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In 2015, just 17 percent of C-suite employees were women. In 2023, that number increased to 28 percent, according to a Lean In study. While these gains are great—the fact remains: women, especially women of color, continue to be underrepresented from the C-suite to middle management.
If women aren’t seeing people like them in management positions, how can they envision themselves getting there someday? It’s up to human resource professionals and higher-ups to implement programs in their organizations that can encourage women and foster their professional development.
Launching a women’s mentoring program can help empower the people who identify as female in your organization and help your HR team enact systematic change as your business grows to support women.
Why is a women’s mentoring program important?
After the pandemic, it became evident that women were more affected than men when it came to employment. Women lost jobs more often or had to reduce work hours for child care. As we work to recover from those effects, it’s vital now more than ever for organizations to promote gender diversity.
Implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices like a women’s mentoring program helps foster that diversity and encourages women in your business. These types of programs can help women by:
- Encouraging and retaining women in leadership positions: Mentoring programs can help women build the necessary skills, confidence, and networks to thrive in leadership roles. When women advance to these roles, it leads to a more balanced gender representation in senior positions.
- Bridging the gender pay gap: Mentoring programs can equip women with negotiation skills and resources to negotiate for fair pay, which can help bridge the gender pay gap.
- Breaking stereotypes and biases: Mentorship provides an opportunity for women to be mentored by successful women in their field, challenging stereotypes and biases about women's capabilities and roles in the workplace.
- Providing a safe space for growth and development: Women may face barriers and challenges in the workplace due to their gender. A women's mentoring program can provide a safe and supportive space for women to discuss and overcome these challenges, thus promoting their professional growth and development.
🤩 Read how leading companies are leveraging mentorship to achieve organizational goals
Women’s mentoring programs helps boost diverse perspectives through all levels of your business. Having a diverse perspective provides several benefits, from employee satisfaction to customer happiness. Some of those benefits include:
- Increase in creativity and innovation: Diversity in the workplace brings individuals with different perspectives, experiences, and skills together. People can collaborate with each other and come up with more creative ideas, or innovate on new products.
- Enhanced decision-making: Diverse teams will naturally consider multiple viewpoints and ideas. Those viewpoints can help them make more effective decisions and build better strategies.
- Improvements in company culture: When you show you value and promote gender diversity, you help employees feel included and show you’re progressive. Employees may feel more comfortable, leading to better employee satisfaction.
- Understanding customer needs better: If your business caters to a diverse audience, then having a diverse workforce means it’s easier to understand that audience and cater to their needs.
🎯 Read our guide with examples of how to set achieve DEIB goals
Types of women’s mentoring programs
Before you start a program, you’ll want to research the best type for your company, and in some cases, you may run more than one type. For example, some women may be interested in a leadership track while others might want peer-to-peer mentoring. Types of women’s mentoring programs include:
- Corporate mentoring programs: Many companies have formal mentorship programs for female employees to support professional growth and development within the organization.
- Virtual mentoring programs: A virtual program connects female professionals with mentors who are located in different parts of the world via online platforms like Zoom or Google Meet.
- Non-profit mentoring programs: These programs are often organized by non-profit organizations or women's groups to provide mentoring and support to women.
- Reverse mentoring programs: This type of mentoring program pairs more experienced women with women who are just starting out to exchange knowledge, skills, and perspectives.
- Industry-specific mentoring programs: Programs tailored to specific industries and provide mentors who have expertise in that particular field can help women learn more about their chosen industry and work on ways to advance.
- Peer mentoring programs: Here, women from similar backgrounds or career levels are paired together to provide support and guidance to each other.
- Leadership development programs: These programs focus on developing leadership skills and qualities in women.
Women participating in mentoring programs should receive support, guidance, and mentorship. They usually build meaningful connections and a strong network, gain valuable insights and advice, and receive encouragement and motivation to reach their professional goals. Make sure mentees feel that they have a safe space to share their challenges and receive advice on overcoming them.
How to design an effective women’s mentoring program
As you begin designing your women’s mentoring program, remember that any successful program will require careful planning, effective communication, and a commitment to growth from all the participants and stakeholders. The steps in creating a great mentoring program are:
Define your goals and objectives
The first step to setting up a successful program is to clearly define the goals and objectives of the program. Goals may include improving leadership skills, career advancement, networking opportunities, or personal development. Having a clear purpose can help guide the structure and activities of the program.
