National Mentoring Month
What is National Mentoring Month?
National Mentoring Month is a campaign dedicated to recognizing mentoring and the impact it can have on a person’s life. Whether it’s supporting young people, inspiring college students, or developing professionals in the workplace, mentoring enables people to achieve their full potential by learning from others. Established in 2002 and recognized yearly by the US president and administration, National Mentoring Month is a time to celebrate the power of mentoring and encourage others to explore how mentoring programs can enable organizations to create more productive, developed and satisfied people.
Important Dates to Recognize in January 2021
- January 7 – I am a Mentor Day
- January 17 – International Mentoring Day
- January 29 – Thank Your Mentor Day
Why Mentoring is Needed Now, More Than Ever
Connecting People In An Isolated World
In this time of physical distancing, human connection has been made even more critical. People are experiencing an unprecedented and abrupt transition to working, learning and connecting remotely, whether they feel ready for it or not. In times of crisis, people yearn for the very basic fundamentals of survival, safety and belonging. Organizations need to build robust strategies to provide for these needs in order to overcome challenges and build long-lasting engagement.
Leaving It To Chance Isn’t Working
When it comes to improving the progress and growth of all employees, organizations continue to lag behind when it comes to women and people of color. McKinsey & Company found women face consistent challenges when it comes to ascending the corporate ladder, often in the early stages of their careers—at the first rung of promotion into management. Meanwhile, fewer than one in three black, full-time professionals say they have access to senior leaders, compared to almost half of white professionals, according to the Center for Talent Innovation. It isn’t enough to hire diverse employees and hope they rise through the ranks as everyone else. It takes greater actions of inclusion through mentoring that offer these employees opportunities to interact with senior leaders and build skills and knowledge that will enable them to grow.
Trust is Broken
With the many corporate scandals of misconduct, misuse and oversight that have come to light in the last decade, many companies are left with a broken circle of trust between themselves and their most valuable asset—their people. In turn, this distrust has bred disengagement and a breakdown of productivity and retention. Companies are turning to mentoring to reignite trust, build rapport and illustrate that the organization is prepared to invest in its employees for the greater development of its future workforce.
Explore the resources below and learn how to establish or promote mentoring in your organization and beyond. #MentoringMatters #MentoringMonth
[Whitepaper] Mentoring for a Diverse and Inclusive Workplace
Diversity, equity and inclusion has become a mainstream business standard that is impossible to ignore. Avoidance or indifference these days, is a business risk. Whether it’s a failure to get the basics right, lack of a strategy or resistance to an inclusive workplace the result is that conditions are not in place for diversity to thrive in many companies. Learn how to make a change that can truly make a difference.
[Ebook] How to Start a High-Impact Mentoring Program
Great mentoring programs are built through thoughtful planning and sustained commitment to guiding participants through the mentoring process while continually improving the program. In this Ebook, you’ll learn the five-step process to create a high-impact mentoring program.
[Toolkit] Promoting Your Mentoring Program
Engagement can make or break a mentoring program. Creating a program isn’t enough to make it succeed. You also need a diligent plan to promote and market your program to your organization. This toolkit will provide timelines and sample materials needed to plan the successful launch and continuation of your program.
[Guide] Measuring Modern Mentoring Programs
We’ve created a guide for how to use the Kirkpatrick Model specifically for measuring modern mentoring programs, including questions you should ask and how to use and interpret program outcomes. This will allow you to measure participant behaviors, learning, and reactions earlier, which gives you time to adjust your programs.
[Ebook] Getting Impactful ROI Out of Mentoring
There are a number of important factors to consider when calculating your program’s ROI: retention, engagement, advancement, program costs, and behavioral change. This Ebook will teach you the important factors to consider in calculating your organization’s mentoring impact and overall return on investment.
Humanize Your Employee Experience with Mentoring
Chronus software makes it easy to start, manage and measure a mentoring program.