Guiding Leaders Toward Inclusive Mentoring

by Bernadette Pieters

National Director of Diversity, Director of Human Resources, Northeast Region
BDO USA, LLP

Professional development through shared experiences is an important component in developing a diverse workforce. Often in a down economy, the professional development of employees can take a back seat to a focus on the bottom line. In times like these, human resources (HR) professionals should continue to foster productive knowledge sharing to fuel professional development. A critical aspect of this mission is guiding leadership toward a focus on mentoring.

“Inclusion, in its simplest form, involves valuing differences within a workforce and leveraging them strategically to conduct business more effectively and optimize results.”

Think of the employees in your company who do their work and do it well, but are still developing their relationship-building skills. They need to know they’re valued and who they can turn to for professional guidance and coaching. By encouraging our leaders to practice and support inclusive mentoring, we can help ensure that all employees have the opportunity to benefit from a mentoring relationship, be it formal or informal.

Inclusion, in its simplest form, involves valuing differences within a workforce and leveraging them strategically to conduct business more effectively and optimize results. At first glance, inclusion and mentoring may appear to be conceptually at odds – with inclusion focused on differences and traditional mentoring focused on matching mentor and mentee based on similarities. What traditional mentoring programs overlook is that often the most unlikely pairings generate the best results.

Personality or other differences in a mentoring relationship demand a more concerted effort for people to accept and understand one another. Inclusive mentors and mentees may ask more questions – or different questions – than they would with someone more like themselves. Their differing points of view can reveal new solutions as they seek to discover each other’s strengths and challenges. And over time, their differences will become the basis for a culture of diverse voices throughout the organization.

As we adopt an inclusive mentoring mindset, we should tie the concept back to its impact on the business. Understanding the diverse skills, backgrounds, and perspectives of our employees enables us to guide them to projects or assignments where they are positioned to succeed. The result is greater employee satisfaction, quality work performance and the achievement of desired business objectives. Inclusive mentors may tap into previously untapped resources and ideas, strengthening the company financially and culturally by bringing out a sense of passion and empowerment in their mentees.

In the end, both mentor and mentee will find that they achieve personal accomplishments through their professional relationship. There is joint accountability to build a strong relationship with end goals in mind; to teach one another and learn from one another. And, in the process, they will create a culture of empowerment and diverse voices that proliferates as inclusive mentoring becomes part of the fiber of the organization.

This article has been sponsored by:
BDO USA, LLP