Internal mentoring programme – an effective step towards developing the organization's leadership culture.

Internal mentoring

Internal mentoring programmes can have different objectives:

• To change the leadership culture of the organisation and provide managers with modern leadership tools.
• To provide support to new leaders.
• To assist new employees as part of an onboarding program.
• To help them adapt to change processes (e.g., mergers/structural changes).
• To reinforce the organisation’s newly agreed values.
• Enhance cooperation between different units/countries.
• Increase employee commitment to the organisation.
• Support the organisation’s strategic goals.

When conducting this for the first time, it is wise to seek the help of external professionals. At Fontes, we have years of experience working with various organisations and are happy to offer our expertise to benefit your organisation and programme.

10 steps that an organisation should take before starting the program:

STEP 1. Why? / Define the program’s purpose and connection to the mission.

Define the programme’s purpose and connection to the organisation’s broader goals and mission—what mentoring will help the organisation achieve. Do you want to promote leadership skills or support succession planning? A clear goal creates a foundation for the programme, providing a broader basis for all programme activities and helping all stakeholders and participants see its value. This first step is the most important in the entire process, helping to ensure the program’s effectiveness and alignment with the organisation’s expectations.

STEP 2. How to measure? / Define metrics that show the programme’s success.

A clearly defined programme objective helps to define the necessary metrics. Clearly defined metrics enable you to evaluate the programme’s results and impact. Regardless of which metric you choose, make sure it is clearly stated and that you have a plan for collecting and evaluating the data. For example, if you want to develop leadership skills, you can measure this by monitoring changes in the leadership index.

STEP 3. Support from senior management / Invite senior management to support the programme.

In our experience, one of the key factors for a successful programme is the support of the organisation’s senior management. We recommend involving top management as early as the programme planning stage so they feel engaged with the topic from the outset and can contribute their own ideas to the programme’s implementation. A strong leadership team also encourages others to get involved. Many top managers have had mentors themselves, which helps them understand the importance of the issue. Ideally, the pilot project could start by training top management to serve as mentors, setting a good example for the entire organisation and encouraging other managers to get involved.

STEP 4. Involve all stakeholders / Bring all stakeholders together for a common goal.

This step can be challenging, especially for larger organisations, but it is crucial if the programme is open to the entire organisation. Cooperation between different departments, such as communications and marketing, helps to make the programme visible throughout the organisation. When preparing the programme for the first time, it is effective to use external professional help so that you don’t have to “reinvent the wheel” on your own. Try to get people from different departments on the same page before the programme starts to help ensure its success. This will create a sense of ownership and connection to the programme.

STEP 5. Matching participants: create criteria for matching participants.

Creating a good mentoring relationship requires careful matching of participants. Develop clear criteria for doing this, as they will determine the success or failure of the mentoring relationship between two participants. Matching can be done using personality tests, with support from external experts (with relevant experience), or by agreeing on general principles. Do you want to give mentees a choice of mentors, or will you form the pairs yourself? It is important that the criteria are agreed upon and that you can justify them to participants if they have any questions. It is good international practice for a direct manager not to mentor their direct subordinate, as the manager is the employee’s immediate evaluator.

STEP 6. Necessary resources: Ensure that the program has the necessary resources available. Involve external professional partners.

Before launching the programme, make sure you have all the resources you need to run it successfully. This includes the necessary staff, budget, and appropriate technology. A key issue is the availability of a programme coordinator supported by a small programme team. You will need a budget for both engaging external partners and pre-programme marketing activities. In terms of technology, smaller programmes may be easier to implement, but in general, an environment is needed to manage all programme activities. This, in turn, significantly reduces the coordinator’s workload and time consumption, keeps all programme information in one place and easily accessible, and helps create a good experience for every participant.

STEP 7. Best practices: Learn from them. Involve mentoring experts.

Learning about best practices in mentoring programmes helps to avoid common mistakes. Try to mitigate potential risks before the program starts—for example, by involving mentoring experts with extensive, diverse experience. We recommend taking the time to do this, even though it can be tempting to rush into the programme. Thorough preparation helps to build trust in the programme among various stakeholders.

STEP 8. “Pitch” / Create engaging communication that introduces the program.

Present the programme’s goals and values in an inspiring way. This speech should be engaging and rich in arguments, and your personal belief in the topic will further enhance its impact!

STEP 9. Marketing / Effective marketing of the mentoring programme within the organisation.

Choose the right people and the right messages before you start recruiting for the programme. You can use e-mails, your website or intranet, social media, or an event to introduce the program. It all starts with knowing your target groups and the time and financial resources at your disposal.

STEP 10. Launch the programme! / Launch the mentoring programme with external experts and involve participants.

And now you are ready to start the mentoring programme. Consider the communication channels that your people prefer. Send out repeated calls to join the programme, published across multiple channels. Share additional information at management meetings, plan an attractive launch event, and include a personal letter from the company manager and programme coordinator. Share enough information at the beginning, but not too much detail. It is important to understand what is happening, why, and how interested parties can make themselves known.