Focuses on defining, developing and implementing formal mentoring programs for organizations.
Schoonover Associates has in-depth experience in designing and installing mentoring approaches. Most programs focus on one or more of the following goals:
- Providing improved role integration to improve motivation, personal work satisfaction and retention of key staff;
- Supporting key talent in their career development/growth;
- Creating greater visibility for key talent to other key stakeholders and functional leaders throughout an organization;
- Providing opportunities for and teaching key talent how to build their own capabilities and a broader organizational network; and
- Generating exposure to a broader business context (e.g., cross business/functions/roles/different points of view).
While coaching represents a key ongoing feedback role provided by managers and team leaders, most mentoring roles are structured to offer an expanded point of view and a broadened set of experiences. To support such initiatives we advocate developing a structured framework with the following elements:
- Guiding principles;
- Mentor and mentee performance criteria;
- Mentor selection guidelines;
- Mentoring process guidelines;
- Support tools, supervision, templates and training;
- Program governance and supervision guidelines; and
- Key program measurements.
We have developed extensive materials to support each of the above requirements, including a mentor competency model that we often apply in selecting, assessing, coaching and developing mentors.