Insala, a global provider of corporate mentoring programs, talent management and career services solution, is helping regional shopping mall operator Macerich (NYSE:MAC) implement and deliver employee mentoring programs for knowledge sharing and distance learning.
The two-phased mentoring initiative, headed by Lain Adams, assistant vice president of learning and development at Macerich, began in 2008 with a nine-month pilot program. The program was conducted with the help of Insala’s Hi-Impact Mentoring ® process — a holistic set of consulting, training and implementation services. Twenty-two mentor-mentee pairs in various organizational roles were matched by hand, with professional development through the sharing of diverse experiences as the primary goal of each partnership.
According to one mentee involved in the pilot mentoring program, the value of the knowledge and experience she gained was equally as valuable as the employee benefits she received at Macerich. An experienced mentor remarked that the enthusiasm of his younger mentee was contagious, and that working with the individual has inspired him to consider better ways to do his own job.
In rolling out the first phase, “Macerich did it right,” says Judy Corner, director of consulting services at Insala, who advised and led the mentoring program implementation. “They understood the value of having qualified mentors and committed mentees. They made sure training took place so that all mentors, mentees, and managers/supervisors understood their role in the program. Most importantly, Lain recognized how crucial it was to monitor partnerships and assist program participants when they needed it most. The synergy of these elements led to a successful first phase, which has led to the ongoing success of the program.”
In March 2010, Adams and his team began implementing the second phase of its mentoring program incorporating Insala’s online mentoring software — linking Insala’s mentoring system with its own enterprise portal. This second phase combined the objectives of knowledge sharing and distance / remote mentoring, enabled by the easy-to-use, interactive software. In April, Adams communicated the program to employees and built an applicant pool. During the first half of May, he began the matching and pairing process, aiming to finalize the matches and introduce the mentor-mentee partners by end of June.
“We’ve hit all our program milestones so far,” says Adams, who is impressed with the efficiency gains brought by Insala’s technology. “For our first pilot program, I matched 44 individuals (22 pairs by hand, with the help of an Excel spreadsheet). Now with mentoring software, I can now match 84 individuals while saving myself two whole business days’ worth of time.”
“With Insala’s mentoring software, we can really enhance the distance mentoring experience for our participants,” he adds. “The mentoring learning plan, content and resource library, goal-setting tools, and psychometric assessments will be particularly valuable aids to our mentors and mentees during the time to come.”
About Insala
Insala is a leading global provider of web-based software for organizations implementing talent management initiatives. Insala solutions power people and the organizations that employ them. Solutions include EmploymentTalk™ for career transition and outplacement, iCareerManager for workforce career development and Hi-Impact Mentoring®. Each supports unique organizational mentoring processes. Please visit us at http://www.mentoringtalent.com or http://www.insala.com/ for more information.
About Macerich
Macerich is a fully integrated self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust, which focuses on the acquisition, leasing, management, development and redevelopment of regional malls throughout the United States. The company is the sole general partner and owns a 91% ownership interest in The Macerich Partnership, L.P. Macerich now owns approximately 74 million square feet of gross leaseable area consisting primarily of interests in 71 regional malls. Additional information about Macerich can be obtained from the Company’s Web site at http://www.macerich.com/ .
Media Contact:
Stephen Grindrod, Insala
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This press release was distributed through PR Web by Human Resources Marketer (HR Marketer: www.HRmarketer.com) on behalf of the company listed above.