Chapter 2
Mentoring and Sponsoring: The Keys to Success
MENTORING AND SPONSORING ARE COMPELLING in the context of the new economy because they are consistently effective in helping women get ahead. This is true regardless of participants' specific objectives, industries, or roles. To understand why this is the case, let's first look at what mentoring and sponsoring actually are.
Mentoring covers a vast range of programs and schemes. At its core, mentoring is a relationship between the mentor and the mentee. It's based on mutual respect, total confidentiality, and a shared understanding of how to achieve the mentee's objectives. Mentors use their own professional experience to advise mentees on how to accelerate their careers or achieve their entrepreneurial goals. Sponsoring is a step beyond mentoring—it's mentoring taken to the next level: the sponsor champions the mentee, suggests and supports their promotions, puts them forward for positions of responsibility and, especially for entrepreneurs, opens doors, acts as a reference, uses their networks to create opportunities, and then supports them to take these opportunities. In sponsoring, sponsors risk their own reputations and effectively put their necks on the line.
The benefits of mentoring and sponsoring are tangible. Take the example of small businesses in the United States. Research shows that small businesses receiving three or more hours of mentoring achieve higher revenues and increased business growth compared to those that don't. Seventy percent of small businesses receiving mentoring or sponsoring survive more than five years—double the survival rate of nonmentored businesses.1
The difference, though, is that men find their informal mentors or sponsors through their own networks, while women lack the time and confidence to do the same. That's why, for women, structured and formal mentoring/sponsoring programs provide greater support, especially in the new economy, where career paths are being forged for the first time.
Mentoring and Sponsoring Women Employees
All mentoring and sponsoring is personalized. This works to women's advantage because it allows them to focus on tackling the specific problems they face in the workplace and gain crucial support. With fewer role models higher up the organization, a mentoring/sponsoring program becomes their opportunity to discuss career progress. And, as part of the process, mentors—often senior managers—throughout an organization become more aware of the challenges women face.
Mentoring or sponsoring programs can take different forms depending on the objectives. A common constellation in larger organizations is an older mentor with a younger and less experienced mentee, as seen at ENGIE since 2010. Here, the objective may be to resolve a specific problem, such as retaining talent or encouraging more women into senior positions—and there are benefits on both sides. The mentee learns more about company policy and culture, and the mentor raises his or her own profile amongst other senior managers.2
Another mentoring/sponsoring structure is the reverse: having a much younger mentor and a more experienced mentee. The idea here is to provide senior managers with the digital or market knowledge of the millenials, or to give them a young or new recruit's perspective on the organization. Since 1999, General Electric has been running such a program; Orange, Danone, Accenture, BNY Mellon, and IBM have followed suit.3
Mentoring and sponsoring programs can help induct new recruits but are also useful to support women returning to work after a long period of absence—whether due to maternity leave or training. Such programs smooth the transition back to work, bringing both the organization and the individual up to speed and providing reassurance that the new setup will work.
There are other reasons to set up a mentoring/sponsoring program: cross-department, cross-company, or cross-sector mentoring/sponsoring can promote knowledge creation. In this case, the pairs are two individuals doing the same job in different departments, companies, or sectors. Such programs have been shown to be particularly effective for high potential women, or women who already hold posts of responsibility, helping them share experiences and good practice when dealing with situations still largely dominated by men.
Mentoring and Sponsoring Women Entrepreneurs
Mentoring/sponsoring programs focused exclusively on women entrepreneurs are not yet well developed. Programs such as the Paris Initiative Enterprise work with men and women entrepreneurs, the Paris-based Women Entrepreneurs Network and Berlin-based WEFOUND offer events and workshops for women, but not specific mentoring programs. Other examples include mentoring circles set up by nonprofits such as WBMI (Women Business Mentoring Initiative), European PWN (Professional Women's Network), and Federation Pioneers. These nonprofit organizations lead the way in mentoring and sponsoring women, but there is much scope for expansion.
In the digital age, electronic mentoring—facilitated by e-mail exchanges, discussion forums, and online chat rooms—could be one solution. This can be helpful especially if the mentor and mentee are geographically far apart, but nothing beats meeting face to face to establish the trust so essential to a successful mentoring and sponsoring relationship.
The Future
The case for mentoring and sponsoring is clear. Done effectively, they transform careers, and help employees and entrepreneurs contribute more to their organizations and the economy. They particularly help women because they provide women with the professional networks they are not always in a position to forge themselves.
In the context of the new economy, the case for women-focused mentoring and sponsoring programs becomes even stronger. The precedent as to how women can best seize the diverse opportunities created by the new economy is constantly being set and reset. As the interviews with professional women in the following chapters confirm, it is the personalized focus inherent to mentoring and sponsoring that goes furthest in supporting women as they navigate this previously unknown terrain.