Intelligent Mentoring : How IBM Creates Value through People, Knowledge, and Relationships

by Murrell, Audrey J.; Forte-Trammell, Sheila; Bing, Diana A.

• ISBN13: 9780137130849
• ISBN10: 0137130848
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-11-11
• Publisher: IBM Press

Summary

How to Use Mentoring to Drive Maximum Competitive Advantage Techniques and lessons from IBMrs"s world-class mentoring programs-for every business and HR leader, strategist, Chief Learning Officer, consultant, trainer, and scholar "A crucial part of my job is to help develop and retain the more than 200,000 members of IBMrs"s global technical community. Over the years, I have found that the true spirit of any organization is its people, and unique, world-class mentoring programs play a crucial role in their success. What I really like aboutIntelligent Mentoringis that it is not an academic treatise on the theory of mentoring, but a series of practical solutions that can be used by virtually any organization to gain productivity, increase retention, and improve bottom-line results." -Nick Donofrio, Executive Vice President, Innovation and Technology, IBM Corporation "We have known about the importance of mentoring in developing people for decades. Yet few organizations have successfully leveraged it as part of their HR strategy. IBM is one of those companies.Intelligent Mentoringis about more than the mentoring initiative successfully implemented at IBM. It is a guide for how companies can leverage mentoring in a way that aligns with company strategy and supports organizational and individual development. It is a must-read for any executive considering a mentoring initiative as part of the firmrs"s HR strategy. IBMrs"s mentoring effort combined the best of what we know from mentoring research, career development theory, and change management to create a highly successful effort. There is much here for practitioners and scholars to learn." -David A. Thomas, Ph.D., Naylor Fitzhugh Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School "Performance is the ultimate driver of this company. Even back in our earliest days, one of the keys to IBMrs"s greatness was performance, along with top-notch technology. Since arriving at IBM in 2000, my goal has been to identify, develop, train, reward, and retain high-performing people, and one of the best ways to support these high performers is through mentoring. I believe thatIntelligent Mentoringhas done a phenomenal job of capturing the innovative and varied mentoring initiatives that IBM has used over the years. The authors really take you inside the company and show how mentoring has helped IBM preserve its corporate culture by passing on knowledge, not only between generations, but in all directions throughout our global community. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to use the powerful tool of mentoring to its best and most productive advantage, and I recommend it highly." -Randy MacDonald, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, IBM Corporation For todayrs"s enterprises, few challenges are as daunting as preparing tomorrowrs"s leaders. Mentoring is one of the most powerful tools at their disposal. But not all mentoring programs are equally effective, and not all companies have learned how to sustain mentoring. One company has: IBM.Intelligent Mentoringreveals how IBM has done itand offers specific guidance and best practices you can use to achieve equally powerful results.Intelligent Mentoringshows how IBM has fully integrated a diverse portfolio of formal mentoring initiatives into both talent development and innovation promotion. Whether yours"re a busin

