Scaling a Global Mentorship Program
Why we encourage mentorship
It is cited that the concept of mentoring dates back around 3000 years, originating from one of the oldest works of literature, an ancient Greek poem called ‘The Odyssey’. The poem describes a character going off to fight in the Trojan War, leaving his son in the care of his trusted companion ‘Mentor’, who nurtures and supports the boy over the many years his father is at war.
3000 years later most companies still adopt this trust from their senior employees. Mentors are recognised for their expertise, knowledge, communication skills, and ability to help those less experienced in not only the advancement of their careers but also their personal development.
At Just Eat Takeaway (JET) we truly believe mentorship is a key ingredient for the growth and development of our designers. Allowing both mentors and mentees to become more competent in their existing roles while also preparing them for future promotions by encouraging a growth mindset.
Further benefits of a mentorship
There are several benefits for both a mentor and mentee to take part in a mentorship programme. These benefits include:
Mentor
To become more competent in leadership
Become recognised as an expert adviser within their field
Develop their communication skills
To give back to others, sharing their own stories and experience
Gain new perspectives
Mentee
Accelerate their development
Enhance their skill sets
Enhance their career prospects
Help adapt to office culture especially if in a new role
Learn from a mentor's real-life experiences
““The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.””
What is the best type of mentoring relationship?
Most senior designers at JET have mentored previously at some point in their career so during a recent health check workshop we were interested in what advice they could provide. We asked them to recall the best and worst mentoring relationships they have had throughout their career. The session revealed several themes, that we as a design team could learn from:
😃 Best mentoring relationships examples:
Active listening - Mentors agreed that knowing how to turn down their inner critical voice and just listen to their mentee's needs allowed them to empathise, encourage and provide the right sort of feedback. There’s a need for mentors to adopt a learner mindset as they were also once in the same position.
Build a partnership - It’s both a mentor's and mentees' duty to build a trusted relationship. Without trust, the partnership is doomed to fail. Letting go of egos, being kind, and creating a relaxed environment all aid in creating a safe conversational environment.
Set realistic expectations - Pushing the mentee to reach new opportunities outside their comfort zone is good and will in-tern help them level up in their career, but this also needs to be realistic. Set clear actionable goals that you both feel are achievable, and regular check-ins This also applies when providing feedback or being constructively critical of their work.
Share stories of your own experiences - Talk about your own real-life experiences, successes, and challenges that you worked to overcome, create an open and honest environment, and encourage mentees to explore ways of solving their own problems.
😣 Worst mentoring relationships examples:
Providing no support - As mentioned in the ‘Best’ relationships, building a trusted partnership is one of the key components to success. Not being available, and always rescheduling 1-to-1’s is not great behavior for a mentorship partnership, especially if the mentee is feeling overwhelmed, and not perfectly comfortable admitting where they may need help and advice.
One-sided - Similar to providing no support, being paired with a mentor who doesn't really want to be there and may have been forced into it to meet some sort of objective to enhance their career really doesn't help. This forced relationship will completely lack motivation for the partnership to grow.
One-size-fits-all all approach - We all have our different ways of learning, so the mentoring partnerships need to be flexible and unique to the individual. The partnership should agree at the start of the relationship on the right approach for learning, whether the mentor takes more of an advisory role or adopts more of a coaching mindset.
From these examples, we were able to apply further best practices and principles for future mentorship programs.
Learning from past experiences
In a separate health check session with mentees, we found that a lot of what we heard from our more experienced designers around their best mentorship relationships was actually already being applied at JET. These similar themes were based on the following:
Building strong relationships - Mentees commented on how they felt they got to know their mentor better through feeling comfortable to discuss areas they felt needed improvement in a safe and relaxed environment. Mentors listened without bias and had informal discussions, where they felt it was ok to ask stupid questions.
Having structure - Having regular check-ins, goals, and success criteria was important but also having the flexibility to make the process what they wanted.
Support & Guidance - Mentees liked that they had someone to go to for support and guidance. They need to be guided on their daily work, help deal with difficult situations, and be someone who brings a different point of view. They were encouraged to get involved with certain activities within UX&D gaining confidence in themselves not only professionally but also personally.
Expertise & resources - Most mentees were happy with their pairings and were fully confident that their mentor had the knowledge and expertise in their field to allow them to learn. Mentors provided a great depth of knowledge, resources, and training, sharing examples and allowing mentees to gain a better understanding.
But, we also discovered areas that we could improve.
Time & Investment - A lot of mentees talked about the same issues. A lack of time to invest in achieving the goals set out in mentoring sessions. Most needed more time to prepare for upcoming sessions and action goals and felt it could be difficult to prioritise their day-to-day workload and personal development time.
Time zone - For some designers, the difference in time zones was causing slight issues. Some pairings were based in Canada and the UK which meant some sessions would occur several hours outside their normal working hours. For those in the UK, sessions may have been set for 13:00 (GMT) but in Canada, that meant an earlier start for 7:00 (ET) 😫
Scaling mentorship for a global team
Back in January 2020, Just Eat merged with the Dutch-based company Takeaway to form a global takeaway giant. This meant a dramatic increase in designers across UX & Designs spread across multiple locations globally. To understand how we could create a solid foundation we address the potential pros and cons of mentorship at scale:
Pros
Improved employee retention: Mentoring programs can help employees feel more connected to their work and the company, which can lead to higher job satisfaction and lower turnover rates 1.
Increased productivity: Mentoring can help new employees get up to speed more quickly, which can lead to increased productivity and efficiency 1.
Enhanced skill development: Mentoring can help employees develop new skills and knowledge, which can lead to career advancement and improved job performance 1.
Diversity and inclusion: Mentoring can help promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace by providing opportunities for employees from different backgrounds to connect and learn from one another
Cons
Time and resource-intensive: Mentoring programs can be time and resource-intensive, requiring significant investment from both mentors and mentees 2.
Location: Having designers based across multiple locations e.g. London and Canada can prove tricky especially when taking time difference into consideration
Potential for conflict: Mentoring relationships can sometimes become strained or conflictual, particularly if there are personality clashes or disagreements about goals or expectations 2.
Lack of structure: Mentoring programs can sometimes lack structure or clear goals, which can make it difficult for participants to know what they are supposed to be doing or how to measure success
Moving forward we needed to be sure a global program supported any previous learnings, especially those around time zones and time invested in the program.
Things we’re looking to introduce:
Group Mentoring Sessions: Group mentoring sessions are a great way to connect mentees with similar interests and goals. These sessions can be structured around specific topics or themes and can be facilitated by one or more mentors
Mentoring Principles and Tips: Mentoring principles and tips can help mentors and mentees establish a strong and productive relationship. Some key principles include setting clear expectations, providing constructive feedback, and maintaining confidentiality. Tips for successful mentoring include active listening, asking open-ended questions, and providing guidance and support
Mentoring Contracts: Mentoring contracts can help partners agree on how flexible and formal their mentoring sessions will be. These contracts can outline the goals of the mentoring relationship, the frequency and duration of meetings, and the roles and responsibilities of both the mentor and mentee.
Mentor Group Training Sessions: Mentor group training sessions can help mentors develop the skills and knowledge they need to be effective mentors. These sessions can cover topics such as active listening, providing feedback, and goal-setting
SMART Goals Template: A SMART goals template can help both mentors and mentees set more structured, realistic, and measurable goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Using this template can help ensure that goals are clear, achievable, and aligned with the mentee’s career aspirations
Recently one of our product designers wrote this medium article around her own experience of our mentoring programme as a guide for mentees.
Article link: How to get the best out of your mentoring program: a guide for mentees