The Business Case for Youth Mentoring -- The Value of Mentoring Youth to the Business Community

The Business Case for Youth Mentoring

The Value of Mentoring Youth to the Business Community

By David Mead

[Author’s Note:  I typically write about the issues facing business owners and C-level executives. While some of you might be confused about the linkage with the topic of mentoring, I maintain that mentoring young people is a critically important business issue! – Dave Mead]

As we enter the season of giving, I thought it might be appropriate to share an article about giving back. Many of us have long been concerned about the lack of role models and adult guidance for many of our youth and it has been demonstrated that youth who have a formal mentoring relationship do better in school, have better graduation rates, have lower incidence of substance abuse, and lower incidence of crime, not to mention an overall better future. As I have become familiar with the statistics about the value of mentoring, I found that the results are compelling. Mentoring benefits not only the individual and the community, but also employees and businesses.

Most successful people know the value of mentors - I know I have been fortunate to have had several key mentors over the course of my life and career.

One of the things my mother used to say: "If something concerns you, stop whining about it and do something to make it better." Years ago, I was a youth mentor for a number of years and it was very rewarding. I saw the impact on my mentee firsthand. But, I also realized that there are far more young people needing mentors whose needs are unmet. In Colorado, almost 300,000 young people aged 5 to 22 need a mentoring relationship. Currently, fewer than 20,000 have an engaged mentor - Less than 7% of the need is being met.

I joined the Board of  Mentor Colorado (Colorado Mentoring Partnership) in 2014. Mentor Colorado is the support organization for the 65+ youth mentoring organizations across Colorado (like Big Brothers Big Sisters, Denver Urban Scholars, Gunnison Valley Partners, etc.) to help them in scaling their activities with the adoption of best practices in recruiting, training, and supporting mentoring relationships. There are mentoring partnerships in 26 states. Colorado is one of the most recent states to form an organization. The models Colorado is following are the organizations in Minnesota, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania which have dramatically increased the number of quality mentoring relationships.  

MENTOR (The National Mentoring Partnership) and Ernst and Young sponsored a 2015 report,   The Business Case for Mentoring : Mentoring at the Crossroads of Education, Business and Community, which demonstrates the value of mentoring to the individuals, the community, and to business. As the report states it, "Mentoring is changing the trajectory of thousands of young people's lives." Especially in this period of talent scarcity, there is an increasing need to focus on workforce development – and that starts with making sure our young people are equipped to join the workforce.

 The case for business involvement in mentoring is simple. Mentoring adds value to individuals, business, and the community

  Value to the individual and community.   Some of the benefits to the individual and the community include:

• Better school performance.  Improved attendance,  higher graduation rates, and more likely to go on to college or learn a trade

• Less Substance Abuse. Mentored youth are less likely to start using illegal drugs and alcohol.

• Lower Crime rate. Fewer disciplinary problems and lower incidence of criminal behavior

• Better jobs. Better jobs and much less likely to be dependent on entitlement programs

 Value to companies and employees.   Key reasons companies and employees engage in youth mentoring: 

• Fostering employee engagement, satisfaction and retention. Today's employees are strongly attracted to companies that are purpose-driven and that offer opportunities for engagement.

• Cultivating and developing the future workforce. Prepare a more productive workforce

• Supporting vibrant communities (which include your customers) 

• Branding
• Improve your company’s image in the community
• Increase community awareness of your company’s mission

Mentor Colorado can help your company get started. Many companies have a fragmented approach to not-for-profit activities. Other companies may not know how to get started. Mentor Colorado is helping sponsoring companies with the development of mentoring programs, training, and organizing mentoring activities for their employees.

GET ENGAGED!  Become a sponsoring organization and make a difference.

If you would like more information about how you and your organization can get involved, please contact Executive Director, Hannah Krieger or Dave Mead 

Donate - Remember Colorado Gives Day is December 4th. You can make your donation now.

Youth Mentoring and the Business Community: 3 Powerful Reasons for you to Get Engaged

  

            Get Engaged

Youth Mentoring and the Business Community: 3 Powerful Reasons for you to Get Engaged

There is a long tradition, going back centuries, of strong societies nurturing the next generation of workers and craftsmen — using structures such as apprenticeships, internships and formal guilds to reach out to youth and help them find fulfilling, meaningful vocations. By intentionally guiding and educating young people to find and develop rewarding careers, communities and even entire nations can help to ensure that there is a stable social foundation, a continuity of goods and services, and a citizenry capable of pursuing their dreams and contributing to the greater good.

