Mentor HR Celebrates 25 Years of Peer Mentorship

Dozens of HR professionals in the Northern Virginia area outside Washington, D.C., recently convened to celebrate 25 years of Mentor HR, the area’s award-winning mentoring, leadership development, and professional networking program.

Mentor HR is sponsored by the NOVA SHRM and Dulles SHRM chapters, managed by alumni volunteers, and directed by Mary Kitson, SHRM-CP, a founder of the program who is described by her chapter colleagues as “the energy, the engine, and the executive force” behind the success of Mentor HR.

“It’s wonderful to celebrate 25 years together,” said Kitson, senior program manager at the MITRE Corporation in McLean, Va., where she also manages a suite of mentoring programs.

The theme of the celebration was “Elevating HR,” chosen because the focus of the program is helping one another grow and rise above difficult circumstances, Kitson said. “We are an uplifting, supportive community guiding each other to be able to push through difficult situations and validating that we are capable of much more than we think.”

Mentoring is commonly thought of as a developmental relationship between a junior and senior person, but it can take many forms. The particular success of the Mentor HR program can be attributed to it being a horizontal mentoring network, according to its participants. Applying peer-to-peer and group mentoring between people who are at roughly the same career stage has been the winning formula behind its longevity. 

“SHRM is a big proponent of mentorship,” said Mark Davila, director of strategic affiliate partnerships at SHRM and an attendee at the celebratory event. “The SHRM Foundation runs different kinds of mentorships, but scalability can be a challenge—it’s very impressive to see what these chapters have accomplished.”

Davila said that the feedback from this program has been so extraordinary that he would examine amplifying a peer-to-peer mentoring approach throughout SHRM’s 575 chapters nationwide. 

‘One-Shot Deal’

NOVA SHRM’s original mentoring program used the traditional mentor/mentee format, but it was dying by the late 1990s as the available pool of senior-level mentors thinned out.

In 1999, Mary Kitson and Mary Fetter, who had become friends during a previous iteration of the mentoring program, decided to reignite it.

“Mentor HR was born from a bold idea to reimagine mentoring,” Kitson said. “We were going to turn traditional one-on-one mentoring on its head and apply a multilevel mentoring model with a peer group approach.”

She got the idea partly from a 1998 Fast Company cover story about peer group mentoring. “I thought ‘this is it.’ This solves the problem of not having enough mentors to fill the demand, but also sets us up to have a more sustainable long-term program,” Kitson said.

Kitson gives credit to Kathleen Ferris, the president of NOVA SHRM at the time. “She encouraged a spirit of volunteerism, persuading members to give back to the chapter—it was called a ‘one-shot deal.’ ”

Kitson persuaded senior chapter members to share their knowledge and expertise with a small group of mentees as their “one-shot deal” volunteer effort, and the stage was set for the program it became.

Another piece was put into place in 2007 when it was suggested that the Dulles SHRM chapter become a partner in the program to help bolster the program’s flagging application numbers.

“I was concerned that we would have to shut the program down,” Kitson said. “But then magic happened, and our neighbor chapter decided that they did want to partner with us. I believe that the joint program has elevated both chapters.”

Around 350 participants have gone through the program since 1999. In addition to being recognized with awards, Mentor HR has been used as a benchmark standard across the public and private sectors, and even among international organizations.

How It Works

Kitson explained that peer group mentoring focuses on collaborative learning. “Your peers learn and grow as much as you. It’s very reciprocal,” she said.

Leadership development and coaching is an important part of the program. “A big part of what we do is help you feel more confident when you need to stand up and be courageous,” Kitson said.

Fourteen participants are selected each year, with each cohort member playing both mentor and mentee roles. A cohort’s program meets monthly and lasts for 10 months, although many alumni remain professional confidantes and friends long after a cohort’s program ends. 

The eligibility criteria include at least three years’ experience in an HR role, an interest in being part of a cohort-based development program, and a commitment to the monthly meeting.

In addition to participating as an active member of the cohort, participants are also paired with a peer mentor to share their learning journey. Peer mentor matches are based on experience level, career focus, development objectives, and personal preferences, Kitson said.

There is no cost to participate in the program. All participants must be active National SHRM Members and belong to either NOVA SHRM or Dulles SHRM after receiving notice of being selected for the program.

Kitson said that a significant majority of Mentor HR participants report that the program:

• Helped with or influenced their job search, lateral career move, or promotion.
• Improved their professional network.
• Provided an accountability mechanism for working toward personal and professional goals.
• Reported improved self-confidence, HR and business competencies, and personal leadership skills.

“I firmly believe that we must do our part to make a difference in the world around us,” Kitson said. “Every interaction we have with someone else is an opportunity to make a difference.”