中层匮乏，平级指导填补榜样真空

    但麦克洛斯基称，最能深刻地反映出同行指导项目大获成功的证据是管理者的态度。刚开始时，一些拥有多年工作经验的管理者对于要接受菜鸟的指导这一前景多少有些抵触情绪。

    麦克洛斯基称，这种质疑很快就烟消云散了。现在，微软公司的同行指导项目正面临着新的挑战。“我们在过去6个月中已跨过一个门槛，”他说。“现在，要求接受指导的员工已经超过了目前的指导者人数。”

    会计业巨头毕马威会计师事务所（KPMG）负责公司责任和多样性事务的执行合伙人凯西•汉南表示，指导“根植于我们的价值观之中”。她说，公司的每个人都有一位导师，这样做不仅有助于加强雇员的技能，也有助于深化公司员工之间的联系。

    2年前，旨在打造多样化领导团队的毕马威会计师事务所启动了一项名为“领导人接触领导人”（Leaders Engaging Leaders）计划，让60位高层管理者与管理委员会成员、公司董事和全国的执行合伙人结成搭档。

    汉南说：“这项计划给予公司的高级领导人一个机会，让他们能够接触到在日常工作中通常见不到的各层面领导人。”

    这项计划旨在让接受指导者明白，仅仅因为公司权力阶梯只剩下为数不多的几个梯级，并不意味着他们就被钉在了目前的岗位上。

    此外，汉南称，这种指导关系应该逐渐演化为一种资助形式。随着关系的形成，指导者扮演的角色应该从一位告诉你应该做什么的教练，演化为一位提供建议的导师，再演化为一位支持你的资助者。

    几位“领导人接触领导人”项目的参与者已经开始承担更重要的领导角色，其中一位已成为公司董事。毕马威会计师事务所目前正在扩大这项计划。

    “终极目标是把这项计划推行至组织更深的层面，”汉南说。“这项计划真的帮助我们留住了员工，扩大了员工的视野，让他们看到，公司内部同样存在着大量的晋升机会。”

    译者：任文科

    The way managers have embraced the program, though, has been the most profound evidence of peer mentoring's success, McCloskey says. There was some initial hostility from people with years of experience who were now going to be mentored by newbies.

    That skepticism quickly dissolved though, McCloskey says, and now Microsoft is facing a new challenge with the program. "We've crossed a threshold in the last six months," he says. "We have more mentee requests than mentors at this point."

    Accounting giant KPMG says that mentoring is "ingrained in our values," says Kathy Hannan, managing partner for corporate responsibility and diversity. Everyone at the firm has a mentor, she says, offering a way to strengthen employees' skills as well as their connection to others at the company.

    Two years ago, looking to expand opportunities for a diverse group of leaders, KPMG started its Leaders Engaging Leaders program, which pairs 60 top managers with members of the management committee, the board of directors, and national managing partners.

    "It gives the most senior leaders in the firm an opportunity to engage with a cross section of leaders that they normally wouldn't see in their day jobs," Hannan says.

    The program aims to show mentees that just because there are only a few rungs of the corporate ladder left, it doesn't mean they are stuck in the jobs they are doing now.

    In addition, the mentor-mentee relationship should evolve into a form of sponsorship, Hannan says. As bonds form, the connection should evolve from that of a coach, who tells you what to do, to that of a mentor, who offers advice, to that of a sponsor, who advocates for you.

    Several people in Leaders Engaging Leaders have taken on more significant leadership roles, including one who has joined the board of directors. KPMG is currently looking to expand the program.

    "The goal is ultimately to drive it down deeper into the organization," Hannan says. "It really helps with retention … and gives folks a line of sight to a number of opportunities across the firm."