Six reasons why cross-company mentoring works

Moving Ahead’s head of programmes Rebecca Davies tells us how cross-company mentoring can change lives, careers – and even the way you do business

I’ve been at Moving Ahead for seven years. Within that time, I’ve been privileged to work on our two highest profile cross-company mentoring schemes: Mission Gender Equity and Mission Include. 

Cross-company mentoring is different from its in-house sibling, in that it sees mentors/mentees from different companies, sectors and industries support each other to achieve wider career and business ambitions, and to truly find their feet and self-belief. Moving Ahead has helped nearly 40,000 mentors/mentees in 300 organisations (think the likes of HSBC, Rolls-Royce, BBC, Deloitte, British Cycling, The British Armed Forces and Bloomberg) spanning 30 sectors. Why do these organisations love it so much? Here are the top six reasons why cross-company mentoring has benefited so many people.  

1/ It has a proven impact on promotion 
If you’re a business leader, placing a promising staff member on a cross-company scheme is a tried-and-tested way of ensuring they scale new heights. We’ve seen this at Moving Ahead, where around half of all mentees of our cross-company programmes are promoted into new roles in their organisation within three years of completing the scheme.  

Since launching our Mission Gender Equity programme (which builds the pipeline of women in leadership) in 2018, 47% of our mentees secured at least one promotion within the next three years. Meanwhile, 53% of our 2019 Mission Include cohort (which supports high-potential talent from underrepresented groups) were also promoted over a similar timescale. This compares with around 30% who achieved promotion without cross-company mentoring. 

2/ You’ll get an invaluable insight into how other organisations work… 
Businesses can exist in a bubble, with their own established way of doing things. Unfortunately, many leaders don’t have the time to expose themselves to new ideas that could help them burst out of this cocoon. Cross-company mentoring is one easy way of getting useful intel into how other firms do things. 

3/ … and other sectors
Mentoring a high-potential individual at an international firm can be like a fact-finding mission into how businesses in say, the US or India, are doing things: it may even inspire you to embed this knowledge within your own organisation.  

4/ It’ll improve a pipeline of diverse talent for the future 
Mentoring can profoundly and positively impact the confidence and career goals of people from underrepresented groups. Many may not feel comfortable to open up to individuals in their own organisation, so your advice and support may give them the confidence they need to thrive, paving the way for a pipeline of diverse leaders in industries that desperately need them.  

And it works both ways: many mentors have told us that their cross-company mentoring experiences have bestowed them with a greater understanding of diversity and inclusion, which has forced them to take action by refreshing or adopting much-needed new DE&I policies and ways of working within their own organisations.   

5. Cross-company mentoring works because it creates a safe space without office politics
Speak with anybody who’s undertaken a cross-company mentoring scheme and they’ll tell you about its ‘special powers’ – not least that it provides a safe space for people to open up about issues they may feel uncomfortable raising within their own organisations. Internal mentoring schemes are, of course, great. But they have one fundamental flaw which can sometimes hold them back: office politics. It isn’t always easy for talent to progress in such tight-knit culture, as many people feel they may be judged if they were truly honest in conversations about work. Cross-company mentoring removes these barriers. Speaking to someone from another organisation gives mentees more freedom to express themselves. They can speak openly about their aspirations without being judged for highlighting the niggling doubts, fears and confidence issues that might otherwise stop them from applying for a promotion or fulfilling their potential. 

6. You’ll develop new ideas 
Mentoring somebody from another organisation is great for developing new ideas says Kirk Vallis, global head of creative capability development at Google, and Moving Ahead’s diversity ambassador. “[By mentoring within the same organisation] all we do is get the perspectives of those that sit next to us or look at the world in the same way,” he says. “The ability to get out of that echo chamber and get a perspective from somebody who's faced similar challenges, but in a totally different context… that, for me, is the provocation and stimulus that really gets us thinking differently, to have new ideas.” 

For more information on Moving Ahead’s 30% Club cross-company mentoring schemes, click here