A few days ago I was fortunate enough to be able to interview an experienced and ambitious Senior Manager within a large consulting firm. I was exploring with her what has led her to feel happy and be successful in her workplace, and although we discussed a number of factors, one of the standouts for her was the Sponsorship Program her company recently introduced.
In her organisation, each female Senior Manager is assigned a sponsor; an advocate within the organisation who is charged with ‘having their back’ – someone the female Senior Manager can turn to for ideas, feedback, guidance, support and help with career roadblocks. Having an impartial senior advisor who understands the politics and machinations of the organisation but has no direct involvement in her day-to-day role has had a huge impact on her confidence and performance at work.
Research has shown that a formal Sponsorship Program can make a massive difference to female employees’ performance at work and specifically to their confidence in asking for a promotion, development project or pay rise.
So what are the benefits of a Sponsorship Program?
Women aren’t great at finding sponsors – a Sponsorship Program provides one for them. You’re always going to need sponsors at work – people who will fight your corner for you, back you at promotions time, listen to you, counsel you and be a guiding light for your career path. Although men tend to be pretty good at finding their own sponsors, its often not something that women naturally focus on – women tend to be more task-orientated and are usually heads down trying to get a job done. Asking someone to back you can feel insidious and inauthentic to a woman. Having a Program in place forces the issue, and although female employees should be encouraged to find additional informal sponsors, at least they’ll have a one formal sponsor in place.
Employees have another advocate. You would hope that your manager would be your advocate, but that’s not always the case. There may be personal issues in the relationship with your manager – the manager might not be a strong and vocal presence within the organisation, and at the end of the day two people backing your rise through the organisation are better than one!
Employees have a trusted, senior confidant. Its not always helpful to discuss your inner most career fears with your Manager – they are the ones responsible for promoting you and there’s a chance you could derail your progress by telling them that your knees knock together every time you run a workshop or that you only pretend to be able to read a balance sheet. Having someone you can turn to without fear of judgement, who can help with your professional development, is invaluable.
Employees are encouraged to take risks. Women in particular often lack the confidence to ask for a promotion, a pay rise or a chance on a development project. The backing of a sponsor has been found to boost their confidence and hence push them up through the organisation.
It’s possible to target a specific problem within your organisation. You might find that you have retention and progression issues with your female employees, you might find that newcomers to the organisation take a long time to settle in, or there might be issues in a specific Department. You don’t have to roll out a Sponsorship Program across the organisation – set it up to address identifiable, specific issues.
You can measure it’s success. Before you roll out the Program, think about how you’re going to track its performance. If you have a structured performance appraisal / management system you can use that – track the individuals’ performance before and after having a sponsor. Or get feedback from the targeted employees and their managers before and after having a sponsor – how has the program impacted their performance at work and their chances of promotion?
It’s cheap. You’re asking sponsors to commit at a minimum one hour every three months, at a maximum an hour every month. You’ll have to design, promote, oversee and track the outcomes of the Sponsorship Program. Other than that it’s free!
And what makes a successful sponsorship program?
Design and structure the Program. An informal arrangement will not reap the rewards like a formal Program will. Think through what you’re trying to achieve. Document and communicate the structure, requirements and benefits of the Program and sell it!
Target the Program. Think about what you’re trying to achieve. Are you trying to support female managers on their journey through the organisation, or are you providing additional support to new starters at the company, or are you trying to encourage star performers? It’s unlikely you’ll be able to offer the Sponsorship Program to all employees so consider what outcomes you’re seeking and consider a phased rollout.
The sponsor must be in a separate Division / Department to the person being sponsored. The benefit of a little distance is enormous – although its essential that the sponsor understands the internal workings and politics of the organisation, they do need a little distance from the individual’s work environment to avoid any conflicts of interest or direct involvement in work issues.
The sponsor and person being sponsored must have training on the Sponsorship Program. Its unfair to assume everyone will establish a valuable sponsorship arrangement without any support. Sponsors must be trained in what is expected of them, how to manage any issues that arise and how best to counsel the more junior employees. The employees being sponsored must have guidance on what to expect from the Program, what is appropriate to discuss with their sponsors and how to address any issues they’re experiencing with the relationship.
The sponsor must be more senior. The role of the sponsor is to guide and advise the more junior employee through their career path – by definition they must be more senior and have wisdom and experience to impart.
If your Program is targeting female employees, don’t just have female sponsors.Just because an employee is female she doesn’t necessarily want to hear the perspective of a woman – she wants to know how successful employees have been successful – it doesn’t matter whether they’re female or male.
Don’t force the participants to meet up too frequently. The sponsors and the employees being sponsored should meet at a minimum every three months, but the employees might at times want to meet every month. Let the sponsor and the person being sponsored find their own way – so long as the employee feels they are receiving the support they need it doesn’t matter how often they meet.
Get feedback. Review the Program after six months. Check that it’s achieving what you intended and that the individuals involved are comfortable with the framework and have the support they need.
Examples:
Pricewaterhousecoopers
Internal experience and external research tells us that a strong sponsor is critical to career advancement. By sponsor we mean someone senior and influential who is tasked with an advocacy role, ensuring an individual secures the right experiences and opportunities, gains access to the right network and influencers, to demonstrate their potential and maximise their chances of promotion.
American Express
American Express created “Women in the Pipeline and at the Top.” With full CEO support, the program aims to identify and develop women with the potential to reach the top two levels and give them more opportunities to interact and get exposure to the executive team.
Cisco
In 2008, Cisco launched its Inclusive Advocacy Program (IAP) to open doors, create new networks, and enable the organization at a very senior level to help develop a diverse talent pipeline across the company. Thirty highest-potential diverse talent were identified and paired with a VP or SVP “advocate” in a different function and geography and two levels above over a nine-month period to expand the advocates’ network of new sources of knowledge capital and the talents’ network of influential contacts.
Research & Books:
Hewlett, S A., Peraino, K., Sherbin, L. and Sumberg, K. (2011), ‘The sponsor effect: breaking through the glass ceiling’, Harvard Business Review, January.
Hewlett, S A. (2013) ‘Forget a mentor, find a sponsor: The new way to fast-track your career’.
Martin, M. (2016) ‘Strategies for destroying the glass ceiling in corporate America’, Allied Academics International Conference, Academy of Marketing Studies, Proceedings 21.1, p22-25.
Czerniawska, F. and Guzman, S. (2016), ‘Sponsorship and support: senior women in consultancies’, Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 24, Iss 1., Pages 38-39, January.
Articles:
Supporting careers: Mentoring or sponsorship, WGEA
Sponsoring women to success, Catalyst
The Real Benefit of Finding a Sponsor, Harvard Business Review
Forget mentors, sponsors can help you soar at work, CNN
Yes you need a mentor, but a sponsor will really boost your career, Fast Company
Why having a sponsor is important for women and how to get one, Forbes
Mentors are good, sponsors are better, NY Times
Best practices in corporate sponsorship programs, (January 2011), Diversity Best Practices
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Dr Nicole Richardson is a Director of Engaged Group, helping businesses and schools become more sustainable and inclusive. Engaged Group provides consulting services, workshops, research and recommended suppliers to enable organisations to move forward positively. Contact Engaged Group to find out how we can help you.
www.engagedgroup.com.au
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