July 12, 2022
Mentoring
The onboarding of new colleagues has always been an important part of our work. With the COVID era ushering in the “great resignation” and the natural aging process of our extension professional workforce leading to increased retirements, the importance of onboarding has become more prominent. An important part of any onboarding program is mentoring.
Previously, our new agent mentoring program involved administratively pairing new agents with an experienced agent to be their formal mentor and encouraging the new agent to seek out at least one other informal mentor. While that program had its advantages and successes, it became clear that a change was needed due to such issues as inconsistent results and an increased demand for mentoring due to a larger percentage of our workforce being made up of less experienced agents.
Last year we implemented a new, team-based approach to our new agent mentoring program rather than pairing each new agent with a formal mentor. Agents were asked to apply and were compensated -- for engaging new agents via our New Agent Coaching Team. This team of coaches engages with new agents in a number of ways, including:
- Participating in our Welcome to KSRE sessions.
- Connecting with new agents during their first two weeks.
- Planning and hosting New Agent Monthly Zoom meetings.
- Planning regional in-person meetings for the new agents.
- Engaging new agents through Teams.
- Helping new agents network and connect with other agents in their region and program area.
- Hosting events for new agents in conjunction with events like 4-H Program Rally.
- Hosting an event at annual conference for our new agent colleagues.
Early indicators show that this program is working quite well, but some have questioned whether experienced extension professionals are still allowed to informally mentor new agents. Absolutely! The coaching team is an extremely important part of our mentoring program, but it is only one part. We still need those informal mentoring arrangements just like our old mentoring program. We encourage experienced agents to reach out to new agents (and vise versa). Meet for coffee to discuss how things are going. Conduct programs together. Learn from each other. Become true colleagues.
Mentoring is an important part of any successful onboarding program. The coaching team is an extremely important part of our mentoring program, but mentoring is everyone’s responsibility. Pick up the phone or message a new colleague today!