🧠 Read our resource on the 9 most common objectives and goals for workplace mentoring programs
Identify the target audience
You’ll need to identify the group of women who benefit from your mentoring program, whether it’s based on their career level, industry, or specific challenges they may be facing. Understanding the needs and preferences of your target audience will help you build a program that meets their needs.
Recruit mentors and select mentees
The success of a mentoring program depends heavily on the quality and commitment of mentors. Identify potential mentors within your organization or in the community who have the skills and willingness to support and guide the mentees. Reach out to them and explain the goals and expectations of the program.
Once mentors have been recruited, carefully select mentees who would benefit the most from the program. You might do this through an application process or by asking for nominations from managers or employees. Consider the goals and objectives of the program when selecting mentees to ensure a good fit between mentor and mentee. Read more on this topic below.
Develop a structured program
A successful mentoring program requires a structured approach. This includes setting up regular meetings between mentors and mentees, providing training and resources, and outlining goals and expectations for both parties. It is also important to consider how long the program will run and how often progress will be evaluated.
Provide training and resources
Mentors and mentees may have different backgrounds and experiences, so providing training and resources can help bridge any potential knowledge or skill gaps. This can include workshops, online resources, or networking events for both mentors and mentees.
Foster a supportive environment
A key aspect of a successful mentoring program is creating a supportive and open environment for mentors and mentees to interact. This can include setting ground rules for communication, confidentiality, and respect, as well as providing opportunities for networking and group activities.
Monitor progress and evaluate the program
It is important to regularly monitor the progress of the mentoring relationships and gather feedback from both mentors and mentees. This will help identify any issues or challenges that may arise and make adjustments as needed to ensure the program is meeting its objectives.
Celebrate successes and continually improve
As the program progresses, it is important to recognize and celebrate the achievements of both mentors and mentees. This can help motivate participants and showcase the impact of the program.
A successful mentoring program should be an ongoing process that evolves and improves over time. Collect feedback from participants and use it to make necessary changes and improvements for future iterations of the program.
How to select and prepare mentors and mentees
Planning a mentoring program is one thing—but for the program to be truly successful, you need to choose both the right mentors and the right mentees.
Let’s say you’re creating a women’s mentoring program that is focused on increasing women in your organization’s leadership by 25% in the next five years. To do that, you’ll need to pick mentors who have the skills and expertise to help you reach those goals. Find women within your business who’ve already reached management levels and ask them to help. Other tips on finding suitable mentors include:
- Find ones who will be available and can commit: Your selected mentors need to have the time and willingness to commit to the mentorship program. Mentoring requires a significant amount of time and effort, so it’s important to find mentors who are genuinely interested in helping and supporting others.
- Choose a mix of mentors: Diverse perspectives are important in a mentorship program, too. To offer a well-rounded and diverse mentorship experience, it is important to have a mix of mentors from different backgrounds, experiences, and industries. In turn, mentees will get a broader perspective and more opportunities to learn.
- Look for mentors who suit the mentees’ needs: Consider the specific needs and goals of the mentees when selecting mentors. This will ensure that the mentors have the necessary skills and experience to guide and support the mentees in achieving their goals.
Offer training to all of your mentors. If you want the mentorship program to be effective, then you need to make sure you’re training your mentors and giving them access to any resources they would need. Your training might include information on goal-setting techniques, ways to communicate, or coaching strategies.
🏆 Read our handbook on how to be a great mentor
In the same vein, you’ll want to be selective with your mentees as well. They also need to have the commitment and time available to participate in the program. If they can’t commit, then it’s hard to measure how effective your efforts are. Other tips for finding the right mentees include:
- Make a profile of your ideal target group: Establish a set of criteria for selecting mentees, such as level of experience, career goals, and compatibility with potential mentors. With that profile, you can easily identify the most suitable candidates for the program.
- Do research to learn about potential mentees: Interview potential mentees or run a survey to gather information about their career goals, challenges, and expectations from the program. This way, you can find participants who have goals that align with your program’s purpose.
