Jess is our Sales Lead for EMEA and the East Coast of the Americas at Mentorloop. She has worked with hundreds of mentoring champions over the years and is passionate about setting mentoring program coordinators up for success. In this article, Jess talks about what she found to be the best time of year to launch a mentoring program from her experience working with hundreds of mentoring champions all over the world.
In my role at Mentorloop, I have the pleasure of working with true mentoring champions all around the world – individuals who really see the power and the impact of learning and development opportunities for their people. I regularly interact with people who understand that mentoring is one of the most valuable tools in their arsenal. However, one thing that many of these mentoring advocates are unsure of is when to launch their mentoring program!
While there is no bad time to start a mentoring program, I do see strong trends towards a number of key dates and events in the calendar that provide high impact when it comes to launching. So in this article, I’ll take you through these key dates and events, what I like about them, and some things to consider when launching in those periods.
Let’s get to it!
January
First up we have January. “New Year, New Me” vibes abound and people generally dedicate some time to reflect on what they want to achieve for the year. Around this time, everyone is settling back into their routines and looking ahead to what the rest of the year could look like.
Mentoring programs that launch in January see a natural progression throughout the year with conclusions being drawn at the end of the calendar year and relaunches happening every new year.
What I love about January program launches
There is a ✨fresh✨ feeling about launching a program around this time of year and an opportunity to tie the aims of your program to your general people aims for the year. January is also the peak time for unengaged employees to start their applications for fresh pastures. By providing these people with a proven learning opportunity, you can stem the follow and gain valuable ROI in retained talent.
January is also National Mentoring Month in the USA so for programs starting at this time in the USA, it’s a great opportunity to piggyback off the myriad of events and focus days already around and generate even greater launch impact with little additional work.
Things to consider with a January launch
To make the most of January launch dates, you really need to have your program ready to launch before the holiday season so you can start with a bang in the first week of the year. Make sure to build this additional time into your program plan to avoid working during leave or having to push your program past January and lose that January momentum.
March
March 8th is International Women’s Day and by extension, March is considered International Women’s Month. It’s a busy time in the calendar as a host of women-focused initiatives around the world are launched around the 8th of March – mentoring programs included. As a women-founded business, we truly understand the impact of dedicating learning and development opportunities to the women+ in your workforce and heavily advocate for long-term initiatives like mentoring programs.
What I love about March program launches
I like March launches because it’s early enough in the year to still have an impact within the year of launch.
I also love this as an inclusion initiative for women+ because it stands out from the sea of performative initiatives announced on International Women’s Day. A mentoring program is a long-term initiative and announcing it on IWD shows commitment and an understanding of what actions women+ in the workplace really want to see in March and beyond.
Things to consider with a March launch
Because March is a popular month to launch HR or People & Culture initiatives, it’s important to cross-check with your colleagues on what else they’ve got on. You don’t want to be overcrowding the calendar.
Also, remember to highlight the long-term nature of this initiative. People can be wary of initiatives launched in March, assuming it’s a performative action. However, if you are able to effectively communicate long-term plans and the vision for what you want to achieve via the mentoring program, the chances that it will be received well are higher.
June
Once we move past the first few months of the year, June brings another great opportunity to launch a mentoring program. Not only is it Pride month, which makes it a great time to refocus your attention on diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as allyship, but June also marks the end of the first half of the year and the start of the tail end of the year.
What I love about June program launches
I like June for program launches because it coincides with most corporate organisations’ mid-year reviews, objective settings, or realignments.
We all start the year with great intentions but naturally, focus changes and engagement declines over time. By providing a mentoring opportunity at this halfway phase, you have a great opportunity to reinvigorate your workforce while providing learning opportunities tied to any mid-year realignments.
I also like DEI mentoring programs focused on inclusion for the LGBTQIA+ community launching in June for the same reason I like mentoring programs for women+ launching in March – it shows commitment to the cause and encourages participation because of it.
Things to consider with a June launch
When aiming for a mid-year program, it’s a good idea to look at any holidays in your teams’ calendars to make sure that you have the resources to dedicate to your launch. In a similar vein, if your company or geography has a large number of holidays or aligns to certain times off, think about your launch date carefully to make sure that as many people as possible can participate.
Similarly with March launches, it’s important to highlight long-term goals and big-picture plans for the program to avoid it being seen as yet another performative initiative from management.
September
In my experience, September is one of the largest launch dates in the calendar and for good reason.
At around this time, a significant chunk of the workforce returns from vacations after school holidays. At this time, they’re ready to see out the closing months of the year with either renewed focus that you can capitalise on or a profound sense of disengagement which you can correct for.
What I love about September program launches
Perhaps it’s conditioning from school days (in the northern hemisphere), but September has a fresh feeling and constitutes a great chance to reflect on the year so far with a laser focus on the goals yet to be achieved. In September, there is still enough time to correct or achieve goals but not quite enough time to procrastinate before the winter holidays loom in.
From a programmatic perspective, September launches provide a helpful timeline. We know that the majority of mentoring programs run for roughly 10 months so mentoring relationships that start in september may come to their natural conclusions in the following July, just in time for summer breaks for those in the northern hemisphere.
Things to consider with a September launch
Hiring ramps up for most companies in the last quarter and the first quarter of the calendar year. So when considering capacity in your program, make sure to allow for the short-term growth plans which may up your participant count in the very early days.
November
In my experience, November is an underrated time of year to launch a program. It may not work for everyone, but for certain kinds of organizations, it can be a great time to set your people up for success.
It allows for pairing to happen before big holidays so participants can set up their relationships, take a break, and have an accountability partner to catch up with once the break is over.
Similarly, for industries that don’t shut down or take breaks during this time, it’s a great time to focus on professional growth.
What I love about November program launches
Around this time of year, there’s generally not a lot on. Most organizations are on a “final stretch” mindset and there’s not a lot of focus on people and their development. Launching a mentoring program in November is a great way to challenge that mindset and help your people think about their progress and how they can keep making progress towards the end of the calendar year.
Things to consider with a November launch
Regardless of whether your organization takes a break in the end of the year or not, the end of the calendar year is still a mental end point for many. So make sure to plan for some engagement activities and comms when the next year starts. This will help you spark and maintain momentum among your participants.
Final Thoughts
While these suggested launch times align with a general calendar year, there are times that may be unique to your organisation and also provide great mentoring anchors. For example, not every organisation runs their review cycle over a calendar year. If your reviews happen at another time in the year, launching just before or after this time will provide the same benefits as a January launch.
Similarly, take a look at your DEI event calendar. Do you have any organisational or employee-led initiatives that happen within your annual calendar? If you do, these can also provide a sensational launch pad for a mentoring program.
Need a bit more guidance? No worries! Our mentoring specialists are here to help you plan for your best mentoring program yet.
