How can my organization create its own mentoring culture?

If you are just getting started in mentoring, in the midst of one or more mentoring initiatives, stalled out in the middle of a process or needing to evaluate mentoring progress, the Mentoring Culture Mini-Assessment tool below can help you decide if your organization has embraced some of the best practices of a mentoring culture.

To the right of each item are four columns. As you review each item, indicate your response by placing a checkmark in the appropriate column. Add the number of checkmarks in each column and insert in appropriate space at the bottom of each column.

How to Evaluate Your Responses

If one or more mentoring initiatives are working well, you were probably able to check all ten of the mentoring practices under the "always" column, particularly if your organization has a prior commitment to learning and a solid infrastructure to support mentoring efforts.

If you have checked some practices as sometimes present, never or don't know those are areas that may need attention. The practices you've identified become the broad agenda from which to identify and prioritize action goals and process improvements.

The entire Mentoring Culture Audit along with strategies for implementing each of these practices is found in Creating A Mentoring Culture: The Organization's Guide by Lois J. Zachary (Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2005). It offers practical tools and advice to any organization that is seeking to encourage a culture of mentoring. Step by step, it shows how to build and support mentoring relationships in business, government, and nonprofit organizations. The book is filled with forms and tools for the trainer, staff developer, and human resources personnel to use to aid organizations in developing support for mentoring programs as well as the full checklist of the 50 mentoring best practices that promote sustainability in a mentoring culture.