- Get recommendations: Ask for recommendations and referrals from colleagues or supervisors to identify potential mentees who would benefit from the program. Also, have mentees submit recommendations to verify why they’d be a good fit.
Training your mentees is just as important as training the mentors. The mentees need to know their role in the program and what they’re there to do—without that knowledge, they’ll be going in blind. Prepare them as much as possible.
With Together, you can seamlessly pair mentors and mentees with a 98% match satisfaction rate. The mentoring software helps organizations run and maintain successful mentoring programs and initiatives.
9 tips for overcoming women’s mentoring program challenges
A women’s mentoring program sounds great, but there are some challenges you will need to plan for so that your program can succeed. Some of those challenges are related to time and commitment, while others are more about communication issues.
1. Establish a strong mentor network.
One challenge is a possible shortage of mentors. Women are often underrepresented in leadership positions, making it difficult to find experienced and successful female mentors. To overcome this challenge, the program can reach out to other organizations, professional networks, and alumni associations to find potential mentors.
2. Let mentors and mentees know up front how much time to commit.
Both mentors and mentees may have limited time and resources to commit to the mentoring program. This can result in missed meetings, delayed responses, and a lack of motivation. To address this issue, the program should have a clear time frame and expectations in terms of commitment from both parties. Regular check-ins and follow-ups can keep the mentor-mentee relationship on track.
3. Use mentor-matching software to find the right people.
Finding the right mentor-mentee match is crucial for the success of a mentoring program. It can be tough to find mentors and mentees with similar interests, backgrounds, and personalities. To overcome this challenge, use a compatibility assessment or software to match mentors and mentees based on their goals, skills, and preferences.
4. Try to choose diverse mentors and mentees.
Women's mentoring programs may unintentionally exclude women from different backgrounds, such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status, leading to a lack of diverse perspectives and experiences. That can limit the effectiveness of the mentoring program. To promote diversity and inclusivity, the program can actively recruit mentors and mentees from diverse backgrounds and provide training on intercultural competence.
5. Create a strong communication and feedback loop in the beginning.
Effective communication and constructive feedback are vital for the success of a mentoring relationship. However, some mentees may feel intimidated or hesitant to share their concerns or ask for guidance from their mentors. To address this challenge, the program can provide training on communication and feedback to both mentors and mentees.
6. Provide as much resources and support as possible.
A mentoring program may struggle with limited resources and support, making it challenging to provide ongoing training, networking events, and other resources for mentors and mentees. The program can seek partnerships and funding from other organizations to support initiatives and provide resources for mentors and mentees.
7. Constantly review and update your program.
With the constant evolution of workplace dynamics, traditional mentoring practices may not be as effective in addressing current challenges and needs. The program can ensure they regularly review and update their mentoring practices to align with the latest industry trends and the needs of their mentees.
8. Work to prevent mentor burnout.
Mentors may experience burnout if they feel overwhelmed or do not receive enough recognition and support for their efforts. The program can address this by acknowledging the mentors' contributions, providing training and support, and rotating mentors to avoid burnout.
9. Set up accountability with goals and expectations.
Without clear expectations or a system of accountability, mentors and mentees may not fully commit to the program. The program can set specific goals, track progress, and provide regular feedback to ensure both parties are accountable for their commitments.
Measuring impact and long-term sustainability for your women’s mentoring programs
To measure impact, you’ll need to collect data throughout the program. Conduct surveys at the beginning, throughout the program, and at the end to see how things have changed. You’ll want to get feedback from both mentors and mentees to evaluate the effectiveness and make any adjustments.
Continuously evaluating your program can help make sure the right participants are selected and that the program is meeting its goals. Also, reach out to mentees a while after the program has ended to see how they’re doing in their careers or if they’ve achieved other goals so that you have data to measure the long-term impacts.
If your program is successful, it might be easier to get your C-suite to consider other DEI initiatives within the company–and you could carry over the mentorship model to other areas, too.
Ready to empower women in your organization and drive meaningful change?
If your organization’s lacking in girl power, it’s time to make a change. Consider a women’s mentoring program that’s designed to help females in your business grow both professionally and personally. With Together, you can create a program that matches the best mentors and mentees.
Contact us today to set up a demonstration of our software and learn how we can help you create an impactful, meaningful mentorship program.