Listed below are three powerful reasons that companies and employees should get involved in mentoring.

1. Fostering employee engagement, satisfaction and retention - One representative from Intel noted, “We find that in terms of employee engagement and retention, there is a reputational pull of doing this kind of [mentoring] work, especially for potential hires coming out of the universities where they have experienced mentoring relationships.” As one representative from Citi said, “It’s that piece around the desire of individuals to work for an organization that is socially responsible and civically engaged … this resonates with our employees and they want to be a part of it.”

2. Cultivating and developing the future workforce - Much has been written recently about the difficulty some industries are having finding qualified and well-prepared employees. Companies work in mentoring fits into a new paradigm of creating and fostering pipelines and pathways rather than focusing only on training once employees arrive. For example, Bloomberg’s growth as a company has led it to be more proactive about finding future employees: “As we’ve evolved and then become a much larger company with more and more stakeholders, the business case for us is really about talent development and diversifying our talent pipeline. We recognize that today’s youth are the future of our company going forward and we need to take responsibility for better preparing them for tangible roles in the corporate workforce.”

3. Supporting vibrant communities (which include viable customers) - Companies also recognize that they are part of the communities where they are located, that their businesses will struggle if educational systems or the community itself is struggling. A representative from American Express framed this as their “commitment to service and giving back to communities where employees live and work, helping in your own backyard.” IBM explained its emphasis on education this way: “We live and we work in these communities where these kids live. We have a responsibility to do as much as we can to help them and make these communities thrive — and education is certainly a big factor in that.” With national partners like the NBA Cares, Starbucks, LinkedIn, Deloitte, EY and Bank of America and state contributors to the mentoring movement like KPMG, Richey May and Home Advisors more and more companies are recognizing the power of mentoring. 

Mentor Colorado is leading the youth mentoring effort in Colorado. Give the power of mentoring today finding a mentoring opportunity with one of our mentoring agency affiliates here, or a partnership opportunity with MENTOR Colorado’s Executive Director, Hannah Krieger.

Mentor Colorado is pleased to welcome Hannah Krieger as its new Executive Director

Mentor Colorado, which helps 65+ youth mentoring affiliates to increase the numbers of quality youth mentoring relationships across the state of Colorado, is pleased to welcome Hannah Krieger as its Executive Director.

Mentor Colorado

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

​

Hannah Krieger 

hannah.krieger@comentoring.org

Hannah Krieger joins Mentor Colorado as Executive Director on November 12, 2018. Previously, Hannah was the Director of Strategic Relationships for WeCOACH, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving, empowering and connecting women coaches of all sports and levels across the country. Prior to joining WeCOACH, Hannah Krieger served as Executive Director of Sportswomen of Colorado, a non-profit focused on empowering and celebrating girls and women in sport in the state of Colorado.

During her time with the Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer Club, Hannah started and oversaw Soccer for Success (a U.S. Soccer Foundation program), which served K-8 students in under-resourced communities throughout the Denver and Aurora areas. She also managed over 3,000 youth soccer players and 350+ coaches and volunteers in their 4-Under through 10-Under programs. Hannah has continued to serve as a National Facilitator and Trainer with the U.S. Soccer Foundation since 2013, where she works to train Soccer for Success coach-mentors and trainers around the country.

Hannah earned her B.A. from Smith College, a Master’s in Sport Leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University, and was a Fulbright scholar in Saarbruecken, Germany. 

