The Business Case for Mentoring – Example

Strategic Overview

“When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.”
– Simon Sinek

To fully achieve diversity, equity and inclusion, we must invest in mentoring for diverse talent as 62% of women of color say the lack of an influential mentor holds them back.  In general, women are 24% less likely than me to get advice from senior leaders. Mentoring programs make companies’ managerial echelons significantly more diverse: On average they boost the representation of black, Hispanic, and Asian-American women, and Hispanic and Asian-American men, by 9% to 24%. Sources: HBR, Why Diversity Programs Fail and LeanIn.org – Women in the Workplace.

Given our strategic initiatives and business goals, now is the time to devote our focus to leadership development with the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion. One key component of our DE&I strategy over the next three month will be the establishment of a mentoring program. To fully leverage the talent within our organization and to attract new talent, mentoring must become a part of our culture. This mentoring culture can develop only if mentoring is clearly aligned with our organization’s vision and mission, and the business strategy and goals. In addition, our mentoring program goals will link directly to our overall employee development strategy and goals.

Current State and Background

We recognizes the value of our high potential employees as a key competitive advantage during this volatile time in the economy across the world.

To support the critical need for development diverse leadership in rapidly changing conditions, talent assessments can be used as the first round of criteria for participant selection. As we continue to evolve our strategy, mentoring is seen as a key component to the overall leadership development approach. In particular, mentoring will serve as a catalyst in accelerating skills and competencies across the organization.

Business Drivers

Given our current state, the following are the business drivers and goals for our mentoring program:

Retention. Organizations can lose key talent during times of rapid change. We will identify the key individuals and departments  that are critical to our growth strategy. Providing a mentoring experience will indicate to our key employees that we are committed to their professional success and personal wellbeing.

Diverse Talent Development. Mentoring will provide key skills and understanding needed to support diverse talent promotion into higher levels of leadership.

Benefits

For our organization overall:

• Retention of valuable employees.
• Contributes to enhanced organization performance by supporting skill development that links to business goals.
• Strengthens the organization’s reputation as an “Employer of Choice.”

For our selected employees/identified mentees:

• Provides access to a broader organizational view.
• Provides knowledge and skill building opportunities to increase effectiveness.
• Provides an opportunity to take ownership of personal and professional development.
• Promotes diversity of thought and style.

For our identified senior leaders who will be selected as mentors:

• Provides an opportunity to build and strengthen mentoring skills.
• Provides new insights into organizational issues through the eyes of the mentee.
• Provides an opportunity to demonstrate leadership and inclusive behaviors.
• Provides an opportunity to contribute to the development of less experienced professionals
• Enhances job satisfaction and purpose.

Outcomes

Measuring the mentoring outcomes will provide insight as to the effectiveness of this strategy against our diversity and inclusion goals, and will dictate the frequency and scope of future program rollouts.

Critical Success Factors

• Structured program that is integrated with clearly defined business objectives
• Visible senior management commitment and support
• Training, tools and ongoing support for participants from Menttium
• Ownership of the mentoring process by Menttium as knowledgeable experts with 30 years experience in this field
• Voluntary participation by mentees and mentors
• Ongoing communication to stakeholders