Diversity mentoring is an important component to any type of leadership program.  Organizations utilizing diversity mentoring programs create a workplace where employees feel that they are able to express how they feel and know that their voices are being heard.  Diversity mentoring also offers the opportunity for diverse individuals to connect and share personal experiences, knowledge and motivation to succeed in their careers.  By brining together people from diverse backgrounds and who have a vast range of experiences, enables an organization to meet its goals and develop a broader leadership base, thus increasing workplace productivity. Give us a call today to learn how we can help you create a diversity mentoring program. 

Our “Best Practices in Mentoring” PowerPoint presentation provides a step-by-step demonstration of many of the key concepts of mentoring.

We designed it for use as a learning tool for professionals who want to increase their knowledge about mentoring and mentoring programs. You can also present it to senior managers in your organization to gain support for corporate mentoring programs.

To view your free copy of this presentation, you must first register. Once you submit your registration, you will receive an email confirmation with instructions on accessing the presentation.

Simply fill our your request for the Best Practices in Mentoring presentation. 

Many organizations are finding themselves in a delicate position because they feel that they do not have enough qualified candidates working for them and are not sure what to do.  They do not see enough leaders sitting at their fingertips and are starting to panic.  Some of these same companies are experiencing very large turnover rates, thus increasing their expenses.  Instead of tossing away thousands of dollars on turnover employees, the best solution is to invest those monies into a solid mentoring program.  A formal mentoring program is a great investment.  There are many different types of programs to choose from.  All you need to do is speak to a mentoring expert and have them help you design a program that will be tailored to your needs.  After you implement it, the next few steps are quite simple.  The first step is to take the time to get to know your employees.  The next step would be to select the employees you feel that have the potential to excel.  Lastly, embrace those high potential employees and help them develop into becoming your future leaders by having them participate in the mentoring program.  Providing tools and resources to educate your employees on leadership and management skills should help reduce your turnover rate.  Besides, if employees see advancement opportunities and formal programs for career progression, your organization will be demonstrating that you care about their future.  Significant advances in technology has paved the way to facilitate the mentoring process, so give us a call today to learn how we can help you develop your leaders of tomorrow.

Is it time for you to sit down and evaluate your current mentoring program?  Or, did you recently evaluate your program and found that something is just not working right?  Are you dissatisfied with your current mentoring program software because of the components that came with it, or didn’t come with?  Did you even have a choice to pick what would work well for your company?  Or, was it a package deal and you really did not have a choice?  Well, if you have been asking yourself either one of these questions, or all of them, we are here to help!

We have many services to offer you, but one in particular that would help you with your current program concerns is having one of our mentoring experts evaluate your program.  They will sit down with you, review your organizational needs, evaluate your program and make suggestions based on our experiences and assist you to get your program back on track.  It may only consist of making a few enhancements or changes to your current program.  Sometimes it may be necessary to have an unbiased individual come in and show you where improvements should be made so that you can get the most out of your program. 

If your mentoring program is working out well for you, but you would like assistance managing the program, matching the pairs and completing reports, then our mentoring program software, MentoringComplete, is what you need.  MentoringComplete is completely customizable to what your needs are.  We will let you pick and choose the components that will work for your type of organization.  Your opinion and needs are always at the top of our list and that is why we are always making enhancements to our software to keep up with the newest trends.  It is easy to set up, easy to use, and can support all types of mentoring programs.  Even if you have several different programs at the same time, MentoringCompletecan accommodate your needs.  To view a demo of MentoringComplete, or to set up a complementary consultation to get some ideas of how one of our mentoring experts can help you make some enhancements to your program, please click here. 

As technology develops, it has become an important tool in managing mentoring programs.  Technology also creates an entrepreneurial opportunity for those providing online mentoring solutions.  This is all well and good but if you are looking to sift through the various systems be aware that there is a difference!

Most of the recent new online system providers are really marketing a tool for matching often coupled with a  heavy coaching component.  These should rightfully be classified as online coaching systems but many purveyors are attempting to grab the mentoring market and so use the term "mentoring" instead.  It's not an attempt to mislead but an attempt to grab market share.  One can understand this approach but you have to ask yourself how much this purveyor knows about real mentoring.

How can you tell the difference between a true mentoring online system and those that aren't?  A true mentoring system is focused on components that create and support the building of a relationship with a matching component focused on achieving successful matches through establishing the best relationship.  In such systems, you will not see the emphasis on assessments and measurements as heavily as you do with systems disguised as mentoring.  A system heavily dependent upon assessments and measuring results is performance based.  In many respects, these systems complement the management role.  Many companies are attracted to this marketing pitch because it promises results which it may deliver but it isn't mentoring.  True mentoring, on the other hand, relies on a confidential, professional relationship built on trust and focused on development and not on performance.  The relationship is outside the managerial chain of command to allow for an honest and open relationship to develop that will bring about real change in the mentoree as opposed to simply gaining a new skill or piece of knowledge.

