Product Management Mentoring Program at Paylocity
About a year and half ago, our product organization went through some big changes. Previously, our product and engineering teams were under the same org, with the director level being over both product managers and software engineers and testers. We had a new CTO and he believed by splitting the org, we could specialize more in our individual crafts and create that healthy tension you need between product and engineering to make great products. And while change is exciting, it also created the need for new skills to be developed and new ways to be successful as a product person at Paylocity. We are constantly looking to improve as a team and raising the bar for product management at Paylocity and our monthly pulse surveys showed that our product people had a desire for more mentorship overall. They were looking for ways to grow both professionally and personally and wanted a way to build relationships with folks outside of their direct team or manager that could help with that growth. There were already pockets of folks doing some informal mentoring relationships and seeing some great benefits from that. But we wanted to take what we were learning from the informal mentoring and make it available more widely and across the entire product organization so we could really amp things up!
There are many benefits to mentorship programs, with the main benefit being personal and professional growth of an individual and someone that is more productive, engaged and happy at their job. Mentor programs offer a way for an employee to develop their skills, knowledge and experience and help them progress in their career. They can receive advice and build a relationship with someone outside of their direct management chain. The mentor can provide honest feedback and guidance tailored to the mentee’s goals and experiences. A safe space is created where honest and hard conversations can be had that are confidential and where the mentee feels supported. And the mentor can potentially become an advocate for the mentee, speaking up for them when they are not in the room if they feel compelled to do so.
But the benefits go far beyond the growth provided for the mentees, the benefits ripple out to the mentor and the business. The mentor gets more experience coaching others and developing their leadership skills and increases their engagement and happiness with their job as well. For the product organization and for Paylocity, there are also many benefits. Creating these relationships across teams helped us break down some of the product silos that existed, creating more touchpoints and ways to connect and know what is going on with other products. Programs like these are also proven to increase employee engagement, retain top talent and create a culture of learning and growth in an organization. A case study at Sun Microsystems showed that retention rates were much higher for mentees (72%) and mentors (69%) than they were for employees that did not participate in the mentorship program (49%). When discussed during the recruiting process, it can also be a way to attract top talent and reduce the time to hire. Lastly, it also helps improve minority representation in leadership positions at a higher rate than other diversity initiatives, a cause that is near and dear to Paylocity.
Although there are many types of mentoring relationships, we decided to start with 1 on 1 mentoring. Typically, this would be a more senior or experienced employee as the mentor to someone that is junior to them. But we were also open to employees mentoring each other that are peers as well. We planned to setup pairs that are not in the same management chain as each other in order to facilitate more open and honest conversations and to create more connections across the product org. All mentors and mentees would be volunteers, no one is required to be involved in the program. We want mentors that are passionate and enthusiastic about helping others to grow. We want mentees that want to invest in their own growth and development. There is also a time commitment to build this relationship that both parties will need to be willing and able to commit to, and the interactions need to be regular and provide value. The pair would decide exactly what that time commitment will look like and will set goals for the mentorship.
So in January of 2023, during National Mentor Month, we kicked off our first cohort of the official mentoring program for the product organization at Paylocity. We used Paylocity’s survey tool to allow people to sign up to be a mentor or a mentee (and you could sign up to be both if you wanted to). The surveys asked questions about what they were looking for in a mentor or mentee, what they most wanted to work on, and if they had any specific preferences. We did require that they have been employed at Paylocity for at least 6 months and their last performance review rating had to be a “Meets Expectations” or higher. We did not want any recent new hires as part of the program to try to keep it to true mentoring and not something that looked more like onboarding sessions. I remember when I was shopping this idea around, I heard that I would likely get tons of submissions to be mentees and not enough being mentors, but that turned out not to be the case. We have a real strong culture at Paylocity of coaching and feedback and it is a skill that is appreciated and expected if you want to move up into the higher levels of product management. Because of this, we had a lot of people volunteer to be mentors and ended up having an even split. I manually matched each pair, looking at their survey answers and what part of the product org they were in. I was very deliberate about who I put together, trying to get the best match possible that would benefit both parties. I was happy to see that was noticed when someone said “I appreciate the thoughtful pairings. I feel my mentor is very well matched with the skills I desired to discuss and grow in this relationship.” Music to my ears!
We ended up with 20 pairs of mentors and mentees in the first cohort. We held a 1 hour training session for the mentors giving them some basics on how to be a good mentor and what to do in cases of difficult conversations. I also created a few wiki pages with some instructions and tips for both the mentors and mentees. These pages include roles and responsibilities, how mentors are different than a manager, ideas on how to help the mentees, questions that could be asked by the mentors or mentees and general tips. We allowed the pair to decide together how often they would meet and for how long. The cohort would last 6 months and at the end of 6 months, they could decide to continue together or to try out a different match.
Halfway through and also at the end of the 6 months, we surveyed the participants to get feedback on the mentorship program. We found that the majority of pairs met every other week and really liked that cadence. From the mentees, we heard that 93% of them felt like they could have open and honest conversation with their mentor and 95% were able to learn from their mentor’s experience and background. 93% of mentors said they felt like they have built a comfortable working relationship with their mentee and 75% of them said they would like to mentor again.
We also heard feedback about how great it was to meet people in other areas and learn and see some of the overlaps between the issues they were facing. Mentees appreciated getting time with a higher-level product person and thought it was invaluable to their growth. The mentors were also able to learn new things and look at their own work from other angles in the process. I loved when one of the mentors said, “My cup is full and based on feedback from [mentee], it seems my guidance has helped him evaluate and identify the best path for him.” Overall, most of the participants really appreciated the opportunity and got something out of it.
I set some goals at the beginning of the program of increasing our engagement scores and retention rates overall, as well as increasing promotion rates for those that were part of the mentoring program. While we did see increases in these things, there were also quite a few other changes made during the timeframe that likely also contributed to the increases. The job market also changed considerably during the past year that could have affected our retention rate.
Due to the success of this program, we started a second cohort in the fall and that is ongoing now. Some folks kept their existing mentor and others decided to try another pairing. There is also talk of potentially using the product management mentoring program and building out other similar mentoring programs in other parts of Paylocity. I have loved hearing the feedback and seeing people say things like “It’s been a wonderful experience having a mentor so far. I feel that the conversations I’m having with them are like planting seeds and that he real value will be in the coming years as we build that bond and what I’ve picked up from them grows and blooms.”
When I look back over my career, some of my greatest learnings have come from mentors that I have had. People that cared about me and my growth and were willing to invest time in me. I have also enjoyed mentoring others and seeing how my investment in them has helped them get through rough times and helped them grow their skills. It is all about building strong relationships and helping each other out to make our work lives better.