The Continuing Quest for Accountability - Part IV - Top 5 Accountability Pitfalls

[Editor's Note: True Accountability can be the biggest impediment to strong results in a company. In Parts I and II in this series , we asked the questions: "Is a Lack of Accountability a Problem in My Organization?" and "Am I Part of the Accountability Problem in My Company?" In Part III, we addressed "Starting Down the Path to Greater Accountability"  In this issue, we outline the top 5 accountability pitfalls that can kill company performance. I hope you find this useful. -dpm]

The Continuing Quest for Accountability - Part IV

Top 5 Accountability Pitfalls

When people are held accountable - to themselves and their stakeholders - good things get done. According to Steve Tobak of Moneywatch, here are the top five "accountability" pitfalls that business leaders and executives typically fall into, in my experience. Some of them don't even appear to be accountability-related on the surface, which is why they're so insidious. If you want a high-performance management team, make sure you avoid them:

Unclear responsibility. Misalignment of Goals. This is probably the most common pitfall. Show me an organization and I'll show you managers with misaligned goals and vague responsibility. Two people shouldn't have the same functional responsibility or own the same goal. If you do that, you're asking for things to fall in the crack. That doesn't preclude "matrix management"; the trick is to ensure goals and responsibilities are properly aligned. It can be done.

No follow up. Poor execution. This is practically an epidemic in organizations. Executives are great at coming up with goals, strategies, even metrics. Unfortunately, they're also notoriously bad at following up. I don't care how driven and entrepreneurial executives are; without follow up, nothing good happens. Companies must have a relatively objective and, sorry to say this, strict process for both setting and scoring management performance metrics.

Compensation plans that reward poor performance. Closely related to the "no follow up" problem, most companies have terrible executive compensation plans. Maybe 1 in 10 actually rewards the right behavior and has enough teeth to foster accountability. The problem? The bar for making gobs of money is set too low, and there's not enough difference between success and failure, plain and simple.

Management bad behavior. When it comes to management behavior, most executives and boards just look the other way. That lack of accountability plays a key role in business failures because dysfunctional leadership results in bad strategic decision-making and poor employee performance and execution. Granted, coming up with metrics for this sort of thing is challenging, but I think "360s" are pretty effective. 

Flawed company strategy. This is rarely seen as an accountability problem, but it is. When company executives push a flawed strategy, two things inevitably happen. First, smart people in the organization call them on it - publicly or privately - word gets around, and management credibility suffers, big-time. Second, folks will start covering their behinds, pointing fingers, acting passive aggressively - all sorts of dysfunctional behavior that wreaks havoc with organizational performance.Not surprisingly, I find that management teams at consistently successful companies make accountability a priority and, therefore, avoid these pitfalls. It take a real commitment of precious management time and resources. But not only is the payoff worth it, it's a necessity in our hypercompetitive business world. 

________

This may sound strange coming from a firm that stresses strategic growth and execution, but it will do little good to establish strategies, action plans, and metrics without accountability. Because - without accountability, the results will be more of the same - disappointing results. The data shows that companies with true accountability greatly outperform those with a lack of accountability. Don't let another year go by. Neglecting the next steps in your company's growth and maturity can be very short-sighted. The next downturn is coming - possibly starting as early as Q4 of 2019. Get prepared. You need to have your company firing on all cylinders. 

Need help? The Mead Consulting Group has helped many companies achieve greater accountability...and better results.  Contact me to discuss how we can help you do things a bit differently this next year.

The Continuing Quest for Accountability -Part III Starting Down the Path to Greater Accountability

[Editor's Note: True Accountability can be the biggest impediment to strong results in a company. In Parts I and II in this series , we asked the questions: "Is a Lack of Accountability a Problem in My Organization?" and "Am I Part of the Accountability Problem in My Company?" In this issue, we explore how to start down the path to improve accountability at your company. I hope you find this useful. -dpm]

 

The Continuing Quest for Accountability -Part III

Starting Down the Path to Greater Accountability

Over time, as organizations grow, certain norms become ingrained into the culture. In early stages, decision-making can be centralized in a few hands with key people wearing many hats. This is essential to being successful in small early-stage organizations. As organizations grow and people are added, decision-making, "ownership", and accountability need to change as well.

If decision-making, ownership of decisions, and accountability doesn't change, it can lead to a culture of losing. What happens if decision-making, ownership of decisions, and accountability doesn't change? We see this with many Mead Consulting clients. Many times the senior people (including CEOs and business owners) have difficulty letting go. They are the "smartest guys (gals) in the room." They continue to want to influence all decisions, not trusting those lower in the organizational structure. Over time the middle managers and employees become conditioned to "delegate decisions upward." Decisions, projects, new products, etc. are not owned by individual employees, but become the province of the senior managers. Some of the symptoms are micro-managing, lack of commitment to goals, missed deadlines, poorly designed products, missing sales forecasts, and a general apathy among employees. 

