Like many great technology innovations, our Clir Mentoring program was born from a Hackathon. At our July 2021 Clir hackathon, one of the most popular “pitches” — from Jonny on the Software Development team — was for a mentoring program. When the time came to get to work, an overwhelming number of folks signed up to contribute to this very special project.
With the volume of interest in this project, the People & Culture team had an immediate hunch that this was something that the organization clearly wanted us to implement. When we looked at our overall employee feedback, and the areas of opportunity in relation to learning and growth at Clir, it became clear (no pun intended) that this was something that would provide our team with real and tangible value.
We quickly got to work flushing out what a mentoring program at Clir would look like. How would we structure it? How long would each match last? Which department would run the program from an administrative perspective?
In answering these questions — and more! — we ended up with a program that looks like this:
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Before each cycle begins, we have a Mentoring kick-off where folks can pitch what they’re looking for in a mentor/mentee and talk about their experience. In 2021 we had incredibly high levels of participation with around 50 people showing up for the event!
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People & Culture sends out an application form for mentors and mentees (someone can sign up for both), and matches participants based on their shared learning outcomes and interests.
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People & Culture hosts a Welcome event where best practices, along with tips and tricks for success, are shared.
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The program runs for a total of 10 active mentoring months and wraps up with a feedback survey.
While we have only been through 1 full cycle of the mentoring program, the feedback shows us that the program has been a great success. Individuals who responded to the most recent survey said that they found the program valuable and would participate again.
We’re continuing to iterate, but as we enter our second cycle of the program, we have no doubt that this will continue to be an initiative that Clir is excited about. And to top it all off, the mentoring program won 1st place in the Hackathon, where it was judged by peers at Clir.
This is how we’re “hacking” growth and learning at Clir. What do learning and growth look like within your organization?
