By Andrea Newell (Grand Rapids, MI)

Does your company have a mentoring program? Were you considering signing up to mentor a colleague? You have great timing – January is National Mentoring Month.

We previously reported on the benefits of having a mentor at any stage in your career, but how do you actually go about mentoring someone? Dr. Lois Zachary, President of Leadership Development Services, contributed her insight to our article, but she is also the author of The Mentor’s Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships.

The Mentor’s Guide gives you a concrete process to follow in order to build a successful and mutually beneficial mentoring relationship. Zachary’s approach is much like a business project, and as the mentor, you are the project manager.

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By Kelly Tanner

We could all be forgiven if the latest news on the economic recovery in the new year causes us to need an aspirin and a lie-down.

Initial flings for unemployment are back up an unexpected 36,000 new filings in the latest report, way over the expected 4,000.

But wait – maybe not. Those numbers may reflect November and December claims that states have been too backlogged to process before now.

On the other hand, other reports indicate that jobs are so scarce, those with shiny new degrees have chosen to go to graduate school to buy themselves time, and, hopefully, more opportunities.

Is it better in the UK? Apparently not. The Guardian doesn’t mince words – “Jobs Blow for Graduates As Companies Refuse To Hire.”

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By Janet Stocks (New York City)

According to Cone, a leading strategy and communications agency, “Today, a company that directs its unique assets to have a significant and sustainable impact on society will strengthen reputation, employee morale and stakeholder loyalty in an engaging and authentic way.”

The 2008 Cone Study, Past. Present. Future. The 25th Anniversary of Cause Marketing, conducted in conjunction with the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, suggests that “The causes that companies choose to support often reflect national and international economic pressures and events.”

Unanimous global support for the Haitian Earthquake Relief efforts confirm the power of cause marketing in corporate teambuilding and fundraising. By harnessing the power of large workforces, corporations are “proving more nimble at addressing issues, such as natural disasters, than the government agencies or nonprofit organizations designed to manage the task.”

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By Nicki Gilmour, Founder and CEO of Evolved People Media, LLC

In March 2010, the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women will undertake a fifteen-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration. It was at this meeting in China that a group of 50,000 people representing 189 governments actively agreed a goal to increase women in leadership positions.

The magic number became known as the 30% solution, the idea being that once women reached a Critical Mass in an organization, people would stop seeing them as women and start evaluating their work as managers. This theory was originally developed more than 40 years ago by Harvard academic Rosabeth Moss Kanter in her book Men and Women of the Corporation.

Fifteen years after the Beijing Declaration, Norway is the only country to have progressed towards this goal via legislation – championed by someone who definitely doesn’t meet the profile of a typical feminist. Norwegian politician Ansgar Gabrielsen is a Pentecostal Christian, and an archetypal alpha-male businessman. His reasons seem logical and resource driven.

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Last week we discussed the need for today’s companies to support flexible work environments – like telecommuting, teleconferencing, etc. We’re all busy people, and the option to work from home when necessary helps workers boost productivity and take care of non-work-related tasks that arise during office hours.

On the other hand, working from the office presents some of its own advantages – not the least of which is a physical representation of work/life balance. While anytime-access to your workstation is great, the ability to take work into your home can cause its own kind of stress.

For example, it’s easy to take a long lunch and then make plans to finish that report once you get home in the evening. But of course, your evening could also mean making dinner, taking care of children, doing housework, and every other part of your life that needs to take place outside the 9-5 workday. The likelihood of finishing that report seriously diminishes once home and family responsibilities move to the forefront.

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By Janet Stocks (New York City)

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In The Social Case for Corporate Volunteering, Kenn Allen explains that “The idea of corporate volunteering as a definable phenomenon emerged in the United States in the late 1970s. Over the past 25 years, it has spread slowly but surely throughout the world, practiced both by multinational corporations and small businesses. The business case or rationale for this work is well established and widely accepted.”

In recent years, corporations have realized the importance of such programs for energizing and engaging their employees – and responded by initiating corporate volunteer programs and improving pre-existing programs. Not only do corporate volunteer programs benefit the local community, they also serve to boost employee morale and increase business, according to a recent study by Volunteering England.

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“Copenhagen is important because it represents a business opportunity said European commission president José Manuel Barroso.

“By moving towards a more sustainable economy, we will unleash a surge of innovation and investment in clean technologies and products. New sectors will provide ‘green collar’ jobs and become sources of sustainable growth for the future,” he continued.

While Barroso gives a rosy view of what the Copenhagen Accord means for business, many in the US are uncertain about business prospects following the talks.

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Telecommuting has been possible for a number of years, but not until recently has telecommuting been feasible on a large scale. As knowledge workers make up a greater portion of the workforce, working from the office desk has become less of a necessity. On top of that, many of today’s families include parents who are both part of the workforce. These employees are growing to expect workplace flexibility in greater numbers.

We’ve recently discussed how, with the potentially rebounding economy, workers are going to expect more from their employees in 2010. Implementing a flexible work environment (or improving your company’s current telecommuting policy) is one way to retain your star employees.

More Productivity, More Options

As a leading producer of telecommuting technology, it makes sense that Cisco would be a leader in implementing the technology at its own offices.

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By Janet Stocks (New York City)

What’s one new way to attract conscientious employees? Today’s web-savvy businesses are utilizing social media to garner interest in their Corporate Social Responsibility campaigns. For example, trendsetting companies such as JP Morgan Chase and Pepsi have recently launched contests on social networking sites to determine the recipients of their charitable giving.

Greg Schneider, founder of 3BL Media, explains that “Companies are finally starting to be held accountable and responsible for the impact and influence they can have to affect change, and they realize the need to communicate it”.

Successful CSR campaigns, according to Schneider, are purposefully transparent, consistently delivered across multiple media platforms, and open to public feedback.

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A weekly column by Nicki Gilmour, Founder and CEO of Evolved People Media.

The Economist kicked off the year with Rosie the Riveter on the cover, proclaiming “We did it.” What exactly did we do?

Well, we became 50% of the workforce, generally, across all industries. We can interpret that in two ways, either as a positive advancement for women as they are able to have economic freedom by earning their own wage or that that women have to work to support themselves and their families; it does not necessary mean that we are actually getting somewhere as leaders and managers in equal numbers to men.

I have to be honest. I had to check that I wasn’t reading an old copy of the Economist from January 1980 when I read the words, “The revolution has been achieved with only a modicum of friction. Men have, by and large welcomed women’s invasion of the workplace.” Invasion of the workplace? Last time I checked, going to work to try and strategically improve your processes, and therefore the company as a whole, by delivering results in whichever area you work isn’t like invading Poland.

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