Performance in these companies suffer, strong performers leave. In a number of these companies, a fatalistic culture of losing ensues. No one really feels that they have the power to change things. Ouch!

Cultures take about 3 years to become reinforced. We saw this during the 2008-2013 period when companies hunkered down, rewarded cost-cutting, and became risk- averse. When the economy started to rebound many company cultures had become so risk-averse that they missed opportunities - or were too timid to take advantage.

When belief biases have set in, it can be very difficult to get employees to buy into change. With companies with a culture of a lack of accountability, there are significant headwinds encountering change. Some of this is related to "Belief Bias." Because people have not seen positive change, they do not believe it is possible. Certain negatives have become accepted beliefs or truths over time. Some examples of belief bias in product companies are: "you can't accurately predict what customers want in a new product - it's a crapshoot"; "You can't plan production;" "Downtime is a fact of life"; "Management doesn't care/doesn't listen"; "We can't make money doing this"; "Oh Boy. Here comes yet another initiative"; "We don't know how what we do matters."When belief biases have set in, it can be very difficult to get employees to buy into change.

How can you begin to change a culture of a Lack of Accountability? It isn't about words, or slogans. You have to begin to change beliefs - with positive experiences that actively demonstrate a new way of operating. It starts at the top - with you - and the senior leadership. Pick a couple of problem areas and get started (Some of these are listed in Part II- Am I Part of the Accountability Problem in My Company?). You have to create new, positive experiences that build the accountability culture. It requires commitment and repetition, repetition, repetition. Remember, they have probably heard hollow words or seen abandoned programs or initiatives before, so it will take time before the employees believe in the new ways.

Don't waste time strategic planning or planning for 2019. It will do little good to establish strategies, action plans, and metrics. Without accountability, the results will be more of the same - disappointing results. The data shows that companies with true accountability greatly outperform those with a lack of accountability. Don't let another year go by. Neglecting the next steps in your company's growth and maturity can be very short-sighted. You need to have your company firing on all cylinders.

Need help? The Mead Consulting Group has helped many companies achieve greater accountability...and better results.    Contact me to discuss how we can help you do things a bit differently this next year.

Am I Part of the Accountability Problem in My Company?

[Editor's Note: True Accountability can be the biggest impediment to strong results in a company. In our last issue we asked the question:

"Is a Lack of Accountability a Problem in My Organization?" In this issue, we continue to explore why accountability may be lacking in your company.]

The Continuing Quest for Accountability -Part II 

Am I Part of the Accountability Problem in My Company?

As leaders of businesses and organizations, we typically think of ourselves as ultimately accountable for the results and success of the organization. We likewise think we hold managers and other leaders in our organizations accountable as well. But...is it possible that the culture we have created actually results in a lack of accountability?

Consider the following behaviors and ask yourself, not only how well you do these, but also, how well you encourage these behaviors in your business?

• Do you actively obtain the perspectives of others?
• Do you communicate openly and candidly?
• Do you actively ask for and offer feedback?
• Do you learn from both successes and failures?
• Do you act on the feedback you receive?
• How well do I align the each employee's work with the key results?
• Do you value loyalty or tenure more than performance from employees?
• How is the collaboration across functional boundaries in the organization?
• Do you always do the things you say you'll do?
• Do you track progress with reporting that is proactive and transparent to the organization?
• Do you actively build an environment of trust?

Some business owners think that setting up and tracking metrics from their managers is accountability and do not acknowledge the importance of the above list of attributes. Some business owners or CEOs we have worked with respond with automatic "Yes" responses to these questions. Some suggest that this is "Management 101." The truth is that we find at least several of these behaviors or attributes lacking in many companies and in many business owners or CEOs. In order to get the best results in your organization, every employee needs to feel personal responsibility and accountability for the results. Can you say that exists in your organization?

Submit yourself to some self-reflection. Ask your managers how they honestly think you score on these questions. You might be surprised that others perceive you differently than you perceive yourself.

If you want to change the results in your business, you need to change to a culture of accountability. How does that change start? 

In the end...it all starts with you.

