Graduate Mentoring In The Next Decade

The rapid improvements in effectiveness of graduate mentoring schemes is set to continue. Among innovations already here or on the way are upward mentoring (GE's Jack Welch and his top team were all mentored by young computer whizzes, to keep them up to date); mentoring training delivered online; e-mentoring; improved processes to link career/ succession planning with mentoring; and better systems to measure the outputs of mentoring relationships. There are, however, still a fair number of schemes that operate on the principles of the late 1980s - these will come under increasing pressure to change, not least because graduates themselves compare notes across employers.

Just having a graduate mentoring scheme will no longer be enough to attract and keep talent. Graduates are increasingly demanding proof that the process works, that it delivers real benefits, and that it will genuinely facilitate the achievement of their career goals.