Summary

From being the most common form of mentoring in organisations, graduate mentoring has become one of many applications. However, pressure form graduate recruits is making employers conscious that their graduate mentoring programmes have to be much more effective than has normally been the case.

Case Study
UBS Graduate Mentoring Programme

The Graduate and High-Potentials Mentoring Programme at UBS Warburg in the UK started in 1999. The aim of the programme is for mentees to develop self-reliance and self-awareness. The mentors are used as role models and offer advice, allowing the mentees to have a series of options around their development. The programme also aids recruitment and retention within the organisation.

Details of the scheme

• There is initial research into the marketplace.

• A search is undertaken for a provider that enables independence between the mentee and the business unit he or she is operating in.

• All mentors and mentees must attend a workshop where ground rules and confidentiality are clarified.

• The mentor must be one corporate title above the mentee.

• The mentor must be in a different business unit.

• The matching process is carried out by independent line development officers.

  Measurement

• Measurement of workshop effectiveness is carried out via ‘happy sheets'.

• Satisfaction surveys have shown that 85 per cent of delegates are very satisfied with the programme.

• The programme has proved most effective around personal development issues and career planning.

  Key things to do in setting up a programme, as learned from the UBS case

• Get senior management commitment.

• Clarify ground rules and expectations up front.

• Clarify the matching process.

  Mentees are encouraged to become mentors and are also expected to become buddies to new entrants.

Case Study
The National Graduate Development Programme for local government

The NGDP was launched in September 2002 as part of the local government sector's drive to recruit and retain high-calibre young people. One of the four key elements of the programme - along with placements within a local authority, National Training events and a Warwick Business School Diploma - is an External Mentoring Programme.

The National Management Trainees (NMTs) are matched up with senior managers from within the sector but outside of their host authority. ‘This is a unique opportunity, ' said Jill Martin, the co-ordinator of the programme, ‘because it means we can provide the NMTs with a valuable source of support and insight external to their own organisation - something that most other sectors would find it difficult to provide. '

The purpose of external mentoring, which focuses on the second year of the two-year programme, was to encourage the trainees to view their roles from a wider perspective and to formulate post-programme career plans.

Identifying this purpose and the criteria by which its achievement would be measured was the vital first step in setting up the mentoring programme. The next step was to determine ideal mentor criteria. ‘Although seniority and experience is important, self- awareness and commitment to their personal learning and development were most critical, ' said Jill. ‘Potential mentors were asked to provide evidence via a questionnaire against the selection criteria. '

Suitable mentors were then invited to attend regional ‘information days', which combined training, clarification of expectations and discussions about how to maximise the success of the programme. The trainees participated in similar sessions at their National Training events, which also stressed their own responsibilities as mentees.

Relating to a national programme, the key matching criterion was geographical location. However, meeting all the mentors and mentees has also played an important part in the matching process. ‘It might seem subjective but we are confident that this approach will be a success. '

Although the mentoring programme is still in its infancy, a great deal has already been learned. For example, it was decided to delay the initial launch of the programme by six months to ensure that the best possible mentors could participate, all of whom had attended an information day before meeting their mentee. This may have caused some concerns for the trainees in the short term, but in the long term quality was more important than hitting a deadline.

It has also been interesting to note that people have put themselves forward as mentors for many different reasons. ‘The ones we have most confidence in are those with the desire to learn from their mentee and who see the programme as a development opportunity for both parties rather than purely to put something back into local government.'