Reasons for Failed Mentor Programs Might be Rooted in Psychology

To mentor is to serve as a trusted counselor or teacher. In an occupational setting, the key word in that definition is “trusted.” Unfortunately, mentoring programs often fail because this very basic ingredient is missing.

In fact, Jan Rose, Capital H Group principal, said addressing psychological factors such as trust in the design stage of a mentoring program can increase success rates, as well as impact.

“When it comes to designing a mentoring program, most firms get it right — it’s not that hard to design the basic elements of a program,” Rose said. “What’s more interesting is that so many mentoring programs fail. People lose interest. They don’t sustain relationships. People lose track of what the program is supposed to do, and it’s just not successful. There are obvious and not so obvious reasons for that. Often, people get too busy, but people get too busy for any initiative. Why do these fail in particular?”

Mentoring program failure might occur because the program’s goals are either fuzzy, or they’re all over the place, Rose said.

“The mentoring program is supposed to meet every need for everybody,” Rose explained. “The goals aren’t tightly quantified, established or agreed to by all parties. There isn’t a tight accountability for achieving those goals, and nobody can really articulate if that program is working or not.”

Psychological obstacles often can get in the way of a successful mentoring program. In some companies in which it’s very competitive, Rose said it’s not even rational for mentors to want to succeed in mentoring their chosen employees.

“We’re not talking about mentoring junior people — this particular issue is around mentoring more-senior people,” Rose said. “There aren’t as many opportunities, it’s competitive and you really begin to observe, ‘Is the mentor really doing everything they can to mentor this employee? Is there heart in it, are they opening doors, are they showcasing these people they’re supposed to be mentoring? What’s in it for the mentor to do this? Is it in their interest to have somebody who is not that far from them looking well and competing with them?’ That’s a dark, psychological observation, but it’s a reality out there.”