Let’s take another look from a different angle
In my previous article, I focused more on the experience from the employee’s point of view. In this iteration, I will take a further look at the experience from the mentor’s point of view.
Up to this point, I was so focused on the new employee’s point of view that I did not take into consideration the mentor’s point of view. This became clear today as I listened to the mentor’s experience of the onboarding process. There was an immediate sense of frustration that came over the meeting, an almost uncomfortable silence. I had dared to ask the question that perhaps we should have a list of tasks for the mentor. This may have not been the best question, but an essential one, nonetheless. As I listened to the mentor’s comments, I became acutely aware that the onboarding experience is a two-way street.
After some tense discussion, it was apparent that these mentors did not have clear expectations. They were feeling the pressure and weight of accountability for their new mentees in an onboarding process that was not clearly established.
This is where the user experience comes into play. For any one process there will always be multiple experiences. In this particular case, there was the mentor experience, the mentee experience and the management experience. It was painfully clear that all three had different expectations. Just where did the mentor’s role end and the mentee’s role begin? It is difficult to put a timeline on this as no two individuals will require the same amount of guidance. Some will prefer to take flight early on and others will need more encouragement. When I mentioned the idea of launching an evaluation to rate the quality of the onboarding experience, the mentor’s started uncomfortably shuffling in their seats. They did not want to hold accountable for the failures of the mentees in a process with no clear expectations for them.
After all, they were coaching new staff to build revenue when they themselves had never worked directly in a sales role themselves. There was some learning to do on both sides. In essence, the two roles overlapped in many ways. All three roles had a vested interest in sales and revenue growth. Both the mentee and mentor were simultaneously learning the sales role. The mentor was experiencing the immense pressure of teaching a role that had not yet existed and was just as new to them as to the mentee. In essence, they are serving two masters.
How does one serve two masters? This would be where I fit in. I had to expand my view to include all three roles and not just the mentee. I had to fill in the gaps to make a program fit to all roles. To the manager who wanted results, metrics and numbers, to the mentor who needed clearly defined expectations, to the mentees who had their own expectations and aspirations.
As a start, I decided to launch two variations of my evaluation. The first would go to the mentees, and the second to the mentors. The mentors wanted to feel valued and heard just as much as the mentees. Management would have to set clearer expectations for the mentors and step in to alleviate issues as they arose, escalate concerns and provide assistance to offset the increased workload for their overwhelmed mentors.
As for me, I’m still learning myself. It’s been a crooked road, yet an exciting one. Learning is never linear. Thank God for that.