Author Biography

Audrey J. Murrell is Associate Professor of Business Administration, Psychology, and Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh Katz/CBA School of Business, and Director of the David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xvii
Acknowledgments	p. xxi
About the Authors	p. xxiii
Introducing IBM's Mentoring Portfolio	p. 1
Mentoring Transformations	p. 4
IBM's Challenge	p. 5
IBM's Response	p. 9
Creating a Mentoring Portfolio	p. 13
Contributions of Intelligent Mentoring	p. 16
References	p. 19
Organizational Intelligence: Using Just-in-Time Mentoring Solutions	p. 23
Overview: Revitalizing Mentoring	p. 24
Creating a Mentoring Hybrid	p. 26
IBM Revitalizes Mentoring	p. 27
Linking Mentoring to Organizational Intelligence	p. 30
Attracting and Recruiting Talent	p. 31
Socializing of Employees	p. 33
Accessing Knowledge and Expertise	p. 34
Supporting Knowledge Retention	p. 36
Sustaining a Knowledge-Resilient Culture	p. 38
Developing a Portfolio of Experiential Learning Opportunities	p. 40
Experiential Learning Opportunities in the Future	p. 43
References	p. 47
Organizational Intelligence: Fostering Communities of Knowledge	p. 51
Overview	p. 52
Learning through Communities of Practice	p. 53
Building Communities of Practice at IBM	p. 55
A Mentoring Solution	p. 57
Mentoring as Communities of Practice	p. 58
Lessons Learned from IBM's Mentoring Communities	p. 63
Mentoring Across Boundaries	p. 64
Strengthening Relational Competencies	p. 66
Fostering Meaningful Collaboration	p. 68
Mentoring Communities and the Future	p. 69
Valuing Community	p. 70
"THINK"ing at IBM	p. 70
Who Said an Elephant Can't Learn to Dance?	p. 71
References	p. 72
Connecting People: Creating Meaningful Engagement	p. 75
Moving from Isolation to Engagement	p. 76
The Benefits of Engaged Employees	p. 76
Challenges for Engaging a Globally Dispersed Workforce	p. 78
Mentoring, Technology, and Connecting People	p. 80
Creating Access to People	p. 81
Creating Access to Information	p. 82
Creating Access to Virtual Communities	p. 84
Example of an IBM Best Practice: Group Speed Mentoring	p. 86
Engaging Employees through Mentoring-Lessons Learned	p. 90
Technology as a Tool, Not a Panacea	p. 91
Holding Managers Accountable	p. 91
Some Final Engaging Thoughts	p. 92
References	p. 93
Connecting People: Mentoring as a Tool for Diversity and Inclusion	p. 97
The Importance of Connecting Among Difference	p. 98
The Workforce of the Future Is Here	p. 99
Diversity as a Business Imperative	p. 101
Enhancing Diversity: Why Mentoring Matters	p. 103
Connecting within Diversity at IBM	p. 105
Mentoring Based on Affinities	p. 109
Group Mentoring via Diversity Networks	p. 110
Asian Diversity Network Group at IBM	p. 112
Looking Toward the Future	p. 116
References	p. 121
Connecting People: Using Mentoring to Signal Value in People	p. 125
The Power of Value in People	p. 126
What Employees Expect-A Relational View	p. 128
Employees' Perceptions of Organizational Support	p. 131
How Organizational Leaders Can "Signal Support"	p. 133
Using Reverse Mentoring to Signal Support	p. 136
Respect for the Individual	p. 138
Support for Employee Development	p. 139
Collaboration across Difference	p. 140
Preventing Career Derailment: A Plan for Success	p. 141
Reverse Mentoring: Signaling Value in People across IBM	p. 144
Reverse Mentoring in the United States	p. 145
Reverse Mentoring in Finland	p. 146
Reverse Mentoring in Latin America	p. 148
Looking Toward the Future-Multigenerational Collaboration	p. 151
Lessons Learned-Signaling Ethics and Integrity	p. 153
References	p. 155
Business Impact: Using Mentoring to Deliver Value for Competitive Advantage	p. 159
Adding Value through Mentoring	p. 160
Mentoring Solutions as High-Performance Work Practices (HPWP)	p. 161
Enduring Skills Help to Create Competitive Advantage	p. 165
Developing a Balanced View of "Value Added"	p. 167
Dangle the Carrot-IBM's Marketing Group Mentoring Award	p. 172
Lessons Learned-Adding Value and Sustaining Business Impact	p. 176
References	p. 177
Business Impact: Using Mentoring Solutions to Solve "Wicked Problems"	p. 181
Mentoring as a Strategic Solution	p. 182
Using Mentoring to Solve "Wicked Problems"	p. 184
Global Talent Management as a "Wicked Problem"	p. 187
Mentoring: On the Manufacturing Floor to the Technical Labs	p. 191
Black Technical Leaders Forum (BTLF)	p. 193
Building a Global Knowledge Community-South Africa's Cross-Geography Mentoring Initiative	p. 197
Lessons Learned-Sustaining Business Impact via Strategic Mentoring Solutions	p. 203
Some Final Thoughts-The Impact of Intelligent Mentoring	p. 205
References	p. 207
Index	p. 209
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