Don't let another year go by. Neglecting the next steps in your company's growth and maturity can be very short-sighted. You need to have your company firing on all cylinders. The Mead Consulting Group has helped many companies achieve greater accountability...and better results.   Contact me to discuss how we can help you do things a bit differently this next year.

The Continuing Quest for Accountability - Part I Is Lack of Accountability a Problem in My Organization?

[Editor’s Note: For over 25 years, Mead Consulting has been conducting assessments at client companies to identify barriers and challenges to growth to the next level. Lack of true accountability continues to be the most frequent issue. I thought it might be useful to address accountability in this article. If you are beginning your planning cycle, a lack of accountability may impede your progress              – dpm]

The Continuing Quest for Accountability

Part I – Is Lack of Accountability a Problem in My Organization

Speaking with a new client recently, the CEO asked me to identify the most frequent problem we see with our new clients. I responded, “Lack of true accountability.”  He seemed skeptical and suggested that we wouldn’t find that to be true at his company. So I asked him, “Does every employee feel responsible for the company’s success and know what their role is in ensuring that success?”

It occurs to me that people have become numb to the meaning of the word, accountability, and that it always seems to apply to everyone else, some other department, etc.  –“They need to be more accountable for results.”

What are some of the attributes in an organization lacking accountability?

Do any of the following look familiar?

·    Unclear Vision and Direction: Employees do not know the keys to company success – or they all have different views as to what they are.

§  Goals may be unclear, confusing,  or there are too many different goals

§  “We keep adding initiatives and projects and never take anything off the list.”

·   Micromanaging or Command and control: Employees do not feel they have control over how to deliver results

· Lack of Job Understanding or Training: “I have never been shown what is expected”; “I didn’t receive any training”

·   “I don’t know where to go for help”

·  Undervalued: “No one cares about my opinion.” People do not feel their opinion is valued – that is, every employee

·  People do not feel comfortable delivering bad news such as the “project is behind schedule” or “we have a major quality problem.” So they ignore or sugarcoat things.

·   People do not feel trusted.

§  “I am not confident my efforts will be rewarded”

§  “I suspect that my manager (the company leader) may take advantage of me”

§  “I question my manager’s (the company leader’s)motives”

§  “I am sure they will take credit for my accomplishments”

· Departments do not cooperate with each other; We constantly practice the “blame game”

·  Employees are Not Engaged - Employees do just enough to get through the day

Be honest. Do you recognize any of the above in your company? On the long personal and organizational “to do” list, accountability should be at the top of the list.  Lack of accountability can paralyze an organization and prevent it from moving forward.  If you see a fatal flaw in yourself, your current leaders, or your organization in any of the above, you should address it immediately.

In the next issue, we will address how to develop a culture of accountability and personal responsibility. Hint: It begins with you!

Don't Miss the opportunity to sell during this upcycle

We missed the selling boom during the last positive cycle and were determined that we would not miss another opportunity.

In one of our Breakfast briefing series a few years ago, Dan McCallin former owner and CEO of Timberline Steel made an interesting statement: "We missed the selling boom during the last positive cycle and were determined that we would not miss another opportunity to sell during the next upcycle. We decided to take the steps so that we were prepared." While Dan originally made that statement during the recession of 2002, and later sold the business in early 2006, the message could certainly apply today. We are in the tenth year of this upcycle. We have all learned that economic cycles don't last forever.

The process for you to exit your company may take the better part of a decade. With interest rates still near record lows, the economy still in expansion mode, and sales multiples at high levels, there may be a tendency on the part of business owners to think that the good times will continue for the foreseeable future. While some business owners may believe they can pull the string when they are ready, the truth is, for many business owners, the exit sales cycle may take several years to execute. Professionals will tell you that in order to sell at highest value, the process includes 1-3 years to get ready, 1 year for the transaction, and then you may have to spend up to 3 years with the company after the sale.

Companies can focus on making fundamental improvements to their business that will help them make their company healthier and more attractive than their competitors.
1. Focus on customer net profitability
2. Upgrade management
3. Cleanup business processes
4. Develop a strategic growth and execution plan
5. Position the company to succeed in any part of the business cycle

Focus on customer net profitability. The tendency is to cling to any customers and revenue no matter the profitability level. A common comment is that "at least they absorb overhead." The notion of unprofitable business absorbing overhead may be one of the greatest false beliefs in business. In many cases, overhead that has been viewed as fixed is really a cost that can be minimized or shed. Carrying unprofitable business will be a continuing cash drain that may inhibit your business' ability to grow as the economy improves.

