Originally published on Forbes.com

For the last 25 years, I’ve been privileged to coach more than 70 mid-sized service firms with 25-100 staff members and $10-$50 million in revenue. One thing I’ve noticed is that the leaders of these firms are often in their fifties and sixties while the employees are often in their twenties and thirties. This actually creates a problem. In most instances, the staff outnumber the leaders 15 to one. In other words, there is 1 mature leader, on average, for every 15 employees.

Herein lies the problem: Most young people want to advance in their careers and want opportunities to grow, take on new projects and gain experience. But this is usually best achieved under the guidance and mentorship of mature leaders. However, in nearly every firm I’ve worked with, I’ve seen two issues:

1. Most mature leaders don’t seem to understand the importance of mentoring younger team members.
2. There simply aren’t enough leaders to go around—especially if you expect department leaders to be mentors.

The end result, in so many mid-sized service firms, is that young professionals—often the future leaders of these firms—don’t feel as if they’ll realize their full potential. This is quite frustrating for them and it leads to employee dissatisfaction and departures. It also hurts the firm long-term because talent that could be making an impact simply lies dormant. Of the 70-plus firms I’ve coached, only a handful actually prized mentorship beyond lip service. Not one of them had a formal mentorship program in place.

After thinking about this problem and experimenting with a number of different options for clients, I’d like to share a simple concept that could help your service organization. I call it the Circle of Seven. I see this as an opportunity to:

• Differentiate your professional service firm
• Retain your up-and-coming talent for the long-term
• Maximize your talent, which just might make you more profitable

What is a Circle of Seven?

A Circle of Seven is a network of seven people, including a leader, whose sole purpose is to mentor talent. Here’s the important point: Mentorship is optional, not mandatory. Employees are offered the opportunity to be mentored but it’s not required. Employees also get to choose which mentor network they want to be a part of. This means the leaders of these networks become very important people to your company.

How does this compare to existing models?

Most service firms are already structured as a discrete set of teams. For instance, the chief technology officer might have five staff, the vice president of sales might have seven, while the VP of service might have 30. The unspoken expectation of department leads is that they will mentor their staff, but in my experience, that is rarely the case. Why? Because in most instances, department leaders are already overwhelmed with their daily responsibilities.

Mentorship is a nice afterthought, something to get around to once the commitments of the department have been fully satisfied. It’s not that these leaders don’t want to mentor. But no one has ever asked them to prioritize it, educated them about how to do it, showed them how to make it a part of their regular routines or touted the benefits of being a great mentor.

So, here’s another idea that I’ve found to be very helpful to my clients: Department leads may, or may not, be mentors. In fact, in several instances, I’ve found it to be helpful to have mentors who are not an employee’s direct supervisor. Sometimes, it’s easier to talk to people outside your department.

How do you establish a Circle of Seven?

If your organization would like to reap the benefits of mentoring, here are a few simple steps to consider.

1. Establish the criteria for what you expect from a mentor team leader. I recommend that you look for people who are already trusted and have used their influence effectively within the organization.
2. Limit mentor team size to seven people. This is important for ensuring that everyone gets the kind of attention they desire.
3. Pick your mentor leaders very carefully. A firm of 50 people really only needs seven mentor leaders. If department heads choose not to be mentors, don’t be afraid to ask your second tier of influential people about their interest in this role. In numerous instances, my clients have been pleasantly surprised by how well other people step up.
4. Train mentor team leaders. One of the biggest mistakes I see is team leaders trying to solve people’s problems for them. That’s not the goal. The goal is to understand what people want out of their work life and to encourage and guide them to go after it.
5. Don’t mistake mentoring for advocacy. An advocate seeks to help resolve disputes and stands in someone’s corner in hot situations. A mentor helps someone figure out what they want to achieve in their career, builds action plans with them to achieve it and holds them accountable to do the work.
6. Make it routine. Mentorship works best when people meet regularly, at least once a month. I also recommend that the entire team get together at least once a quarter.
7. Make it formal and publicize it internally. When the leaders of a firm publicly commit to a formal mentorship program and put some effort behind it, staff will pay attention. That sends a very clear message: We value you and want you to achieve your career dreams here.

Mentorship has paid big dividends for the service firms I’ve seen really put it into practice. Their junior staff are more loyal and want to make their current employer the last place they ever work. These cultures also tend to foster autonomous initiative from staff, where they take responsibility to chart their own success path. Anyone who’s already had a great mentor or coach already knows what I’m talking about.

About The Author

Randy Shattuck is a seasoned entrepreneur who works hand-in-hand with senior leaders of mid-size professional service firms to grow revenues, acquire clients, open new markets, increase profits and effectively position their brands.