Research, including studies from Catalyst, shows that women and people from other traditionally underrepresented groups do better than the general population—in terms of engagement, retention and promotions—when they have mentors. Studies also find that formal mentoring programs are one of the most critical ways of retaining women, Blacks and Latinos and helping them develop in leadership roles.

As discussed in our 90-minute diversity web seminar on mentoring with Sodexo (No. 2 in The 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity) and ADP (No. 27), 39 percent of managers at DiversityInc Top 50 companies are in mentoring programs, as opposed to just 19 percent in 2005, with 94 percent reporting a cross-cultural component.

Cross-cultural mentoring not only ensures that high-potential people get the right tools and support they need to advance their careers; it also provides key benefits to a company’s talent pipeline.

Build Your Talent Pipeline

DiversityInc convened a panel of chief diversity officers from AT&T (No. 4), Ernst & Young (No. 6), Merck & Co. (No. 16), Wells Fargo (No. 33) and Northrop Grumman (No. 42) with the highest scores in talent-development initiatives and results.

They discussed the benefits and best practices of mentoring programs and how best to form these cross-cultural pairings.

For example, Ernst & Young formalized “a Career Watch program that watches careers and helps people get to partners,” said Beth Brooke, global vice chair of public policy, sustainability and stakeholder engagement. “We also have something called EYU, which is Ernst & Young and You. There are three components. One is the traditional, the learning, but the other is making sure they’re experiencing very different things in an inclusive way. Then the third element is coaching, which is mentoring.”

Read more in Increasing Diversity in Talent Development.

Improve Diversity in Promotions

As more companies formalize their mentoring, the importance of cross-cultural pairings increases, as diversity leaders from Sodexo, Deloitte, IBM and WellPoint (Nos. 2, 8, 17 and 34, respectively) explained at one roundtable. These four companies are successful at mentoring their employees at all levels—and utilizing cutting-edge strategies to make sure their workforce develops equitably.

IBM’s Ron Glover, vice president of diversity and workforce policy, human resources, gave a detailed example of the company’s integral mentoring programs, the Business and Technical Leader Process: “Every year, people who are currently executives, and those who are identified as having potential for executive leadership, go through this process. They are assessed against a set of competencies, and one of them has to do with the ability to manage cross-culturally and globally. Leaders are asked to evaluate their own competencies as a part of that exercise, and then where they come up needing development, specific efforts and opportunities around both mentor and mentee occur.”

Read more in Mentoring Roundtable.

Increase Retention & Satisfaction

One way to ensure your employees are primed for success is to have mentors to teach them the nuances of corporate culture, which can be hard to navigate for both long-term employees and new hires.

To assist in this, Kraft Foods offers an on-boarding program for all of its new hires to teach them about the “unwritten rules” that often cause people—especially those from underrepresented groups—to leave. The program started nine years ago but has been strongly emphasized in the last two years, and a noticeable improvement in retention of new hires from these groups has occurred.

Jim Norman, vice president of talent acquisition, diversity and inclusion, and Wayne Canty (retired) of Kraft Foods (No. 7), presented the details of this program at our Innovation Fest!

Read more in Innovation Fest! Presentation by Kraft Foods: JumpStart, Developmental Training for New Employees.

The post Cross-Cultural Mentoring: How IBM, E&Y & Kraft Increase Diversity in Management appeared first on DiversityInc.

DiversityInc Top 50 data shows that formalized, cross-cultural programs lead to a rise in promotions from these underrepresented groups. Some companies have documented results in improved retention, engagement and productivity, as well as increased cultural awareness among white male managers.

A prime example of the benefits of mentoring and talent development is Sodexo (No. 2 in the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50). This company was able to quantify that its mentoring program delivers a $6 return for every dollar invested.

In this 90-minute diversity web seminar on mentoring and talent development, DiversityInc Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Barbara Frankel discusses the benefits of formalized, cross-cultural mentoring programs with Lou Miramontes, audit partner, KPMG (No. 22); Karen Kichline, vice president, learning and talent management, ADP (No. 27); and Lucie Neely, division vice president, human resources, national account services/globalview, ADP.

Readers will learn:

• How resource groups can help talent development by “cross-pollinating” mentor/mentee relationships
• Why mentoring should be available to all employees, even white men
• The personal benefits of becoming a mentor, and the not-so-obvious benefits of being a mentee
• Why mentoring is particularly important in developing female talent
• How to formulate an action plan for mentoring and talent development in your company
• What are the different roles of a mentor and mentee, and which generate the best results?

Watch the diversity web seminar on mentoring and talent development at DiversityIncBestPractices.com.

The post Diversity Web Seminar: How to Make Cross-Cultural Mentoring Your Talent-Development Action Plan appeared first on DiversityInc.