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FORMAL PROGRAMS FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

“Perfect,” you might think. “My company has a formal mentoring program. Now someone else will find me a mentor.”

Sure, formal relationships are one way for you to find developers, in either role—as mentee (protégé) or mentor. Over 70 percent of Fortune 500 companies have implemented formal mentoring programs for targeted employees. Yet desired outcomes from these formal programs often remain out of reach.

Should you participate in a formal mentoring program? Well, yes. But you should know a few things first. At a glance, formal mentoring programs appear to be a panacea for individual development and organizational retention. The reality is that mentoring relationships require patience, commitment, ...

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