Smart Business Magazine, October 2015

68 Smart Business Akron Canton October 2015 The value of mentoring A formal mentoring program aligned to common goals has great benefits Mentoring can provide numerous benefits to an organization in addition to the individual rewards it offers to both the mentor and the mentee says Tim Phillips COO at Westfield Bank The beauty of it all is youre promoting internal communication says Phillips Its not bringing in highly paid consultants to coach your staff Youre creating an environment where there is dialogue among different departments and a regular sharing of ideas The value comes from being consistent as an organization and discussing who is being mentored and what the content of that relationship is Thats not to say that you want mentors following a script in the way they carry out their respective roles Mentoring isnt about on boarding or orienting someone to your organization Phillips says Its about providing a real time visual perspective into their career path and building both leadership and communication skills When you formalize a mentoring program your mentors understand what the individual and the organization want to achieve Whats great is that it can go a lot of different places as long as they are aligned around that concept Smart Business spoke with Phillips about building a strong mentoring program and how to know when its effective What benefits can mentoring provide As a mentor you get to meet new people who you might not otherwise interact with on a regular basis It can help you hone your leadership and communication skills and increase your awareness about the talent in your organization Being a mentor demonstrates that you care about the organization because youre helping to develop the next level of leadership From a mentees perspective it makes you feel cared about It can help build your confidence when you interact with senior leaders and the private nature of it allows you to feel more comfortable in sharing candid dialogue Where should you begin in developing a mentoring program Be aligned around what it is your company wants to accomplish whether its employee retention improved communication or to develop the next generation of leaders Have those things in mind and talk about them with your leadership team and then hold each other accountable to the process Take the time to document that process You dont want somebody to be mentoring the same person for five years as its likely to will lose its value after a period of time A mentoring program needs to be set up so that it is beneficial to both the mentor and the mentee and if its not you should mix it up How do you identify your mentors We look for somebody who has been with the organization for a while has a good perspective across all areas and can speak to the companys history You need a willing mentor so dont just assign somebody to be a mentor The person needs to be engaged in the process and should be comfortable coaching others otherwise it will be unproductive You also want somebody who is a good communicator and a good listener who can articulate on behalf of the organization In general a good rule of thumb is to have the mentor be one layer up in the organization from the mentee in addition to being from a different department You could do two levels up if there is a specific area of expertise to which you want to expose the person but one level of separation typically works best If youre struggling to find someone to serve in a mentoring role go back to the benefits of being a mentor You dont want to make someone do it But if you demonstrate that the person can become a better leader by mentoring someone else it might change their perception of the opportunity How do you gauge the effectiveness of a mentoring program If you can find people in your company who have benefited from having a mentor at some time during their career and are now themselves serving as mentors thats a sign that its been successful If it helps to retain your talented employees enhances your culture creates a belief that you care about your people and you are willing to invest in their personal and professional growth you have strong evidence that your mentoring program is working TIM PHILLIPS COO Westfield Bank 330 887 8151 timphillips@ westfieldbank com Insights Banking Finance is brought to you by Westfield Bank WEBSITE To learn more about how a mentoring program could help your company visit www westfield bank com INTERVIEWED BY MARK SCOTT INSIGHTS BANKING FINANCE