SARA LEE INTIMATES UK LTD (now part of DB Apparel)
Sara Lee - INTERNAL MENTORING PROGRAMME FOR HIGH POTENTIAL MANAGERS
“I was delighted with the feedback we received from the Pilot Programme particularly as it was clear that the programme had not only assisted the mentees in their development but also that the mentors had felt they too had benefited greatly from the experience. I have received very positive support in the organisation to roll this programme out on a European basis within the Playtex/Wonderbra Europe business group as a key element of our overall people development strategy. As an organisation who have come through a period of major change having been sold from Sara Lee Corporation in February 2006 and having restructured substantially since then I feel that this programme is a critical part of building a vital forward looking organisation.” Marion Daly, HR Director
Client Requirements
In 2004, an internal mentoring programme for High Potential Managers was run for Sara Lee Intimates UK Ltd (now re-structured as part of DB Apparel). The prime products of the organization are in the intimate apparel sector (a key brand name is Playtex).
The programme was a pilot scheme and was designed to develop leadership potential by supporting the organisation’s succession planning process. Participants had been identified as “High Potential” Managers and mentors were Vice-Presidents and senior executives. As this was a new type of development for the organisation, the HR Director wanted Taylor Clarke to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme, including an assessment of ROI (Return on Investment).
Our Contribution
In conjunction with the needs of the High Potential Managers Programme, we designed a 2 day programme to launch the mentoring scheme with a follow-up one day workshop.
Some 10 Senior Executives and Managers attended the workshop and 4 “pairs” of mentors/mentees subsequently worked together over the ensuing 18 months.
All potential mentors and mentees attended the first 2 day workshop based on Clutterbuck materials together with use of psychometrics. Here we examined the overall process, roles and skills involved in mentoring and provided participants with a solid start to their mentoring journey.
In our view, it was very helpful to have both potential mentors and mentees at the same workshop. This ensured that all parties had a common understanding of the processes and challenges and thus start building effective relationships. This workshop concluded with a matching process as mentees selected their mentors. The follow-up workshop took place several weeks later and was designed to address any initial concerns or issues once 1 or 2 mentoring meetings had taken place.
In our evaluation of the mentoring programme, we wanted to measure the contribution of mentoring towards the leadership development of these high potential employees as well as monitor the effectiveness of the individual relationships. In addition to some of the Clutterbuck evaluation questionnaires, we also assessed mentees against Playtex’s Leadership competencies to measure their development. To carry out this, we conducted both telephone interviews as well as short questionnaires, providing interim and final reports for the HR Director.
The Impact
The programme was assessed to be effective development for both mentees and mentors with all mentoring relationships continued for at least 12 months. All mentees had found value in the relationship and had benefited from the off-line opportunity to work on their own development needs in a confidential setting. All mentors had found the role extremely useful in terms of personal development for themselves as well as for their mentee.
The organisation experienced major disruption whilst the mentoring programme was running – sale of Sara Lee Intimates UK Ltd to new owners and significant levels of redundancy. All mentoring partnerships continued despite the pressures being experienced by both mentors and mentees and this was seen to be an excellent support mechanism. Of the 10 originally trained mentors/mentees, some 7 have remained in the organisation – some mentees as well as mentors have, in fact, been promoted into higher level posts.
As a result of the success of the pilot scheme and following the major re-structuring within the organisation, we have been asked to run a further 2 mentoring programmes - one for DBApparel UK and one for Playtex/Wonderbra – Europe. These will take place during 2007 to meet the development needs of more High Potential Managers who have been identified within each business or country operating unit as part of the Business Development Review Process.
