Although the Hub program is open to all employees at our partner organizations, it focuses primarily on low-income, entry-level individuals who often do not receive the support necessary to maintain job security and achieve success in the workplace. The Hub will address these needs though a program that:
In order to fulfill these goals, the Hub will work closely with an individual employer and develop ties with non-profit job placement agencies. Once these relationships are formalized, the Hub will then be able to focus on the core of its program: a mentoring program for new employees.
The program will match interested entry-level employees (mentees) with experienced employees (mentors). Through this relationship, each mentor will serve as a friend, advisor, and even advocate in helping mentees navigate the workplace, directing new employees how to best utilize employer resources and existing programs to develop professionally. Mentees will also gain soft skills and learn to visualize success and personal improvement. By sponsoring outings, dinners, and recognition events, the Hub will support mentoring relationships and develop a community that allows new employees to be comfortable in the workplace and work toward job advancement. The success of the mentoring relationship is hinged on the time constraints of the mentee and maintaining the interest and willingness of the mentee to be engaged in the relationship. To ensure this success, the Hub can do three things: carefully match mentors and mentees, provide helpful mentor training and mentee orientation, and design a program structure that fosters bonding.
The program will train mentors in available benefits, and mentors will then use this knowledge to educate mentees about available benefits and other resources. Beyond connecting employees to employer-based resources, our program structure will help employees address the problems that impede optimal job performance by connecting them to housing, childcare, health care, transportation, and skill development programs. The Hub program is shaped by the language and technology barriers encountered by new employees. Most importantly, it takes a Lego(R) approach to matching each employee to the specific resources they need through a system of modules.
The program will begin on a small scale, focusing on approximately 20 mentor-mentee pairs, in order to evaluate program design. After the 6-month pilot phase, the program will re-evaluate its structure and procedures and develop accordingly.
Program implementation is divided into two phases correlated with the personal growth of program participants. Phase I focuses on building mentoring relationships and connecting participants with employer benefits. Phase II takes a more holistic approach in helping the mentee gain the skills for job retention and advancement.
Building the Mentoring Relationship
Mentor Screening
Prior to entering the program, potential mentors will be interviewed as a means for the potential mentor and the Hub to learn more about each other. The prospective mentor will learn about the mentor's role in the program, program goals, time commitment, and training dates. Information learned during the interview will be used by the Hub Staff to match mentors with mentees.
Mentor Training
Mentor training will attempt to replicate certain components of the training model provided by the Peer Academic Support and Advising Program at Stanford, a training method that is both efficient and well-established.
Mentor training workshops will take place every few months to accommodate the new mentors entering the program on a rolling basis and will be led by the Resource Specialist and the Relationship Coordinator. The entire training program will take place in a classroom, range from eight to ten hours, and may be split into two sessions. The training sessions will be conveniently scheduled before or after work hours or during lunch to accommodate mentor time schedules.
The first component of our training program will educate mentors about the population they will be working with and examine the mentees' needs and time constraints. The Hub will provide each mentor with a handbook that covers benefits and resources at Stanford, as well as information on community resources such as affordable housing, child care, transportation, and continuing education. Additionally, there will be a website available for mentors to access up-to-date information and obtain support from staff and other mentors.
The second component of the training program will focus on effective mentoring techniques. Through role-playing exercises, we will educate mentors about active listening, providing advice, and helping the mentee to set long-term goals.
Immediately after the training, the new mentors will evaluate their training sessions and give recommendations for improvement through an evaluation form.
Staff training and support do not end after the initial mentor training and orientation. Throughout the mentoring relationship, the program staff of the Hub will check up on mentor pairs and provide support services.
Matching Process for Mentor-Mentee Pairs
Mentors and mentees will be matched using a preferences sheet and an interview. In pairings, preference will be given to language, gender, and cultural background, as well as interests and geographic location.
Connecting Participants to Employer Benefits: Program Activities
The first meeting of the mentor and mentee will be at a kickoff social event where people become acquainted in an informal setting while meeting others in the mentoring program. Social events like these will continue throughout the program and will contribute to building a supportive community.
After the initial meeting, the mentor and new employee will schedule a mutually convenient time to meet one-on-one before or after work. At Stanford, employees must sign up for certain benefit programs, such as health insurance, within 31 days of hiring. Considering this time constraint, the first month of our mentoring program will focus on educating the mentee about how to utilize benefits and which ones are appropriate for their situation. For example, the mentor would walk the mentee through the process of evaluating the different health care providers, choosing an appropriate physician, and, if applicable, specific medical concerns. Mentors would make sure that mentees fill out the forms correctly, whether in paper or internet form.
Within this same time frame, mentees will meet with our staff for a quick check-in for an initial assessment of the program.
