Professional Networking For Dummies by Donna Fisher

Author:Donna Fisher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wiley

Don’t rule out possible mentors just because you think they’re too busy or that they wouldn’t be interested. Give people a chance to say no for themselves. They may surprise you and say yes.

JPMorganChase Bank’s mentoring program

Debby Selke, Vice President of Human Resources at JPMorganChase & Co., has been in a leadership position with the bank’s Texas-based mentoring initiative since it started in 1995. Debby attributes the success of the program to the fact that senior management not only advocates mentoring, they participate as mentors. In addition, the culture understands the importance of employee development, formal training is required for mentors and protégés, significant resources are provided to oversee the program, and the program brings people together who might not normally meet.

Whereas many mentoring programs focus on matching people who have similar focuses and career paths, the Diversity Mentoring program combines mentors and protégés from various business lines within the bank. The program intentionally mixes people of different race, gender, age, education, tenure, and level within the bank. According to Debbie, “Mixing it up accelerates the learning for both parties.”

Currently the JPMorganChase organization offers nine mentoring programs to its Texas-based employees, each with a different goal and target audience. Here is a success story from the Diversity Mentoring Program, which is open to all levels of employees across all business lines:

After eight years in the same position, Barbara Joe was feeling stagnant and unhappy. She wanted another opportunity within the bank but had no idea how to find the right opportunity. Then she heard about the JPMorganChase Diversity Mentoring program and decided to apply as a protégé, hoping that she would be matched up with a mentor who would have some answers.

In only a few weeks, she was notified that she was accepted into the program and was told who her mentor would be. Barbara was thrilled. Detria Mitchell — her mentor — seemed to be just what she needed. Detria had a wealth of experience and knowledge about the bank and showed Barbara a different way of looking at things. Through Detria, Barbara was introduced to opportunities at the bank that she would never have bothered to check out or become involved in on her own. Barbara’s stagnation transformed into aliveness and she knew that she had someone in her corner whom she could rely on and count on.

At their Diversity Mentoring kickoff, Barbara identified the competencies that she needed to work on and developed a plan for her future at the bank. It was in this kickoff session that Barbara also had the awareness that even if her mentor did have all the answers, Detria would make Barbara work for them. Nothing would be given to her. As Barbara said, “My mentor kept me on track by pointing me in the right direction and encouraging me to work on the competencies I needed to develop.”

The Diversity Mentoring program helped Barbara gain confidence, develop her interpersonal and professional skills, become involved in bank-sponsored activities, and expand her network of friends and associates.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.