Knowledge

Ten Questions to Laura's Mentor

Laura is a new associate. She was hired in the spring, and now comes the big day: her first day as a junior associate in the firm. She introduces herself at the reception, but this does not seem to ring any bells on the other side of the reception desk. The receptionist gives a few calls, and eventually the secretary of the HR manager shows up and bring Laura to her office. "Sorry, the email connection isn't ready yet, but we will take care of it soon. Have a nice day!" What happens next? Nothing. And the day after? Nothing. And the day after? She ventures out of her office and go through the corridor, introducing herself and begging for work, until a senior associate sends her in the library to do some research for an article.

The situation may not be as bad as this in your firm, but nevertheless, integrating newcomers is an area where few firms produce outstanding performance.

In a previous blog, I mentioned a number of practical ways to improve this. One of them is a classic: appointing a mentor. It is easy: it just takes a few words to do it "Can you be the mentor of Laura, please?" and it looks very impressive: Laura has her personal mentor! But the question is: does this mentorship have any substance? To assess this, here are 10 questions to the mentor:

1. As a mentor, did you receive training on mentor's skills? (not necessarily a 2-day residential, a 2-hour session might be enough).
2. Do you have a written action plan for each day of the first week of the newcomer?
3. Is there, at least annually, any kind of mentorship assessment among the mentors, the newcomers, and the HR commitee or manager?
4. Have you received feedback from the partners on your mentoring performance?
5. During the first three month of the newcomer, have you taken the initiative to meet face-to-face with her at least once a week?
6. Is there a "mentoring" category provided for in your time sheets?
7. Did you receive a reminder from HR a few days before the arrival of the newcomer you are responsible for?
8. When you met with your newcomer for the first time, did you already know her first name and could immediately address her with her first name, without her needing to introduce herself?
9. Do you enjoy being a mentor?
10. Did you get loads of thank you from your newcomer?

If you don't have any "yes", draw your own conclusions...

Antoine Henry de Frahan | 10 September 2007 |