Mentorship: a key to remaining relevant after 50? (Part 13 of 17)

Ideal Structure of a mentorship program (Part 1 of 2):

👉 Mentor-Mentee Pairing

  • Initial Survey: Both potential mentors and mentees fill out a survey to assess their goals, interests, strengths, and areas for development. Your mentor candidates already have some ideas on what to do.
  • Pairing Criteria: Pairings are made based on complementary skills, career aspirations, and departmental crossover potential. The aim is to encourage cross-functional understanding and collaboration.
  • Introduction Meeting: A formal introduction session is organized to establish the mentor-mentee relationship, facilitated by the HR department.

👉 Mentoring Agreement

  • Goals Setting: In their first meeting, mentors and mentees set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals.
  • Schedule Planning: Agree on a regular meeting schedule, ideally every 2 weeks at the beginning, to review progress, address challenges, and adjust goals as necessary.

👉 Cross-Departmental Exposure

  • Shadowing Days: Mentees spend a day in their mentor’s department to gain hands-on experience and broader understanding of different functions within the agency.
  • Project Collaboration: Encourage mentor-mentee pairs to collaborate on at least one cross-departmental project during the mentorship period.

Your Gray Matters welcomes the opportunity to create a custom mentorship program for your organization or for you to implement in your organization. Write us at msalup@yourgraymatters.org or grab some time at www.calendly.com/performist-us/60 - Thanks