Often mentoring is seen as a one-way street, where an older, more experienced mentor is sharing his or her wisdom with the newbie.
However, at its best, mentoring is a learning environment for both. This is especially true when different cultures and generations meet.
Here are some guidelines for a successful diversity mentoring program:
- Mentors need training. Diversity mentoring is not a familiar concept for most people.
- Programs should be inclusive and open for everyone. You should not exclude certain individuals or groups from diversity training.
- Program ownership. For a mentoring program to be effective it needs a champion at the executive level.
- Set goals. Ambitious but realistic goals should be set before starting the program to avoid it being empty talk.