In the last two decades, many employers have shown enthusiastic commitment to gender diversity. Women have made enormous strides in being able to compete on the same playing field as men at work. This is where initiatives such as mentoring and sponsor programmes have been really successful in helping erode this gender imbalance and create more gender equity. Gender equity means fairness of treatment for women and men, according to their respective needs. All the research strongly confirms this as being an important factor in developing more women leaders. So let us consider:
- What are the outcomes from introducing mentoring for women into your organisation?
- The outcomes of mentoring which support gender equity for women.
- And what is different about female talent mentoring today?
As long ago as 2005, Brewster et al defined talent management as occurring on a global basis. It is a far broader concept than a series of international assignments for young potential. They describe a picture of being able to retain and attract the best talent anywhere in the world. Global brands like Diageo, Shell and Rolls Royce attach great importance to developing a positive brand for potential recruits.
With summer just around the corner, it is a good time to health check your mentoring programme to ensure it’s in tip-top condition to keep it going over the holiday months and into the autumn. Effective formal mentoring needs nurturing and energising to deliver the best outcomes. So, whether you are an external consultant or an internal co-ordinator, freshen up your mentoring programme before people drift off on their holiday.
The more self-aware a mentor can be about their behaviour and the degree to which they listen to their mentees around what the mentee is looking for from them, the better the relationship can be.
This year the term ‘Mindful March’ is everywhere, with encouragement to be more mindful in your approach to life for the 31 days, trying out a new idea or action to help you live more in the present moment. Lovely ideas and sentiments and I hope ones that will support people to live more connected lives and cope better with day to day stress, anxiety and depression. It is delightful to see and feel the energy on social media as people respond to these ideas. 
Organisations may face a higher risk of losing female employees who experience female instigated rudeness as they report less satisfaction at work and increased intentions to quit their current jobs in response to these unpleasant experiences. This is according to a new study to be published shortly in the Journal of Applied Psychology by a team led by Allison Gabriel of the University of Arizona.
At Coach Mentoring Ltd we are passionate about supporting women in the workplace and helping them not only to survive but thrive through mentoring and coaching solutions. We specialise in designing and developing support on an individual, programme and organisational level for women. To celebrate International Women’s Day on the 8th March 2018, we are offering three free webinars. These focus on supporting women specifically through mentoring and perhaps some sponsorship too! 
Tiara Syndrome is a term originally developed by Carol Grohlinger and Deborah Kolb and then used by Sheryl Sandberg in her book ‘Lean in’. Sandberg feels that women often think they can be crowned with the tiara of success by keeping their heads down, working hard, over-preparing and passing all of their exams.