Elevated HR Solutions: Mentorship Programs in the Workplace

Lately, I've been writing as part of the community on Ask Inc. (http://www.ask.inc.com/).  Inc.com often tweets questions from people in the business world, and a lot of the questions have been HR focused.  Funny - it's the whole reason why I went into my own business (quick questions, that need quick answers)!  But even better than giving, I find myself receiving a lot of other valuable insight, reading and learning from others - and in a way it's almost an online mentorship program, but completely informal.

Of course, this got me thinking - I've had some tremendous mentors in both my past and present.  And I'm excited about the ones I will continue to meet, especially as my business grows.  However, I started reminiscing and realized how I've disconnected from past mentors and am now on the hunt to re-connect.  While I probably didn't recognize it then, and certainly took it for granted - they are the people that helped to shape me now.  From CEO's and CFO's, to peers and co-workers, to industry HR leaders, to parents and grandparents - I would not be anywhere without all of you in my life - so to that - here is one big shout-out of thanks!

As for mentorship programs in companies - I have tried several times to implement formal programs and then have honestly...failed.  And as I write this blog, I'm trying to really grasp why.  I mean - I have always had a mentor in a company - it was part of my accelerated growth plan in any company I worked for.  Gravitate to those who have excelled and learn from them - politically it was the best advice I was given and actually followed through on.  But as soon as I was tasked as in charge of a  formal mentorship program, I just found it fizzled.  However - it obviously doesn't fail in every organization - check out this link: http://bit.ly/bXlnWB

As I continue to think (and most likely make up an excuse!), perhaps it's because we couldn't ever find enough mentors who had time to be mentors.  Formal mentors.  I mean, mentors too, gravitate towards proteges they are going to get the most reward back from.  I have found myself in several situations, where someone has asked me to help, but then really, they didn't want help - I think they just wanted to gripe or tell their story and then move on.  In addition to that, our pool of employees wasn't ever very big - I can see that it would be easier if a company had 1000+ employees in the same city (like the Xerox case above).

Okay - so enough about my failures (I mean, really, who likes to admit they fail...)

A solution that I think would most likely work really well for any company is a formalized mentorship program that can be found OUTSIDE the organization.  If you promote the various mentorship opportunities that exist in various cities, employees can learn from others, those same employees can vent "safely" as opposed to someone internally, leadership opportunities can be created and then employees can implement those same skills back into the organization.  It's a win-win for everyone.

For example, I stumbled across the mentorship program with the HRIA (Human Resources Institute of Alberta) and have signed up to be a mentor...and now I wait to be matched up with a protege.  The HRIA is using a system called Mentor Scout Clients and their client list is quite impressive (Best Buy, Home Depot) and I have to admit, it's really neat how they collect the information and match people electronically.  I'll keep posting about where this will go!

This site however, http://www.islandnet.com/~rcarr/mentorprograms.html actually lists a large majority of mentorship programs that are available.  How neat - that you could potentially be connected around the world?

So in conclusion - perhaps rather than focusing on building an entire mentorship program internally - you communicate the opportunities and provide resources on the options to be mentored externally.  It seems like a really good option - especially for those companies that don't have the resources or time to spend on Mentor Scout.  I'm a fan of making employees accountable - as long as you give them the tools to be successful!  That's what I think is a great return on investment!

How to spot a fear-based management regime

A friend and I got together today over coffee.  He was telling me how his organization was moving from structure A to structure B and he was contemplating whether or not it was time for him to make a move.  It wasn't so much that he didn't like his job, but he was finally at the point while although he was making good money he didn't think he could handle the politics anymore.  He was tired of management and not being able to voice his opinion and in his words, was tired of being "everyone's whipping boy." 

So while driving back from Edmonton, I tried to figure out why anyone in this day and age would think it's ok to run a fear-based organization.  The stats exist and tell a pretty compelling story -- those companies with great employees that are respected, also win the race with clients/consumers/customers and repeat clients/consumers/customers.  It's not rocket science.  It's pretty much the golden rule: "Do unto others as you would have them to do to you."  You get what you give.  Why would you want to scare the crap out of your employees?

So if you're a manager or an employee in an organization...here are some quick clues to tell whether or not you might just be caught in a fear-based regime...

...When employees on purpose choose to surf facebook all day long, and do the real work after hours just in case one of the executives walks by...

...When the water cooler talk starts in the morning with conversation about whose stock is rising and whose is falling and a preoccupation with status and political capital is on everyone's mind...

...When intellectual capital is hoarded and people are afraid to share ideas or opinions...

...When management's obsession with metrics on a weekly basis becomes daily or hourly...

...When your company drones on and on about a handbook or policy rather than looking at the situation or the individual...

...When upper management is noticeably uncomfortable with the thought of "brain-storming sessions" and does it only to "look" good but then not actually listen or implement any of the ideas...

...If management has become hostage to their employees because he/she/they stop sharing what they are doing or neglect to document what they do in effort to become indispensable...

...If management threatens job loss as a consequence of not doing something in a large meeting setting...

...If brown-nosers rule (in other words, if management is never challenged on ANYTHING)...

...If management says "Be happy to have a job considering the economy"...

Look - managers have to know that people want to be empowered and motivated.  Fear-trampled employees don't do a thing for your business.  Admittedly, management by fear is a hard habit to break, because fearful employees don't speak up.  However, competitors are hiring the best talent - and will eventually hire yours.  This means they will steal the market share and running a company based on fear makes it easy to do it - even when you pay them a lot of money. 

Do you really want to find out what your meek, submissive, broken-down employees can do in an environment that allows them to thrive?

http://www.elevatedhr.com/

Training Follow-Up - If you're not doing it, why are you bothering to train?

