Learning to grow | Building a mentoring culture at your business
“Advice Squad” is written by members of the Maine Chapter of the Association for Consulting Expertise, a trade organization of 88 consultants around the state. This issue’s column is written by Susan deGrandpré, the owner and principal consultant of Collaboration Consulting and author of the new book “Common-Sense Workplace Mentoring.”
You have turned your dream into your livelihood. You have created a thriving business with your dedication, energy and expertise, growing your market share and maybe even adding employees. You have so much to do, and no more of you to do it. Now, what if your employees could help you shed your “do everything yourself” role?
Who have you hired? Are they talented and eager to help you succeed? Could they learn from you and from each other? If the answer is no, you’ve hired the wrong people. If yes, you’re ready to increase your capacity through systematic “workplace mentoring.”
Business owners who mentor their employees to take on increased responsibility find that they are freed to focus on developing the business. Those who teach their employees to mentor each other find that they have created a self-sustaining system to improve customer service, productivity and teamwork.
Workplace mentoring is an explicit one-to-one learning relationship between someone who wants to improve his own skills and someone who can help him do that. The mentor is much more than just a “go-to” person. She invests in a colleague’s development, offering knowledge, guidance and feedback.
Widely different types and sizes of businesses have discovered direct and side benefits of “people teaching people.” It develops the one being mentored at faster rates than standardized training, while sharpening the mentor’s leadership skills.
Don’t look for a “cookie-cutter” approach. Each of the businesses I’ve worked with or researched has evolved mentoring according to distinct needs. I have discovered, though, six fundamental steps that they have in common:
1. Evaluate people’s strengths, needs and aspirations individually.
We learn uniquely. No two people bring exactly the same qualities to a job. The development process is much more efficient when it is shaped to the individual.
2. Create opportunities to learn on the job.
We learn by doing. Make the workplace a classroom. Learning is retained at a higher level when it’s directly applied to work.
3. Define teaching and learning roles.
We learn with clear expectations. Set unambiguous goals and responsibilities for mentoring, including content and pace. Review and revise continually to reflect progress, and use your imagination. A coffee shop owner I know aims her mentoring at community contribution as well as job goals. The culture of service is strong, and employees often need support as they learn to give back through meaningful involvement. Employees stay with this business because it fosters expertise and personal values.
4. Give direct feedback.
We learn from encouragement. Mentoring is a two-way process. Both mentor and mentee should exchange feedback — stressing what works well — openly and continually to stay on track with the learning goals.
5. Measure learning.
We learn when we build on success. Set incremental measurements, both formal and informal, to give the learner and mentor frequent, meaningful marks of success.
6. Reward the team effort.
We learn when we feel energized. Imbed a culture of mentoring by recognizing effort and success. Make it rewarding and fun to teach and learn. A retail business owner I know has found that the simplest ways to reward mentors and mentees are also the most effective. She says “thank you” often and in person, leaves notes that say “I noticed….” when there is no time to talk.
Business owners with established workplace mentoring systems expand the potential of the organization as employees take co-responsibility for success. They develop leaders and build teams. Mentors gain leadership skills as they learn to communicate effectively, plan and measure performance goals and give feedback objectively.
Learning curves are faster as those being mentored get individual attention and are coached to think through challenges themselves. Such companies differentiate themselves from the competition because the whole staff is focused on teaching and learning from each other. Knowledge capital stays with the organization, even if key people leave. And key people are less likely to leave if given the opportunities of a mentoring system.
The biggest challenge: Owners have to give up the control of doing everything themselves. Even when exhausted, owners tend to hold on to the reins tenaciously. Workplace mentoring provides a structured way to delegate according to the needs of the business and strengths of the individuals. Mentors ensure that control is everyone’s issue rather than just the owner’s. And the more control is shared, the less the owner has to hold those reins.
Where to start? Begin by mentoring one person, using the six steps. Watch the strengths multiply. Then ask that person to mentor someone else. Give yourself and the new mentor the training needed to mentor skillfully. Watch the benefits of mentoring grow.
Susan deGrandpré can be reached at Susan@CollaborationConsulting.biz. Read more Advice Squad here.
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