Editor's Note: Are we paying sufficient attention to the unsung heroes in our organizations who take on the heavy-lifting involved in developing talent? In this Classic post, Jim Brennan calls us on this oversight and pushes us to do better.
Do you offer specific rewards to mentors who develop your talent?
If you do, you are an exception. That is the apparent conclusion from both my experience and my research. Organizations seem to find no value in the process of mentorship that warrants reinforcement. No enterprise could be found that paid a bonus, held a dinner or provided any other discrete total rewards element to mentors for their role in developing talent. Not one of the 25 human resource or compensation professionals I randomly polled (most had called me on other matters) admitted to supplying any special reward for employees who train others in addition to other duties. Oh, some mentioned that a mentor could be nominated for a spot bonus or a recognition award, if a manager saw fit to recommend so; but there were no reports of any formal programs for the care and feeding of the nurturers of tomorrow’s talent.
When management fails to provide positive reinforcement to those who perform a vital service like mentorship, they may send the wrong message. Never forget that the Total Rewards concept involves giving signals and communicating values as well as paying money. The manner in which you deliver compensation frequently delivers a stronger impact than the amount dispensed. The process usually communicates a lot more than the product says by itself. The lack of a formal recognition option for mentors says something loudly. Refusing to reward those who develop effective performers who excel in your enterprise is extremely short-sighted. There is hardly anything more important to long-term organizational survival than cultivating competencies, instilling skills and grooming people who demonstrate superior abilities. It is what makes humans resources.
Tracking the identity of the mentors responsible for successfully developing your current home-grown talent should not be that difficult. Providing appropriate and meaningful rewards to reinforce their stalwart efforts is not impossible, either. Simply ignoring their invaluable contributions, however, runs the risk of starving the goose that lays your golden eggs.
People have this odd tendency of repeating behaviors that bring them meaningful positive consequences. Helping others grow is usually a very rewarding experience for the mentor; but there is a limit to the power of intrinsic rewards, especially if they must operate separate from and even against the influence of the formal reward system. Might as well use that powerful motivational instinct to inspire a useful result rather than ignore it. The warm fuzzy glow that comes from Doing A Good Thing can be extinguished eventually by implacable organizational indifference. Why take the risk?
Ann Bares, when she discussed the catalyst role indicated by the hockey plus-minus rating, has addressed other aspects of this syndrome. There are people in your workplace whose most essential service is to assist others to perform better. It would be a disaster if they stopped what they are doing.
What are you doing to support, sponsor and encourage mentors with a proven record of cultivating talent?
E. James (Jim) Brennan is an independent compensation advisor with extensive total rewards experience in most industries. After corporate HR posts and consulting CEO roles, he was Senior Associate of pay surveyor ERI before returning to consulting in 2015. A prolific writer (author of the Performance Management Workbook), speaker and frequent expert witness in reasonable executive compensation court cases, Jim also serves on the Advisory Board of the Compensation and Benefits Review.
Image by nedel_neln, courtesy of Creative Commons
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