In short, in coaching systems disguised as mentoring, the focus is on performance results and has the feel of a coaching/performance system.  True mentoring systems are focused on process whereby, through the mutually trustful relationship, mentorees have the opportunity to share those issues that challenge their success so that they can be transformed in the process to achieve greater success.  That is a significant difference!

International Women’s Day is celebrated all over the world on March 8^th.  This year is even more significant because we are celebrating its 100^th anniversary.  The official International Women’s Day website notes the following about the occasion: “International Women’s Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.  In some places like China, Russia, Vietnamand Bulgaria, IWD is a national holiday.”  Every year there is a theme to go along with the day. This year’s theme is “Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all.”  As we celebrate such an important day, please remember to acknowledge your mentor, mentoree, colleagues or family members for all of their accomplishments.

Fashion designer Vera Wang was not always dreaming of becoming a high profile designer.  In fact, her passion had been figure skating and during her youth and teenage years Vera Wang skated competitively.  After high school, Vera stopped skating despite her immense skating talent and shared with her parents a dream of going to art school. Unfortunately, her parents were not pleased with her newly chosen career path.  Therefore, she enrolled at New York’s Sarah Lawrence College and earned a degree in art history. After college, Vera was hired at Vogue magazine where her prestigious career debuted. In 1972, she was promoted to editor and was recognized as one of the youngest editors in the magazine’s history. After 16 years at Vogue, Vera decided it was time to move on.  Vera quite working at Vogue, and became creative director for Ralph Lauren.  At one point, she also held the title of design director for accessories.  Vera learned a great deal about the design end of the fashion industry by her mentor, Ralph Lauren.  After two years Vera decided to leave Ralph Lauren.  Shortly after, while planning her wedding, Vera realized how important it is for brides to find the “right” wedding gown after experiencing difficultly finding hers.  From that experience her inspiration grew and she decided to create her own designs. With financing from her father and knowledge gained from her mentor, Vera Wang launched a bridal line bearing her name in 1990.  Today, her bridal company has two lines: the ready to wear bridal dresses and the more extravagant couture bridal line called Vera Wang Made to Order.  Vera Wang has also expanded her business to include fashion, accessories, tabletop housewares and stationary.  And if that is not enough, Vera Wang has also made her mark creating costume designs for several US Olympians.  Her first creation was for Olympian Nancy Kerrigan. Following those spectacular designs, Vera Wang created multiple costumes for Olympian Michelle Kwan.  Recently, her designs were worn by gold medalist Evan Lysacek during his performance at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  During one of his interviews, Evan Lysacek was quoted as saying “Vera’s been such a good mentor to me, and she knows so much about skating.”  Kudos to Vera Wang for not only seeking out a mentor in her earlier years, but for also becoming a mentor herself!  Who are you mentoring?   

Women are making strides in the workplace. But the progress is not as great as it could be. Many women still struggle to find mentors who have access to the organization’s power structure.

Women often face two difficulties in finding mentors:

• Successful and highly powerful women may resist mentoring another women for fear of creating a future competitor within the company.
• Since specific laws govern appropriate behavior in the workplace, men may be reluctant to initiate mentoring a woman for fear of negative repercussions.

Nevertheless, women need a professional mentoring experience, such as women mentoring networks, to give them access to the upper strata of business. Given the unique challenges involved in cross-gender mentoring, it is important to assess your overall goals and the receptivity of available mentors. In addition, it’s critical to address the dynamics of mentoring and how to prevent legal issues.

Despite the challenges involved, professional mentoring remains an important strategic tool for companies to attract and retain a diverse workforce and move that talent throughout the organization where it is needed.

Click here to learn about our specific strategies for mentoring women in the workforce. 

National Women’s History Month provides us the opportunity to recognize and celebrate women’s historic accomplishments and contributions as well as honor women in our families and in our communities.  The purpose of this holiday is to help us expand our knowledge of American History as well as appreciate the achievements of women who are around us today.  There will be many celebrations taking place this month.   What will you do to celebrate national Women’s History Month?  

As we come to the end of February, we also come to the end of Black History Month for 2010.  This month brought many people together and taught many students about the importance of the celebrations that were organized throughout the US and Canada.  The remembrance was founded in 1926 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson.  Growing up in Kentucky, his parents were former slaves and he spent his childhood working in the coal mines.  He was not able to enroll in high school until the age of twenty.  That did not stop him from graduating in two years time. Continuing his studies, he later received a Ph.D. from Harvard.  Because of the fact that African Americans were rarely documented in American History books, Dr. Woodson felt the need to create a time where everyone can celebrate the presence of African Americans.  Originally, it was observed as “Negro History Week” and later, as we know it today, “Black History Month.”  Dr. Carter G. Woodson devoted his life to being an educator, philosopher and mentor to many African American scholars.  Who are you mentoring?