Use case: How an internal mentoring program supported business growth

“Our leaders don’t know how to mentor”.

“Mentoring definitely benefits the person being mentored but organisationally it cannot help us in developing talent at scale.”

“Where will we find the people to mentor internally? Nobody has the time.”

“How will we show the ROI for mentoring?”

These are the typical statements I hear from some of the clients when I suggest that they look at an internal mentoring program to develop their high potentials.

If done right, mentoring can really move the needle on development and fast. 

Let me share with you a real case where due to mentoring the organisation was able to continue its expansion and growth at the pace they wanted.

The challenge

The organisation required the right leaders across the rapidly growing geographies in the next 12 to 24 month.

The core issues

High potentials were identified for critical roles in these geographies but their development was the weak link.

The organisation had a certain way of working and culture and for the leaders to be successful it was very important to understand and appreciate that.

The solution

Accelerated development through a structured internal mentoring program

What made the program successful?

1. Buy-in and sponsorship from the senior most stakeholders

2. A robust mentor-mentee matching process

3. Standardisation and structure in the program

4. Leveraging technology for overall implementation

5. Tracking and measuring progress

6. Training mentors giving them tools and tips

7. Orientating mentees to get the most out of mentoring

The impact

60% of the participants moved into target roles within next 18 months

Other benefits

• Substantial savings in hiring and onboarding costs since the organisation was able to fill most of the critical roles internally

• The developmental skills of the mentors sharpened

• Increased engagement of the high potentials due to the internal opportunities.

  
  

Reach out to me if your business growth is being limited by the lack of right talent. I create solutions to address your unique challenges and context and support end-to-end-implementation.