Upgrade management.  While talent availability may be tightening, take advantage of the opportunity to improve. Similarly, this is a great opportunity to review all of your employees and weed out those with below average performance, poor potential, or unrealized potential. Our clients use a simple tool to rank all employees in terms of potential and performance - the results make it very clear which ones have been a drag on the company.

Cleanup business processes. During boom times, many companies claim they are too busy to scrutinize business processes to make improvements and to streamline in order to increase throughput. That "excuse" can ultimately cost you when you try to sell.

Develop a strategic growth and execution plan. You need a plan that will allow you to be agile enough to take advantage of opportunities in the marketplace. There may be market segments that have been slow to come back; some may never come back the same way. Other market segments, however, may present huge new opportunities. Your organization needs to develop a plan and be prepared to execute.

Never waste the opportunity to improve. Take the opportunity to examine everything, reduce unnecessary expenses, trim those underperformers, examine unprofitable business, streamline business processes, etc. 

   

Take a lesson from the Boy Scouts: Be prepared. These steps can add value to your business. Your business can accelerate faster and be well- positioned to succeed in any market. The market for selling a business will likely continue to be ripe through most of 2019. Those businesses that are prepared and ready are finding a hungry group of buyers and investors with lots of "dry powder" that they need to invest. 

The Mead Consulting Group has been helping middle market companies for over 30 years to add value and prepare for a successful transition. Our clients have consistently enjoyed better results. Investment bankers have told us that our clients are among the best prepared they have ever represented.

The "mayhem" guy is back! Protect your company from mayhem

 The "mayhem" guy is back! In a popular series of television commercials for a property and casualty insurance company, there is a "mayhem" character who causes unexpected disasters for auto owners. In one spot, he's a buzzing mobile phone that falls between the seats. A crash results when the distracted driver starts searching or it. Another has a satellite dish falling on a car; in yet another a navigation systems goes haywire causing a crash. The underlying message is that since mayhem is unavoidable, you need insurance. 

It struck me that companies generate their own versions of mayhem - things that may, on first blush, seem to occur unexpectedly, or are just considered unfortunate.

Here are some examples:

• Discovering that you don't have the rights to use the trade name you've been using for 15 years
• Discovering that your employees have been plagiarizing content that is used in your product
• Employees that are developing your blockbuster new product all leave at once
• A new competitive product offering undercuts your price by 60%
• Your customers discover that one of your key suppliers has been substituting a hazardous or substandard material resulting in product malfunction or customer injuries
• A new business model renders your product irrelevant
• Discovering that new regulations no longer allow you to ship your product
• Learning that there is no liability insurance for all the products in the field that you've made for the last 10 years...and a dangerous latent defect has just been discovered
• Discovering that a "trusted" accounting clerk has methodically stolen $800,000 over the last 10 years

All of these are real stories. Some might say, "back luck." Synonyms for mayhem are chaos, disorder, confusion, turmoil. The dictionary defines mayhem as "needless damage." In truth, all of the above examples could have been identified ahead of time and most could have been avoided, or significantly mitigated. In strong economic times, companies can be myopic and can ignore the need for strategic planning, competitive scanning, and can defer implementing business processes and controls.

Some thoughts as you begin to prepare for 2019:

Develop a strategic growth and execution plan (Please - not another retreat, but a meaningful plan for execution).

• Do a realistic assessment of where you are (exploitable strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)
• Perform a competitive scan, looking at traditional competitors as well as possible disruptive threats
• Develop some scenarios of the future (including those at the extremes) and actions to be taken as these might play out
• Plan how you might react to potential geopolitical events or the next economic downturn
• Take a hard look at your culture - Are you living your values?
• Develop specific actions, metrics and accountability to shore up the weaknesses, fill the gaps, address the risks, and take advantage of the opportunities and strengths

Don't let another year go by. Neglecting the next steps in your company's growth and maturity can be very short-sighted. You need to protect your company from mayhem! Contact me to discuss how we can help you do things a bit differently this year.