WFAA’s Mentoring Program

You’ve just started your new job, and you have a couple of questions that you don’t feel comfortable asking the random person at the next workstation. What do you do? With WFAA’s mentoring program, that’s a cinch. You can throw all kinds of questions at your mentor — no matter how small or large — and allow him or her to set your mind at ease.

Each new WFAA employee has the opportunity to pair with an experienced staff member who is available to discuss work-related issues. Human Resources assigns mentors to new employees based on several factors, including compatibility and similarity of jobs, although mentors and mentees could be in different groups to encourage collegiality and cross training.

Mentors set up initial meetings to learn about new employees and their needs. From there, the two outline a schedule of activities designed to help the new employee understand the internal culture and job responsibilities. The pair may opt to schedule occasional meetings, or the mentee can request less-formal meetings seeking advice about everything from internal procedures to positive or negative experiences as they arise. The duo might also identify areas where additional training is needed.

The formal mentoring period is designed to last for at least six months, but it often continues indefinitely.

Michelle Oster, who began working at WFAA in April of 2016, says, “I attribute much of my success as a development director to my mentor, Pete Schmeling. He’s been such an incredible resource not just on the technical side of the job, but the art of the job as well. WFAA is invested in setting each employee up for success, and this is just one more ‘tool in the toolkit’ that they provide for new hires.”

Oster adds that she felt free to share anything with Schmeling because he assured her that he would keep everything they discussed in confidence. She also appreciated the fact that he is in the same work group as she is (the Wisconsin Medicine Advancement Group). “We have to navigate some very sensitive areas with grateful patients,” she says, “so it was helpful to have his insight on how to work with donors in that respect.”

For his part, Schmeling, who has also mentored other WFAA employees, says that “I really enjoyed mentoring two of my colleagues this year. Getting to know them both and seeing their successes was a great experience. In all honesty, I think I learned as much as they did through this program. The WFAA mentoring program is such a valuable resource, and I hope I have the opportunity to participate again in the future.”