Group Mentoring: A Hot New Way to Achieve Diversity Goals

Group Mentoring: A Hot New Way to Achieve Diversity Goals

Mentoring plays a major role in helping professionals get ahead in accounting as well as other professions. Usually informal, mentoring happens when successful senior-level employees reach out to those more junior and teach them what they know. Why do they do it? Most say it gives them satisfaction to support the next generation of leaders. As one senior executive said, “I felt so strongly about my mentee, I practically pushed her into leadership training.”

One problem with this informal process, however, is that mentors usually choose as protégés people who remind them of themselves early in their career—people who “look” like them. Since the leadership of most organizations includes few women or minorities, these employees rarely get the informal mentoring they need to reach the highest levels. As a result, many leave their companies, feeling isolated, frustrated and disappointed, to join competitors or start new competing businesses.

To combat this problem, organizations have begun implementing formal mentoring programs. While these can help, the problem remains: there simply are not enough women or minorities at the highest levels to act as role models and mentors to those in need.

Group mentoring addresses this problem by leveraging the mentoring capabilities of the small cadre of senior women and minorities. By working with a group, one mentor can affect several mentees, instead of just one. Another advantage over traditional one-on-one mentoring programs is the peer support provided by fellow mentees. In recent years, many companies have started networking programs for women and minorities. But formal group mentoring programs are far more effective in getting results.

Group mentoring programs are similar in some ways to traditional one-on-one programs. Like one-on-one mentoring programs, they must have specific, measurable goals (for example, to improve retention or advancement of the target group); senior management support; and a communications plan that lets everyone in the organization know the business reasons behind the program. But in addition, group programs must have a more rigorous structure and more clearly designed procedures than one-on-one programs, so that participants can manage themselves effectively and benefit from the advantages a group offers.

One very successful program used in the financial industry was initially piloted for three years. The program substantially reduced turnover of mentees, compared to a control group. In the one-year program, small groups of mentees were assigned to a mentor pair and met on a regular basis by telephone. Each group had a formal agenda of topics to cover, and a process for sharing ideas and problem-solving. Co-mentors alternated making presentations and leading group discussions, and shared information with one another on each mentee’s progress. Mentees gained leadership experience managing logistical and planning issues, while mentors focused solely on mentoring.

Feedback and coaching, also in the program’s design, helped mentors know how they were doing and improved their mentoring skills. The program manager tracked each group’s progress and helped the groups share best practices. Optional one-on-one mentoring took place, when, for example, a mentee wanted to discuss an issue with one of her mentors that was not relevant to the rest of the group. Having two mentors allowed a mentee to choose the one whose personality or expertise was most helpful for a specific situation.

Using curriculum guides, each group developed a unique program of topics based on their specific goals and needs. Meeting by telephone reduced travel time and costs, and allowed more flexibility in assigning groups, since location was not a constraint.
Participants believe that the program has been particularly successful because mentees have control over their learning. One group of mentees incorporated study for the Certified Financial Planner exam into their mentoring sessions. Other groups invited experts, whom they could not normally access, to speak on hot topics.

Mentees not only reported gaining the knowledge and skills needed to advance, they also said they gained self-confidence, a feeling that “I am not alone,” and a belief that “the company cares about me”—all of which contributed to the program’s quantifiable results.

For mentors, most rewarding was the sense of “giving back” to a profession “that has been good to me.” Mentors also appreciated gaining group management and facilitation skills, and insights from those newer to the profession. As one mentor said, “My mentees help me as much as I help them.” Many groups have continued to meet beyond the one-year program design to further their professional development.

Group mentoring has great potential for the accounting field for recruiting, retaining and advancing women and minorities. Such programs should be modified to meet each organization’s specific business goals. Built on the premise that there is strength in numbers, group mentoring offers companies a new way to make the most of all their employee talent.

Barbara P. Adolf is president of Barbara Adolf Consulting Inc., in New York City. She can be reached at
barbara@barbaraadolfconsulting.com or 212-864-2705. The company’s website is located at www.barbaraadolfconsulting.com.