Sustaining the Mentoring Relationship
In the following months, the program will focus on developing a long-term relationship between the mentor and mentee through Hub-sponsored events and continued staff support. Examples of program-wide events include picnics, outings to Great America, and dinners. These are all affairs in which families can meet other families in the program, thus developing the Hub community. We realize that individuals may live far away from the locations of these after-work events, but events will be structured to take this into account.
Building a Workplace Community
The Hub will work diligently with each participant to assure they are in a stable, secure environment of caring individuals, even as mentor-mentee relationships become increasingly informal. To assist this process, aforementioned social activities will be held in out-of-work settings, so that people will get to know and network with other employees in a comfortable environment.
As the mentoring relationship develops, the Hub staff will taper its monitoring process until the relationship no longer requires supervision. While the Hub will always be a part of the employing institution, seeking out resources, and informing employees about available opportunities, mentor-mentee pairs will decide the extent to which their relationship continues with the Hub. Mentors and mentees will eventually relate more as peers instead of as mentor and mentee, especially since many, if not all, of the mentees will have advanced to the point where they can become mentors themselves. The original mentors may even decide to adopt a new mentee; either way, these people will be part of the growing community of employees.
Out of this community of people--those who have been going to our program's social events, bringing their children to our program-sponsored activities, and connecting through shared experiences--a supportive culture will develop.
Mentoring relationships are the launching pad for growing networks of empathy and support. By first assigning people mentors/mentees and facilitating their relationships, we create a safe environment where relationships that might never have bloomed can evolve and spawn connections from employees from different departments within the institution. The workforce community will nurture its members, working with our program to introduce and encourage new employees.
Recognition
In order to recognize individual achievement and dedication, the Hub will create a newsletter and bulletin board in its office as mediums to recognize program participants and create a forum for individuals to tell their stories, celebrate birthdays, and make personal announcements such as children's graduations or the birth of a new baby. Additionally, the Hub will sponsor an annual dinner event to recognize individual excellence and highlight personal stories. By highlighting individual successes, these type of events serve to increase participant's motivation and faith in the program's goals.
Monitoring and Support
A monitoring process is very important to keep both mentors and mentees motivated and "heard" and in maintaining the program's success. There will be regularly scheduled meetings with staff, mentors, and participants where all parties can discuss how the mentor-mentee relationship and the mentee's self-efficacy are progressing. If necessary, conflict mediation would also go on during these meetings.
A tracking system for ongoing assessment may take the form of written records, providing a means to manage grievances, issue praise, and report developments in the relationship. Through the tracking system, program staff would also be able to relay program accountability to investors, define successes, and outline programming developments.
These feedback sessions will take place every month for the first six months. Additionally, feedback surveys will solicit the opinions of participants regarding their needs, what they want to learn, what is going well, what could be better, and how they feel about the program and its activities. This includes reassessing the convenience, accessibility, and usefulness of program aspects.
The Hub will also facilitate optional but strongly recommended support groups where mentors can come together to discuss issues and problem-solving strategies. The same will be done with mentees, and discussion of relevant topics and needs will be funneled back to mentors to improve effectiveness.
We are aware that some of the mentoring relationships may be scaled-down during vacations and the summer months due to employment scheduling. Participation in the modules may be put on hold, but the relationships themselves will be maintained in other ways.
There may be times when a mentor relationship does not work out, despite the extensive support provided through the Hub. This might be due to a mentor or mentee's inability to devote time to the relationship, or perhaps a relationship of personalities that do not relate well, despite attempts at mediation. In these cases, the Relationship Coordinator will be called on to make sure everyone exits the relationship without hurt feelings, and additionally maintain the mentor or mentee's commitment to the program, depending on the situation. The mentee would be placed with another mentor, or the mentor would be rematched as soon as a proper match is found.
At the end of each month, both mentors and mentees will sit down with program staff to assess possible changes and additions that the Hub could make in its program and modules to better meet their needs and interests.
Beyond Benefits: Supporting participants for job retention and advancement
After the first four weeks, mentors will focus on helping mentees define personal goals, exploring other existing employer benefits such as retirement plans and life insurance, and assessing individual interest in skill-developing programs.
Beyond benefits education, through the "modules" concept, mentees will be able to choose different areas of further study or skills-acquisition. They will decide along with their mentor what module programs are key to their everyday needs, job retention and advancement, and personal development. Mentees will develop a "six month plan" where they plan to take specific modules.
Modules will be broken down into three categories:
In order to tap the resources of the Stanford campus, the Hub will explore partnerships with the Haas Center for Public Service and Academic Departments to utilize the social capital in student and faculty participation. For example, the Hub could develop a relationship with the Stanford ESL Partners program (STEPS), an existing student-run organization increasing the literacy of dining hall workers, to provide more directed reading, translation, and tutoring services to a greater worker base.
Recognizing that workers have very heavy time constraints, the Hub is realistic in its approach to how much time can be allotted towards developing these skills. In order to accommodate individual schedules, modules will usually take place after before or after work, during lunch times, or on the weekends.