Hello:

I am looking for any suggestions/resources for creating a company wide mentoring program. I am in the financial services industry and we have 12,000 employees in 8 states. This type of program has been requested by many of our leaders. I think this would be a valuable program to offer, however, I am not quite sure what steps I should take to get us started.
Thank you in advance for any direction you may be able to provide.

I've designed, launched and managed a mentoring program for a large financial services organization. Feel free to give me a call.

Steve
215.513.0312
www.hornerassociates.biz

My previous employer (financial services) had a mentoring program. Here's some basic info of what was included:

- Guide for Mentors
- Guide for Mentees (there was great debate about whether to call them "mentees" or "Protégé")
- A 1-hour training session for participants on what is expected from each role (mentors and mentees in same session, although not necessarily with their partner) -frequently a brown bag lunch format.

This was a fairly structured process by which volunteer mentors were identified, along with their respective strengths. Mentees then identified what areas they wished to develop and pairings were made accordingly by HR.

I participated as both a mentor and a mentee, and found it be a rewarding experience.

I couldn't locate any of the info from the guides, and will look into my files a little deeper to see if I can find them.

LOL Doug -- I hate the "word" MENTEE. Major pet peeve of mine. It's not a word and it reminds me of manatees.

Try... learner, apprentice, protege, participant, "he who is being mentored"... anything but mentee.

Thank you so much, and will do!