By Spencer O’Quinn
NV5’s Saint Paul office recently started a formal mentorship program. This program was initiated months ago with the purpose of investing in our employees to improve the employee experience and increase retention through engagement and skills development, and to encourage building professional networks in the pandemic age.
NV5’s mentorship program was developed by a Mentorship Steering Committee. This committee met monthly several times to define the objectives of the program. Key questions the Steering Committee addressed during the development phase:
- What is the purpose of the mentoring program?
- Who should participate?
- How much should we invest in the program?
- How long should the program last?
- How do we know the program is working?
The Mentorship Steering Committee met regularly to hammer out the goals and requirements of the program. They established that the program would be a year-long program with Self-Assessment Surveys at the beginning, midpoint, and completion of the program. These surveys will provide quantitative data on whether the program is contributing to improved employee growth and engagement.
The Mentorship Steering Committee engaged Senior Management during the program development phase. The Steering Committee provided an estimated time commitment and requested a specific charge number for the time dedicated to the program. The hourly charges, along with the Self-Assessment Surveys, will provide a quantitative cost-benefit value that can be used to assess whether to expand or modify the program. The committee will brief NV5 leadership after the midpoint self-assessments are completed and again at the end of the program.
The first class of participants includes volunteer mentors selected from senior staff including group leaders and directors. Volunteer mentees include junior personnel with only a few years experience in the consulting industry. If the program proves to be successful, additional mentors will be selected from senior engineering and designer staff. This will provide additional leadership opportunities for those that are not currently in management positions. The program aims to eventually enroll all recently hired junior personnel.
A key part of a successful mentorship program is regular and structured engagement. Program resources including example mentoring agreements, sample agendas, exercises, and recommendations are available to mentors on a Microsoft Teams shared sited. The Teams site provides a secure location for survey results, feedback to mentees and other data collection. The mentees are invited to group mentorship activities and recently participated in an interview of a senior engineer and former department manager that will be retiring later this year. Additional group mentoring activities are in development.
Mentorship programs are a proven way to improve employee engagement, retention, and skills development. The future leaders of your company may be working for you now. A formal mentorship program is a great tool for attracting and retaining new hires that are focused on advancing their careers. Take the first steps and form a Mentorship Steering Committee to define the goals for your program and seek formal buy-in from senior management. Good luck!