Why Mentoring Matters in a Hypercompetitive World

Tom J. DeLong, Jack J. Gabarro and Rob J. Lees

Harvard Business Review, January 2008

The Idea in Brief

Professional services firms – including law and accounting firms, consultancies, marketing agencies, and universities – live and die by their intellectual capital. Yet young associates are leaving PSFs in record numbers. Law firms alone suffered a cumulative 19% attrition rate from 2004 through 2006.

Why the exodus? According to DeLong, Gabarro, and Lees, hypercompetition has forced PSF partners to focus so much on satisfying clients that they’ve lost the art of developing talent. Frustrated by the neglect, associates are leaving for choicer opportunities – taking vital knowledge with them and leaving behind empty desks that will be costly to fill. To stanch the talent hemorrhage in your PSF, you need a mentoring strategy tailored to today’s young professionals.

Fiercely independent, achievement-driven associates distrust anything that smacks of bureaucracy. So, instead of a formal mentoring system, provide hands-on, individualized feedback. And don’t mentor only your star performers; include your “solid citizen” B players. They make up most of your workforce, and your firm’s success rests on them.

The Idea in Practice

MAKE MENTORING PERSONAL

Associates at PSFs want individualized attention from senior professionals who take a personal interest in their careers. And they demand continuous feedback on how they’re doing.

INCLUDE YOUR B PLAYERS

You may be tempted to mentor only your A players, especially if you identify with them. But B players bring important forms of value that your firm will lose if you ignore these “solid citizens”.

ASSIGN PROJECTS JUDICIOUSLY

There are never as many plum assignments as there are associates who want them. And when juicy projects aren’t available, associates conclude the firm isn’t interested in their career development.

ENCOURAGE ASSOCIATES TO FIND MENTORS

Senior partners are stretched too thin to form a relationship with everyone who needs to be mentored. Thus, associates can no longer expect just to be assigned a mentor; they also have to attract mentors themselves.

What Makes a Mentor?

So, are you a good mentor? The article has a quick test for you to determine whether you are a good mentor. To guage your mentoring skills, jot down some of the characteristics of your own best mentor. Our interviews with successful professionals have made clear that a good mentoring relationship is not just about career advancement. Again and again, our interviewees said that a good mentor…

is someone absolutely credible whose integrity transcends the message, be it positive or negative
tells you things you may not want to hear but leaves you feeling you have been heard
interacts with you in a way that makes you want to become better
makes you feel secure enough to take risks
gives you the confidence to rise above your inner doubts and fears
supports your attempts to set stretch goals for yourself
presents opportunities and highlights challenges you might not have seen on your own

Harvard Business Review • January 2008