Meet Your Match with Mentor Program

Is your mill or company interested in strategies for retaining the best and brightest new hires? Building leadership skills, gaining process knowledge, and collecting sage advice are all benefits associated with having a mentor. Mentors can also help their protégés gain that almost intangible "feel for the industry" that can lead to higher job success and satisfaction—two keys to employee retention.

TAPPI's Mentor Match, an online community created through TAPPI Connect, seeks to expand the mentoring opportunities in our industries for both potential mentors and potential "mentees". The Mentor Match program unites Mentors and Protégés to share resources and experiences, while working together to achieve professional and personal goals. Should protégé enrollment be part of YOUR company's onboarding experience?

"Most companies do not offer a formal mentoring program and TAPPI fills the void in that respect," says Jessica Carette, TAPPI Connect Mentor and chief innovation R&D / innovation manager R&D at Cascades Inc. "Experienced industry professionals have a duty to pass on their 'savoir faire' and the Mentor Match program is a great place for newer professionals to build a network and benefit from this knowledge sharing platform."

Enrollment is now open for both Mentors and Protégés. Sign up anytime before September 30, 2018 to begin the matching process.

Does Online Matching Work?
Can people really forge lasting relationships online? Try asking the five percent of US couples in a married or committed relationship who met through an online matching service. That figure comes from the Pew Research Center, which also found that, for those who have been with their spouse or partner for five years or less, as many as 12 percent met their "significant other" with the help of online matching.

TAPPI Connect's Mentor Match builds on that successful formula by having both parties fill out detailed profiles in order to find the best matches; it takes only a few minutes to complete the online application form. At the start of a mentor match, participants will join a kick-off call and then additional meetings will take place at set intervals to assure regular communication. TAPPI recommends that Mentors and Protégés spend one hour connecting each month.

Mentor Match is open to any current TAPPI member. Both Mentors and Protégés must apply, and are then matched-up to work together according to their needs, interests and talents. The mentoring takes place over the course of six months and can be extended to meet each team's needs. The online system means that matches don't need to be local. Members from across the globe can easily communicate by whatever method works best for them: through TAPPI Connect, phone, Skype, or email.

During the application process, Protégés can view the Mentors available and reach out via email (outside the system) to find out if there is a mutual interest. TAPPI provides staff support to accommodate everyone. They suggest that Mentors have no more than three Protégés at a time; Protégés are asked to work with a single Mentor. Other program requirements include the following:

• Mentors must….
o Fill out their Mentor and TAPPI Connect profiles with as much information as possible.
o Attend a scheduled kick-off call.
o Commit to an agreed-upon schedule for meeting with their Protégé.
o Provide guidance and assistance through project-based, career-oriented, and/or volunteer mentorship.

• Protégés must….
o Fill out their Protégé and TAPPI Connect profiles with as much information as possible.
o Attend a scheduled kick-off call.
o Be the ones to facilitate the partnership; be responsible for reaching out to Mentors for help.
o Establish clear goals for the mentor/protégé relationship. Mentors have the right to back out of a partnership if the Protégé's goals are not well-formed.

Mutual Benefit
While the benefits of being mentored are well-documented, it is important to remember that mentors themselves also gain. "I encourage anyone to join Mentor Match because it is beneficial to both parties. Any opportunity to widen your network and meet people with different experiences in a common industry should be welcomed with open arms. My advice for anyone thinking about joining Mentor Match is to seize the opportunity immediately," says Carette.

Does your company, mill, or facility have new hires that could benefit from a mentoring relationship? Are you eager to share your industry experience with new papermakers? Feel free to forward this article to talented industry veterans, and to young professionals or their supervisors, before September 30. To learn more about the Mentor Match program, contact Kristin Whitman at kwhitman@tappi.org, or visit the Mentor Match page online.

For a modest investment of $174, receive more than US$ 1000 in benefits in return.
Visit www.tappi.org/join for more details.