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National Mentoring Month is an annual, month-long campaign celebrated every January to highlight the transformative power of mentorship.
Launched in 2002 by MENTOR and its affiliates, the initiative aims to raise awareness about the significance of mentoring, especially youth mentoring, in the United States. Over the years, National Mentoring Month has garnered widespread support from prominent nonprofit organizations, elected officials across all levels, and even several U.S. Presidents and their administrations.
The month has many important dates like:
- I Am A Mentor Day (January 7)
- International Mentoring Day (January 17)
- Dr. MLK Day of Service (January 15)
- Thank Your Mentor Day (January 21)
National Mentoring Month is packed with opportunities for celebration, engagement, and elevation of the mentoring movement.
The importance of mentorship
A structured mentoring approach addresses several organizational challenges, such as bridging skill gaps, fostering a culture of continuous learning, and ensuring effective succession planning. Besides making sure smooth knowledge transfer between the senior and junior members of the team, mentoring also addresses personal aspirations for potential leaders, leading to increased job satisfaction and retention rates among mentors and mentees.
A mentorship program can yield the following benefits for you:
- Talent development and retention — Employees who feel supported and guided through mentorship are more likely to stay with you and contribute positively over the long term.
- Knowledge transfer — Mentorship ensures that crucial institutional knowledge is passed down from senior members of the team to their junior counterparts. This continuity is essential in preserving your organization's culture and history while innovating for the future.
- Skill enhancement — Mentors help mentees develop and refine specific skill sets, ranging from technical prowess to leadership qualities and interpersonal skills. This continuous learning environment promotes agility and adaptability.
- Positive work culture — Mentorship fosters a culture of growth, support, and collaboration. When employees feel that they have avenues for guidance and growth, it creates a positive work environment, boosting morale and productivity.
- Diverse perspectives — Mentor-mentee relationships often cross generational, gender, and racial lines, leading to a confluence of diverse perspectives. Such interactions spur innovative ideas, solutions, and strategies.
- Leadership pipeline — By mentoring their subordinates, senior leaders can identify and prepare potential future leaders. This succession planning is vital for the long-term success and sustainability of any enterprise.
Mentorship is not merely a developmental tool, it can prove to be an integral component of your organization's strategy, culture, and growth. By prioritizing mentorship, you empower your workforce and set them up for sustained success.
Download our guide to build a mentorship program at your organization👇
5 activities to do during National Mentoring Month
By championing the mentoring cause during NMM and beyond, you can pave the way for a more cohesive, skilled, and engaged workforce, ready to face the challenges of the future. Join the National Mentoring Month movement to:
- Educate and engage — Use internal platforms to raise awareness about the benefits of mentoring. Host webinars, workshops, and sessions throughout January.
- Celebrate existing mentorships — Acknowledge and appreciate existing mentor-mentee pairs within the organization. Share their success stories to inspire others.
- Introduce new programs — Leverage tools and resources, such as the National Mentoring Month toolkits, to introduce new or improve existing mentoring programs.
- Collaborate — Participate in events like the National Mentoring Summit to learn from industry best practices and strengthen your organization's mentorship efforts.
- Drive action — Encourage employees to take individual actions – whether it's seeking a mentor, offering mentorship, or simply sharing their mentoring stories.
Now that we have covered the general activities you can do during NMM, let’s discuss some specific examples.
1. Participate in social media campaigns
Social media campaigns related to NMM amplify awareness on a massive scale, encouraging mentorship and celebrating its transformative impact on individuals and organizations. Here are a couple of ideas you can try:
- #MentoringMonth campaign — Encourage employees to post on social media platforms using the hashtags #MentoringMonth and #MentoringAmplifies.
- #ThankYourMentor Day — On January 26, initiate a company-wide campaign where employees can express gratitude to their mentors by uploading a post with the hashtag #ThankYourMentor.
For both campaigns, offer sample messaging and graphics to your employees to make the whole process seamless. The above campaigns will prove to be a morale booster for all official and unofficial mentors in your organization and make them feel appreciated.
2. Attend key events
Attending mentoring events offers opportunities for networking, learning from industry leaders, and gaining insights into best practices, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of your mentorship programs.
- Register a team from your organization to attend the National Mentoring Summit. This event serves as an excellent opportunity to gain insights and network with professionals in the mentoring field.
- Participate in events organized by local mentoring organizations. Events like AFFECT by the American Finance Association and Mentoring Masterclass by the Academy of Medical Sciences in the UK can provide unique perspectives and enhance your company's mentoring initiatives.
The two examples we have provided are specific to finance and medicine respectively, so find events that are relevant for you and participate to learn from them.
3. Focus on advocacy and networking
Advocacy and networking during National Mentoring Month amplifies the importance of mentoring on a broader scale and helps you garner support from influential stakeholders to drive positive change in communities.
- Schedule meetings with local or state elected officials to discuss the importance of mentoring in community development. Mayors from multiple states have already participated in similar events in the past, so it is worth reaching out to your local or state representative.
- Highlight corporate partners who prioritize mentoring in their organizational structure. You can do this both internally and externally. Share ideas and stories of how they are making a difference through mentoring.
