CloudStratex
CLIENT CONTEXT
Mentoring has been at the heart of talent development for CloudStratex (CSX) since it established in March 2019. The four founders had an intention to recruit and support individuals early in their careers, known as ‘Generation of Leaders’ or ‘Gen-Ls’. The challenge for the organisation was how to on-board and accelerate the development of this population who were typically low on experience but high on potential, within a nurturing and fast-paced environment. The Talent Academy, a structured programme of support for the new joiners, was launched as the answer. Within the Academy, mentoring was offered to the Gen-L joiners, to create access to senior leaders, build connections across the business, and accelerate their development.
“The whole idea of our Talent Academy is something we were passionate about and having a really good, strong, effective mentoring programme is one of the essential things you have to have if you do want to be an employer of choice...I think we need to be very cognizant that we should take mentoring very seriously.”
As the business grew, the ability of the senior leaders to be accessible in the same way to the new mentees began to be a stretch. The question arose:
How do you maintain the impact of the programme, offering the ‘start-up’ experience the Gen-L’s mentees were benefitting from, whilst increasing the consistency, scale, and sustainability of the programme?
END-TO-END REVIEW OF THE EXISTING MENTORING PROGRAMME
North-52 offered a full review or ‘audit’ of their mentoring programme. The objective was to get beneath the skin of the programme to see what was working, that could be replicated across the business, and to identify improvements to ensure the future of the mentoring experience. The brief was to celebrate successes but also to be very transparent about where and how the programme might improve.
We conducted an end-to-end review from business case through to measurement, reviewing key documentation and communication.
Key stakeholders were interviewed, including sponsors, the programme lead and several mentors and mentees.
The research was supplemented by a qualitative and quantitative survey of both mentors and mentees, getting to the heart of the initiative.
The review led to a series of tangible recommendations, across the programme, including:
establishing governance and the measurement of success criteria,
creating a programme structure to enable sustainability and scalability,
introducing an application process before the matching, to move responsibility to the participants, and
using training for both mentors and mentees to clarify expectations and benchmarks.
CLIENT FEEDBACK
“At CloudStratex we believe that mentoring is crucial to the growth of the individuals in our Talent Academy, therefore, we were excited to announce the launch of our v2 Talent Academy Mentoring Programme. The goal of this program is to support and enhance our Talent Academy’s leadership and professional development, providing a confidential space for discussion around topics related to career growth, institutional knowledge and development, upward mobility, and more. In designing and establishing this program, we partnered with North-52 who joined us in masterclasses for our mentors and mentees. This provided both groups with insight into mentorship best practice and equipped them with the tools to make their future partnerships a success. North-52’s understanding of mentoring best practice was invaluable in the creation of the v2 scheme, allowing us to take lessons learned from our pilot scheme and implement improvements which is giving our v2 every chance at success. Thanks especially to Caroline, whose expertise navigated us through this improvement programme.”
Anna Hyland, Talent Academy Lead
THE OUTCOME
Following the review, CloudStratex redesigned and re-launched their mentoring programme, taking on board the guidance.
The programme was relaunched, inviting applicants to apply to be either a mentor or mentee.
A new process focusing on a flexible structure was created, which enabled measurement and feedback, and emphasised endings.
The launch was supported with an in-person workshop for the mentors. As experienced mentors, the session focused on ensuring consistency of experience and exploration of more complex and ethical issues like power dynamics.
The mentees were offered an interactive webinar with the aim of sharing understanding of the programme and importantly, of their accountability and responsibility to drive the relationship and outcomes.
“The masterclass was really insightful and provided a clear structure to get so much more from the mentor programme.”
“Well structured, interactive, the opportunity to make it personal - talk about our experiences so far and how we can make the most out of the mentor scheme opportunity.”
“The training was very helpful and the invaluable advice I gained is something I will definitely utilise moving forward.”
