There is no time where mentoring may be more important within Professional Services. As many firms have cut back on tangible expenses such a professional development and training, it takes little if anything from the budget to foster a strong mentoring program.

A good mentoring program insists on the greatest investment being in one’s time, both on the part of the mentor and the mentee. The literal meaning of a mentor is “one who is a wise and trusted counselor or teacher’, but also “an influential senior sponsor and supporter.”

You may ask yourself why mentoring would be more important now than any other time. The keys are trust and sponsorship. Because we are currently living in tough economic times, trust is one aspect that seems paramount to retention of your best team members. If an organization can find the way to re-instill trust in their team, they stand a far better chance of retention and keeping their hearts and minds. Further, if the team member feels like they have sponsorship that will help them through the good and bad times, including when they take risk and fail, they will likely continue to foster and grow and be a very productive member of the team.  A lack of trust or a lack of sponsorship breeds apathy and poor morale, both of which are contagious and therefore suicidal in a highly effective, highly profitable services organization.

The greatest challenge in the mentoring relationship is truly committing to a formal process, versus one that is more informal and may fall prey to the time constraints that seem to haunt all of our lives. In the absence of enough time, which it seems most people never have, we tend to cancel those things that we feel others will “understand”. It is not likely that a client will understand the cancellation of an important strategic meeting with 10 attendees, but if pushed for time, we tend to think our mentor or mentee will just “understand” our dilemma. Truth be told, this is a relationship; therefore we always tend to push those that we think will understand and forgive us the most. Sure, a mentor or mentee may fall in that category, but honestly, over time, if not given the credence and dedication this relationship requires, it will erode to a level that is so meaningless, the value will follow suit and it will dissolve.

As such, the formality of this relationship is important. I would suggest a 10 step process that follows something such as this:

1. Mentee determines personal growth goals
2. Mentee drafts a “profile” of the desired mentor
3. Mentee requests mentors based on his/her profile
4. Mentee and mentor jointly interview and select each other
5. Establish joint goal setting for both mentor and mentee
6. Establish and hold defined meetings/discussions
7. Set and assess milestones of the relationship
8. Assess milestones
9. Reassess/revise mentoring relationship
10. Reassess/revise mentoring goals

This seems rather straightforward, however the keys to this relationship are that neither the mentor nor mentee should be an “arranged marriage”. It is very important that the mentee decides his/her goals and who is best to help them achieve those goals. It is also key that the mentee determines the required level of commitment up front, so that the mentor can determine if he/she is able to meet that commitment. Once each selects each other, the fun begins.

As stated above, this is a relationship that requires care and feeding to be successful. Much like a green plant, absent water, even the sunniest day will not suffice and the plant will die. The commitment to meeting times and milestone assessments are important.

Finally, and yet likely most difficult is the 360 degree feedback process involved herein. It is incredibly important that both parties to this relationship assess the success of the relationship and its stated goals and be willing to revise it as needed. It is critical that both the mentor and mentee feel as if they can scream uncle if either is not doing their part or that the “match” is not a good one and they need to part company. I have seen mentoring relationships that if not properly managed; have turned out to be far more detrimental to their participants than advantageous. That is the worst of all outcomes that could happen and can easily be avoided.

The best of mentoring relationships can help rebuild the hearts and minds within any professional services organization. In times that we live in today, that challenge is never ending, and I would submit that if the time is spent in this area, it will bear great fruit.