The New York Times Digital Mentorship Program

Overview

Objective

The mentorship program was developed to better retain and advance women and minorities in the digital organization at The New York Times. The primary focus is to help participants clarify their career vision, develop new skills and gain confidence in the skills they already have. We believe that focusing on career development will increase job satisfaction and organizational commitment, as well as develop a diverse pipeline of future leaders.

What is mentoring?

The ABI Mentoring Guide defines mentoring as “a one-to-one developmental relationship between a mentor with experience and knowledge in technology/computer science and a less experienced partner.”

Within The New York Times digital group we expand this definition to encompass mentors with experience and knowledge in product management, project management, digital design, and technology.

A mentoring relationship should not be prescriptive. Instead, the mentor should aid in the process of career development by helping their mentee discover their strengths and weaknesses in order to help focus, reframe and clarify their career vision.

Why mentoring?

Mentoring has been shown to be effective in increasing the retention and advancement of women and minorities. An evaluation of diversity management programs at 830 companies over 30 years found that mentorship programs are often “quite effective” and have the strongest positive impact on the advancement of women and minorities along with executive diversity task forces. (Dobbin, F.; Kalex, A., and Kelly, E. (2007). Diversity Management in Corporate America, Contexts, Fall, 21-27.)

Benefits for mentors

• You will get to meet talented, driven people from across the organization.
• You will gain a greater understanding of the issues facing employees.
• You will have the opportunity to practice guiding a more junior employee, which is a valuable skill for any manager or leader at the company.
• You will show your commitment to the diversity efforts at The Times.

Benefits for mentees

• You will receive personalized guidance on how to define and achieve your career goals.
• You will grow your professional network.
• You will broaden your knowledge of the organization by connecting with someone outside your immediate work group.
• You will have an opportunity to work on soft skills such as public speaking, negotiating and conflict management.

Principles

Building a relationship with a colleague from scratch can be difficult. Successful mentorship relationships are built on a joint commitment of shared growth and trust.

Mindset

• Growth Mindset - A growth-mindset is required for change; if it feels overwhelming or scary, you are on the right track - keep going.
• Start Small - Activity begets activity. Let go of doing things right and start doing something. Little steps lead to big change.
• We’re in this together - If you feel stuck, reach out to someone for support; lean on the mentorship community.

Relationship

• It’s a two way street - Mentees lead, mentors guide, but both are active participants. Mentoring sets mutual responsibilities and accountability.
• Mentorship is an investment - Mentorship is an investment for both mentees and mentors; you get out of it what you put in.
• A foundation of trust is essential - Mentoring requires a trusting, confidential relationship based on mutual respect. Consistency is key - Scheduled, consistent meetings are an important part of building the mentorship relationship.

Mentee-specific

• Goal setting is worth the time - Goal setting is an iterative process; mentees should “raise the bar” for themselves as they progress and their skills increase. Take time to reflect on progress and celebrate small wins.
• Give yourself permission to focus on your career - It is hard to set aside time to focus on your career, but it’s important! You have permission to focus on your career.

Mentor-specific

• Mentors guide - Mentors make themselves available to their mentees and they actively listen. Guidance includes sharing experiences, past or present, and how mentors dealt with a particular challenge or situation.
• Mentors are a connection point - Mentors connect mentees with people and resources (e.g. articles, classes). Mentors aren’t expected to know all the answers. A mentor’s job should be to help mentees work through problems, not always being or finding the solution themselves.

Program Structure

Matching

Before the program starts, mentees will fill out a survey indicating the areas of focus they’d like to work on. Mentors will fill out a similar survey indicating the areas they feel comfortable advising on. We will use this information to pair people.

The broad topic areas will include:

• Improving Communication Skills
• Building Relationships
• Developing Hard Skills
• Career Development and Planning

Once pairs are formed, the leadership team and HR will review before pairs are finalized. The mentorship committee will then communicate with each mentor and mentee directly to share their match ahead of the kick-off meeting.

Kickoff

A kickoff email will be sent outlining the program and schedule. After the kickoff email is sent two workshops will be scheduled. One session will be dedicated to mentees for goal setting. Another session will be a workshop on coaching techniques for our mentors. We will support remote participants.

Regular Mentor/Mentee Meetings (6 months)

Mentors and mentees will meet for at least an hour every month for the following 6 months (there will be a total of 6 meetings over the course of the program, excluding the kick-off). In their first meeting, pairs should decide on a method for scheduling future meetings. They should also decide on what should be held confidential and what can be shared outside the relationship.

Ongoing Support for mentors and mentees

• 3 check-ins along the way, for mentors and mentees
  • Breakfast/morning coffee
  • Happy Hour
  • Closing event
• Private slack channels for mentors and mentees to create a space for conversation, encouragement and learnings.
• FAQ for the program

Expectations

The mentoring relationship should be mentee-driven and mentor-guided. The mentee is expected to identify and drive activity towards his or her career goals. Effective mentorship is built on a solid relationship between the mentor and mentee, so take time to get to know each other, exploring passions and obstacles as they could become relevant (if not already so) to the areas of focus.

Requirements for mentors:

• Attend the kickoff meeting.
• Help their mentees refine their goals during the first week of the program.
• Meet with their mentee for at least one hour every month for 6 months.

Requirements for mentees:

• Attend the kickoff meeting.
• Identify 1-3 career goals.
• Meet with their mentor for at least one hour every three weeks.
• Drive activity towards career goals (have a “growth attitude”).

Confidentiality

All information discussed or disclosed in mentoring conversations should be kept confidential unless specifically agreed otherwise. For example, if the mentor wants to make an introduction for their mentee, the mentor should confirm any details she or he wishes to disclose in the introduction.