining business growth. When a company is managed by well-trained and hard-working personnel, high productivity and profitability are generally sequential. However, when people development is absent and morale is low, productive outcomes are affected and profitability suffers.

A shift in focus on people, in the raising of a business or organisation, is crucial to its survival. The development of human capital prepares the company for the long haul. One significant way in which human capital can be enhanced to extend organisational capacity is through mentoring programmes. Leadership mentoring ensures the establishment of broad-based leadership. The benefits of mentoring accrue most obviously to mentees but more importantly, from a business standpoint, corporations grow human capital in order to consolidate critical bodies of knowledge. In a nutshell, mentoring brings about various benefits for different parties.

Mentees: They will have informed advice, peer guidance and reassurance, access to network contacts and develop new perspectives.

Mentors: Although the benefits to the practising mentor are often intangible, personal testimonies from mentors attest to the widespread benefits that include effective succession planning and powerful teamwork as they grow strong workplace cultures to face marketplace challenges.

Corporations: Leadership mentoring adds tremendous value to the competitiveness of corporations as human intelligence and strategic agility have become essential ingredients for success. Practical payoffs include better recruitment, induction & retention of staff, better communications, faster organisational learning & stronger corporate culture.

Five models of mentoring

Traditionally, mentoring was conducted in an informal manner. Now, many corporations in developed countries and in Asia have formal leadership mentoring systems in place. There are five main mentoring methods and these models are not mutually exclusive.

Informal: This form of mentoring takes place when a veteran employee decides to take someone less experienced under his or her wing.

Positional: The mentoring method occurs when the mentor is the mentee's line manager.

Formal: Standardised mentoring programmes emerged to address the limitations of positional mentoring as well as informal mentoring. In the 1990s, a surge in interest towards mentoring methods lead to the combined model where companies can reap the benefits of both informal and positional mentoring.

Situational: This mentoring method provides advice for a specific circumstance or project, for example, when the mentee has to implement a new computer system or take up a foreign posting.

Innovative: The most popular mentoring model in recent times as it can be shaped to fit the fluid and volatile business environment. Just as top down hierarchical structures in the management and organisational system are replaced gradually by organic and dynamic modern structures, Innovative leadership mentoring programmes have evolved to include a variety of modes such as group mentoring, virtual networks, mentoring chat rooms, strategic exchange counters and other multifarious forms of blended learning and mentoring. The Innovative model is highly recommended for its relevance in fast-paced industries.

Implementing leadership mentoring

When designing a corporate mentoring programme

, decide whether or not the company is better off using the method of Formal mentoring, Informal mentoring or a combination of the two, and fix the maximum number of mentees per mentor. It is wise to establish a matching process that is fair and have clear ground rules on whether or not mentees are to choose mentors or vice versa. Also, set up the duration of mentoring relationships, process of termination and provide training for mentors and mentees whilst specifying the expected benefits of the programme. When HR states the model used clearly and establishes ongoing processes, setting up an organisation-wide mentoring programme can be a breeze.

HR can choose between applying traditional methods and adopting innovative approaches of leadership mentoring. Traditional one-on-one approaches include Informal mentoring where mentee selects mentor and mentoring is co-constructed by mentor and mentee independently and, Formal mentoring where mentee and mentor are matched based on mentee's needs and goals.

Innovative approaches consist of Team mentoring and Group mentoring. In Team mentoring, groups have clearly specified roles and goals and there may be up to nine mentees paired with one to four mentors who are given clear briefs on the duration, process and outcomes of the mentoring experience. This is often supported by team profiles and other useful information or tools that will enhance the effectiveness of individual and team development plans and create a growing network of shared knowledge and strategic orientations based on best practices. Group mentoring works best for teams with between 10 and 20 members so mutual mentoring can take place to enhance accountability and provide a platform for bouncing off new ideas and solutions to organisational needs. Group mentoring acts like a support system for networking and generalised learning, there are no clearly defined roles or assigned individual mentors.

Psychometric tools to enhance mentoring

The use of psychometric tests can provide mentors with foundation information such as a mentee's personality at work, learning styles, leadership traits, career fit and also a mentee's preferred Individual Development Plan (IDP). Mentor and mentee partnership profiles can help mentors be more aware of the personality of the mentee in relation to international benchmarks and how the mentee can best be helped, thereby facilitating the mentoring process and optimising outcomes.

The IDP for the mentee highlights top strengths and relative weaknesses and can be used by the mentor as a framework to steer ongoing focus and monitor development. The IDP is a tool for the mentor to encourage mentees to self-select critical competencies for development and take ownership of their challenges. Areas of discussion include:

• Mentee's choice of competencies to develop

• o Mentee's match with job & international benchmarks

• o Core competencies and critical success factors
• o How to lHoHeverage on strengths and manage weaknesses
• o Directions for behavioural change

• o Development Guide which states activities that a mentee will undertake for development, situations in which to practice behaviour, required assistance and time schedule

The mentor can use this information to harness, widen and intensify the mentee's development programmes without risk of burnout.

Virtual programmes

Online connectivity has opened up virtual leadership mentoring systems that allow multiple mentees and mentors to interact and give mutual support to each other at the same time. The possibility of structuring multi-level mentoring networks has opened up a new concept of mentoring as a team or group activity that goes beyond one-on-one interactions. Evaluation systems and access to online psychometric knowledge are also key elements in developing group or team leadership mentoring as a viable system.

Leadership mentoring is an emerging practice that has proven to be an invaluable asset to companies that have initiated innovative systems. This is a trend that is likely to continue as short-term as well as long-term benefits become more evident. Mentoring programmes enable organisations to facilitate teamwork amongst staff and share knowledge thus resulting in strategic agility and greater capacity to respond to change.

Dr. Shirley Lim, president

Research Communication International & Research University on Leadership

www.ResearchCommunication.com