🧠 Want to dig deeper? Read our State of Coaching and Mentoring Report
4. Undertake educational activities
Educational activities during National Mentoring Month will empower individuals with knowledge and resources, enhancing their understanding of the mentoring process and its profound impact on their personal and professional growth.
- Organize a ‘Mentoring Week’ in your organization where employees can attend sessions, listen to podcasts, or read recommended books about mentoring.
- Allocate a section on your company's intranet or newsletter where employees can access new resources related to mentoring.
5. Collaboration and outreach
Collaboration and outreach during NMM fosters stronger community ties and promotes mutual growth.
- Establish collaborations with local mentoring organizations and host joint events, share resources, or even initiate mentor-mentee programs that benefit both entities.
- Host forums or discussion panels where experienced mentors and their mentees share their journey, insights, and the positive impacts of their mentoring relationships.
Address employee and organizational challenges through mentorship
Despite its evident benefits, many organizations do not have mentoring programs in place or underutilize them. That’s because of challenges in establishing meaningful mentor-mentee connections, limited resources on available mentoring programs, and the absence of a structured mentorship framework.
Here’s how you can overcome these challenges:
- Establishing mentor-mentee connections — Encourage mentees to communicate their specific needs, goals, and aspirations, and pair them up with mentors that have similar interests. Implementing a mentorship matching system to achieve the best results.
- Navigating limited resources on mentoring programs — Partner with mentoring organizations, like Together, to gain access to resources on mentoring.
- Creating a structured mentorship framework — Establish a formal mentorship program complete with guidelines, milestones, and feedback mechanisms to ensure consistency, effectiveness, and scalability in your mentorship endeavors.
- Bridging the skill gaps within the organization — Conduct periodic skill audits and then organize mentorship programs around identified gaps to develop a more skilled and versatile workforce. This will also help you in addressing specific industry challenges or shifts.
- Combatting lack of awareness on mentoring benefits — Host mentoring success stories and sessions where seasoned mentors and mentees share their experiences.
Implementing and enhancing mentorship programs at your organization
Whether you're just embarking on the journey or have an existing mentorship program that could use refining, here are some strategies that’ll help you do just that:
Recognize the need for structured pairings
Pairing the right mentor with the right mentee is the backbone of a successful mentorship program. A structured, purpose-driven approach to mentor-mentee pairing will help you get the most out of your mentorship program. Together offers automated pairing based on your specific needs and wants, ensuring a customized experience. Our partnership with Avison Young is a good example of structured pairing, done at scale, to transform a mentoring program.
Focus on scalability
As organizations grow, their mentorship programs should seamlessly scale with them without becoming an administrative burden. Whether you're a tech company like Cruise Automation with over a thousand engineers or a bank with hundreds of branches like First Horizon, Together provides a platform that can manage and scale your mentorship program effectively.
Address diversity and inclusion
Diverse organizations can face challenges in ensuring that every group feels adequately represented and has equal growth opportunities. Mentorship programs can be a tool to democratize these opportunities.
Activision Blizzard King leveraged mentorship to provide non-male employees with equal opportunities for advancement. They used Together to facilitate one-on-one training with executives, promoting a more inclusive work environment.
Streamline the administrative process
Manual mentorship programs can quickly become overwhelming, especially when matching mentors and mentees or tracking the program's progress. The Forum, which aimed to support female entrepreneurs, realized the administrative burden of manual pairing. By employing Together, they were able to scale their efforts and fulfill their mission more effectively.
Emphasize employee onboarding
Mentorship isn't just for long-term development. It can play a crucial role in onboarding, helping new hires adjust more efficiently. Law firm Cooley uses this to perfection. They emphasize mentorship during the onboarding process, allowing new hires to understand their roles faster and more thoroughly.
Measure the impact
Understanding the ROI of your mentorship program is essential. This goes beyond just anecdotal feedback. By quantifying the program's impact, organizations can make informed decisions and continuous improvements.
Randstad, another company that partnered with Together, measured the ROI on their mentorship program. They found that employees in their mentoring program were 49% less likely to leave. Utilizing a platform like Together allows organizations to gather such data, emphasizing the tangible benefits of mentorship.
The future of mentorship — embracing technology, connectivity, and national celebrations
As organizations increasingly recognize the value of mentorship in developing talent and bridging skill gaps, it's evident that technology and connectivity play a vital role in elevating these programs.
The rise of platforms like Together showcases the synergy of mentorship and technology, making mentor-mentee connections more impactful and administration simpler. But beyond technological advancements, there's a cultural movement to celebrate and champion mentorship. Events like National Mentoring Month are at the forefront of this movement.
National Mentoring Month isn't just a campaign, it's a testament to the collective belief in the transformative power of mentorship. As we embrace the future, let's ensure that our mentorship programs not only leverage the best tools available but also align with national and global sentiments, amplifying the cause and celebrating the spirit of guidance, growth, and connectivity.
For organizations looking to kickstart or enhance their mentorship journeys, Together offers a seamless and effective way to do so. Dive into the world of impactful mentorship with Together.
