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Career Growth Through
Connectivity: Utilizing
Mentorship And Sponsorship
In 2021
Andrea Carter Forbes Councils Member
Forbes Human Resources Council
COUNCIL POST | Membership (Fee-Based)
Jan 26, 2021, 07:00am ES
Andréa Carter is the SEVP and CHRO for Global Payments Inc., a
leading worldwide provider of payment technology and software
solutions.‘The year 2020 will go down in history as, among other things, the
year of lost connectivity.
Sure, we mastered the art of Zoom meetings, hosted online parties
and had virtual reunions with long-lost friends, prompting many to
think that connectivity increased. However, that interpersonal,
sometimes spontaneous, connectivity between families, friends and
colleagues — the kind that builds, not just sustains, relationships —
all but disappeared for many of us. In our professional lives, run-
ins in the break room, quick elevator catch-ups and impromptu
lunch breaks are now nonexistent, as our workdays are spent at
home and prescribed primarily by the meetings on our calendar.
With so much socialization lost, employees are not just missing
camaraderie but also those all-too-critical, organic career-building
moments that were commonplace in the pre-pandemic working
world. Access to senior executives, quick “pop-ins” with a boss or
squeezing in time to seek career advice has never been harder.
But, after a year when many faced job insecurities, reckoned with
social and workplace biases or just started thinking about new
paths, the need for connectivity to support career growth has never
been greater.
For both employers and employees in 2021, I believe a deliberate
focus on mentorship and sponsorship will be key to ensuring that
we all continue to grow and advance. Connectivity through both
mentorship and sponsorship builds stronger, innovative and more
diverse teams.
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Mentorship Matters For Careers
Mentorship is an important part of career growth, especially for
those at the outset of their careers or in mid-level positions. A good
mentor acts as a mirror, helping a working professional ask: Who
am I? Where am I in my career? What do I want to do? And how do
Iget there?
Found either inside or outside one’s organization, mentors give
career advice and personal feedback, making connections between
professionals with shared interests and career goals. Mentorship
can help new employees build confidence in their skills or aid
seasoned team members in finding allies no matter the project they
take on next.
Mentorship matters so much more in our new working
environment as we trade large meet-ups for smaller circles and
substantive conversations. But where does one start? Strong
networking leads to potential mentors. Even as networking events
look different today, my favorite advice for networking remains the
same: connect four. While speaking, find four things you connect
with the other person on — industry interests, similar families, a
passion for cooking, a previous vacation spot. And when parting
ways from that first meeting, connect four again: Find four ways to
follow up. A short email can be accompanied by a LinkedIn request,
a thank you note and even an invite for a quick phone call. We will
need to stay creative in how we seek, build and sustain connectivity
through 2021, including with new or existing mentors.With the right mentor by your side, connectivity is not lost in a
world of social distance and remote work. Mentors help employees
feel seen and heard both at work and outside the office.
Seek A Sponsor For Role Advancement
While mentorship focuses on the lifespan of a career beyond a
specific job, sponsorship is more discrete and largely myopic in
scope and duration. A sponsor's main goal is to help the sponsored
tion, While
mentors may not work with their mentee, a sponsor must work in
employee climb the ladder within their current organi:
the same company (but not be a direct manager), be established
and well-respected in their own right and have a direct view into
organizational succession planning and/or the promotion process.
Sponsors are there to be a helping hand and extended voice —
unlocking opportunities, demystifying advancement criteria and
processes and ensuring that light shines on an employee's skills and
ambitions as growth at the company is discussed. As we embark on
a new year, companies should seriously consider assigning
sponsors to high-potential employees to ensure success planning
that is not only beneficial to the company’s bottom line but also
their commitment to culture and diversity.
‘Where mentors may help overcome office connectivity in remote
work routines, sponsorship allows companies to commit to growing
their leadership in a sustainable and inclusive way. Selecting high-
potential women and Black, Indigenous or people of color to be
sponsored by company leaders ensures that future boards, C-suites
and executive levels of companies will grow to reflect the
communities they serve and address gaps in diversity — an ongoing
demand made clear yet again in 2020.
Offering Your Employees Both‘As companies look to prepare for a better 2021, employee growth
and connectivity cannot be overlooked. Leadership must offer and
promote both mentorship and sponsorship opportunities, as each is
critical to building a diverse, self-sustaining and productive team
no matter where work is happening.
Employees may partake in both mentorship and sponsorship at the
same time or may be years away from a sponsorship conversation,
but are active in their mentorship relationship. Regardless, pairing
these two relationship opportunities — one that hinges on organic
networking and the other that often benefits from formal
assignment and therefore increased accountability — is a vital step
forward in increasing connectivity across all levels of the office at a
time when it’s still unknown when the next hallway conversation
may take place.
Forbes Human Resources Council is an invitation-only
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‘Andréa Carter is the SEVP and CHRO for Global Payments Inc., a leading
worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions. Read
Andrea... Read More
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