Mentorship Program

@ Pinterest

Content

  1. Situation & Need

  2. Ideation

  3. Process

  4. Outcome

  5. Credits & Role

Situation & Summary

I joined Pinterest’s newly created SMB team back in 2018, before many of the necessary processes and onboarding resources were created. New hires needed more support, training, and resources, so I got to work in 2019 to create a mentorship program that would help them with certification and a smoother experience joining the team. This was outside of my role then as an Account Manager, but I thrive with projects and growth, so I took it on with a small team.

Inception of the Program

Working with another Account Manager, Clyde Ratliff, for sake of speed and resources, we sat down and figured out what we needed for this program, ending with the following to fit within a timeline of 2 weeks prior to the mentee’s certification:

  • Additional, SME-lead education in Pinterest’s Ads Manager, sales funnel, call best practices, optimization best practices, organization, and sales resources

  • Direct mentorship pairing with an established Account Manager

  • A list of Account Managers who would be strong mentors and have available bandwidth from the floor managers

  • Access to the materials that were being used for training to build augmented resources and guides

  • A recurring and evolving process doc with step-by-step documentation

  • Communication templates that could be used for mentees, mentors, and managers

  • Buy-in from the training sales enablement team, the function lead, managers, and the Business Operations manager

Process

Over the next week, we did the following:

  1. Developed our proposed materials to be trained on and built

  2. Met with the stakeholders to confirm and receive feedback

  3. Clyde took one half of the materials and I took the other and we built training decks, guides, and other resources for the mentees and mentors to utilize

  4. Found Subject Matter Experts in various topics to lead group trainings and coordinated their schedules accordingly

  5. Gathered manager approved lists of mentors and confirmed their willingness to participate

  6. Met with the training team to gather insights on the learning styles and needs of the mentees to pair them with the most valuable mentor for their needs

  7. Ensured scheduling was finalized, resources for the next week, like communication templates and approved materials, were approved, and that all parties had been communicated with and questions answered

  8. Implemented the process, gathered feedback, and improved the program routinely

Outcomes:

  • This program remained in place as an effective and valuable resource until it was eventually replaced with a longer process and a dedicated Onboarding Sales Enablement Manager role (Spoiler Alert: That was my role, because of the work and success of this program)

  • During its 3-year run, I remained at the forefront of its development and organization

  • It graduated 250+ Account Managers during its time

  • The quality of work on the floor improved, successful certifications increased, and team bonding improved

Credits and Roles:

  • Shawnee Platero: Co-creator and long-term organizer of the mentorship program, typically completing: Mentorship assignments, material development or improvement, gathering and implementation of feedback, scheduling and coordination, and also fulfilling a lead mentor role myself.

  • Clyde Ratliff: Co-creator of the mentorship program, helped develop several rounds of training materials, the initial ideation of process and content, and also assisted in organizing a few waves of onboarding.

  • A variety of lead and call mentors on the Pinterest SMB team.

  • The sales enablement team assisted with reviewing and improving training resources

Next

Onboarding Program