Social Networking Mentor Programs
| posted by Rachelle Handley Social Networking Mentor ProgramsBenefits
A Social Networking Mentor Program (SNMP) is a Mentor Program that is hosted on a Social Networking website, such as Facebook or LinkedIn. There are 2 common ways organizations can create a SNMP. The first is to create groups on public Social Networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn. The second option is for an organization to develop a private company Social Networking site. IBM has created a private SNMP website that is available to all past and current IBMers.
Greater IBM Connection: http://greateribm.xing.com/index.html
Social Networking Mentor Programs have greater benefits and are more versatile, aligning well with today’s business requirements and global needs, versus Traditional In-Person Mentor Programs. A list of these benefits is listed below:
1. Highly Scalable: Since Social Networking Mentor Programs are 100% Internet based, these programs are fully scalable to any size organization, located anywhere.
2. Speeds up On-Boarding Process: Brings them up to speed quickly and effectively. Grooms employees to fill key roles in the company later on.
3. Decreases On-Boarding Cost: Through the utilization of the Mentor Program there is no need for New Hire EE training.
4. Used as a Recruiting tool: Since few companies offer New Hire Mentor Programs, Applicants will view the program as a valuable benefit. Provides an effective career growth path to employees and therefore reduces hiring and turnover costs.
5. Increases New Hire Time to Productivity: Time it takes for a New Hire to reach the average employee productivity is reduced by 25% through the utilization of a Mentor Program.
6. Increases Existing Employee Productivity & Engagement: By requiring an associate to successfully Mentor a Mentee prior to advancement, the organization effectively promotes training, teamwork, sharing of best practices and empowers its associates to lead others. BTS Consulting, http://www.btsconsultinggroup.com/, is an example of a firm that has implemented this requirement.
7. Increases Knowledge Retention through Utilization of Wiki: An online library of information.
8. Increases Cross-Functional Collaboration: In addition to phone and email, EE’s/Team’s can also communicate through the Social Networking site via their established Groups & Wiki’s.
9. Enables Global Communication through Technology: Internet based.
10. Highly Flexible & Adaptable: While the program is housed on the Internet, the Mentor/Mentee can either maintain a 100% virtual relationship or include telephone, email or in-person meetings as they see fit.
11. Requires Minimum Time of Mentor: Since the program is housed on the Internet the Mentor and Mentee can communicate with one another 24/7.
Innovative Mentor Program Styles
Mentor Programs are no longer a one-size fits all solution. They can be tailored to any size organization, culture and industry. Below is a list of innovative ways of further enhancing the benefits of Mentor Programs and engaging the Mentor Program participants:
1. Short-Term, Goal-Oriented Mentoring: 1 Mentor is paired with 1 Mentee and both parties work together to fulfill the Mentee’s short-term goals. Short-term goals are those typically requiring less than 3 months of the Mentor’s time.
2. Peer-to-Peer Mentoring: New Associates and underperforming Associates are paired with successful Associates at their same level. This enables the Mentee to quickly learn best practices and to quickly establish relationships with key players as related to their specific job function.
3. Speed Mentoring: Similar to Speed Dating, a group of Mentees & Mentors meet for a period of one hour, in which time the Mentee can ask as many questions they have of the Mentor within a 5-10 minute timeframe. This works best when there are a 4-6 Mentors and 4-6 Mentees. As much information is passed onto the Mentee as possible within that one-hour time period.
4. Reverse Mentoring: Junior Level associates mentor Senior Level associates. Example – COO requires additional training on MS Excel to learn how to effectively create and manipulate Pivot Tables. The Junior Level associate would mentor the COO over a period of 1-3 months until the Executive has mastered Pivot Tables.
5. Team Mentoring: A team of 4-6 associates working toward one common goal are mentored by 1 Mentor. Increased cross-functional collaboration, reduction in Mentor time, and increased team work are the benefits of Team Mentoring. One of the primary tools offered through Social Network sites are Groups. The Mentored Team should create a Group on the Social Network site allowing its users and Mentor to post updates, questions, answers, best practices, resources and promote networking opportunities in one central location, accessible online 24/7.
Mentor & Mentee Relationship vs. Dating: Should they be Treated the Same?
Yes, the pairing of Mentors and Mentee’s should be treated similarly to dating. As we know there is a multitude of reasons why personal relationships are unsuccessful some of which are differences in Lifestyle, Personality, Age, Morals, Education, Personal Interest, Upbringing, Work Experience/Ethic and Character are just a few. With so many possible points of contention it is no surprise that Mentor pairings are often times ineffective. Modern day pairings need to be flexible and adaptable to accommodate such differences.
The best and most effective Mentor Programs will enable both the Mentor and Mentee, at any time, to request a change in partner. Furthermore, it is recommended that you empower the Mentee to drive this process through the utilization of Facilitated Self Selection. An EE Questionnaire should be circulated capturing the work experience, career interest and education background of each EE within the organization. Once this data has been collected, organize the information into a database. The database will serve as the back-end, while the Social Networking website will serve as the front-end allowing New Employee’s to search for possible Mentor’s that align with his/her career goals and training needs.
Just like renting a vehicle, the Mentee is bound to nurture the relationship if it is owned versus rented or arranged via HR.
Additional Questions?
Rachelle Handley has conducted extensive research and has consulted rapidly growing Hi-Tech Firms to develop and implement Social Networking Mentor Programs. The SNMP’s increase EE New Hire Time to Productivity by 20-25% within the first 3 months of implementation. If you or your organization has additional questions regarding the development and/or implementation requirements of Mentor Programs contact Rachelle Handley at Rachelle.handley@gmail.com.