When I worked at a mid-sized investment firm, we were getting all kinds of requests for training - some technical, some soft skill.  We decided to produce a lot of in-house training ourselves based on the requests and thought by hiring a full-time trainer we would save on the course fees and be able to customize it completely to our work environment.  This in fact, was a great decision for our organization.

About 6 months in with the new trainer getting fantastic reviews on the type of training we were now providing, something for me anyway, seemed to be missing.  While training was happening, I didn't necessarily see a link back to increased organizational effectiveness - and at the end of the day, whether or not we are providing training internally and externally - the goal has to be just that - an increase in organizational effectiveness. Nothing more, nothing less.

We all get busy in our day-to-day lives and often find it easier to revert back to what's easy rather than go towards the discomfort of actually implementing a new skill.  It takes a lot of discipline as well as support to change your old behavior into something more desirable and effective.  That said, for any business, be it large or small, management has to believe in the training and continuously follow-up with the employee to ensure they are following through on the new skills.  Even something as simple as sending an employee to an Excel training class: without ever giving them a project to implement the Excel training in, it's guaranteed in less than 30 days they will have lost and/or forgotten most of the skills they have learned.

Here are some quick tips business owners and managers/supervisors can implement after they have sent someone to training:

BEFORE THE TRAINING - make sure you and the trainee sit down and determine what items need to be learned.  Most courses come with agendas - set your expectations for the training so they go in knowing what they should be paying attention to most.

RIGHT AFTER THE TRAINING - meet again with the employee to see what they have learned.  Talk about their challenges, likes and dislikes.  I recommend you do not wait too long to have this meeting after they have returned to work.  This is important as details tend to become more muddled as time goes on.

ASSIGNMENT - now that they are back, they have indicated what they learned, it's time to put them to the test.  If you sent them to a course on how to run effective meetings, encourage them to run meeting X.  If you sent them to a leadership training course, ask them how they are going to start implementing the training - typically we all have those people that we struggle with in the work setting - ask them how they are going to take a leadership role in that relationship and watch for results.

FOLLOW-UP - after they have demonstrated the new skill in some form or fashion it's important that you follow-up.  Even asking a simple question, like, "What are you still implementing today?" they will know you are serious and want them to utilize the skills they have learned.  This should be done at least monthly - but remember, this can all be done informally! It's just important you do it.

If you're investing big money into your employees - it's important you know why you're spending those dollars.  If you don't see value in it - chances are, neither will they.  Or they will for the first week, and then they will revert back to old habits without you mentoring and coaching them to success.  Learning new things takes repeated practice before it becomes habit.

http://www.elevatedhr.com/

Is there a definition of leadership?

During the last few years as a senior manager for multiple organizations, I have been evaluating my opinion of what a leader is versus what a leader isn't to help me build my own leadership style.  If you go online, there are about a million different definitions of leadership.  Some have the same meaning and just use different words.  One commonality however, is that most definitions are very generic -- but  I have found that generalizations about leadership didn't help me very much.  In order for me to understand how to lead and why to lead and what it even means to lead, I needed to be clear on what actually embodied leadership.

Over three years ago now, I was looking for a change in my life -- ultimately I needed to take a leadership role IN and FOR my life.  I had worked so hard to be taken seriously and respected as a young executive, that I forgot who I was. Instead, most of my actions were for everyone but myself.  In July of 2007, I attended a course called 21st Century Leadership which was situated in Dumas Bay (just outside of Seattle), Washington.  Not knowing what I was walking into, I had one goal in mind - to become the leader I always thought I was.  But the operative word was "thought".  Not that what I "thought" was technically wrong -- it just wasn't congruent with my behaviors, which means it wasn't practical to implement.  And congruency in my mind, is what truly makes a leader.  The ability to influence self and others in a productive, goal-driven direction done through example, conviction and character.

I believe that true leaders lead for the joy of creating something bigger than themselves.  If you would like to learn more about leadership or would like your employees to be empowered to learn more about leadership, 21st Century Leadership is a ground-breaking, innovative course that will demonstrate congruent self-expression that creates value (for not only others, but oneself as well).  Contact me at michelleb@elevatedhr.com for more information, including the next opportunity to take part!  The investment in yourself or your employees will be well worth the return!

http://www.elevatedhr.com/

Experience 21st Century Leadership September 13 to 19

There are literally thousands of courses available to attend when it comes to the area of leadership.  Some are great, some are okay and others leave people with the feeling, "I missed work for this!?!?"  That said, if you are attending or are sending your staff to attend one leadership course, I think Twenty First Century Leadership is THE course to attend -- and an opportunity for you to see a real return on those investment dollars!

Situated in the Seattle Area, on a bay with some of the most amazing sunsets, with an incredible couple facilitating everything from early AM to late PM -- this course brought me to my extreme core and helped me to get excited about my life again.  From building confidence, to public speaking, to learning to be accountable on all levels (including every day language) this course gave me a new beginning and something to really strive for -- and I'll bet it would do the same for you or your staff.

In my opinion, it is intense.  I've been to it twice, plus 2 follow-up workshops.  The material and the experiences did not differ immensely but what I learned from others in each course was invaluable.  I have a stronger understanding and purpose for my life which has helped me to become the strong leader I am today.

If you would like more information about the course, please contact me at michelleb@elevatedhr.com People from all walks of life have attended the course - from CEO's of multi-million dollar companies to students looking for a new direction.  I left inspired, motivated and excited to get going and I would love for anyone reading this blog be able to experience the same!

http://www.elevatedhr.com/