We understand
Organisations are losing under-represented talent long before they reach leadership levels.
These individuals feel invisible, overlooked and under-valued.
Not all talented employees are being seen by senior leaders.
Without senior leaders actively advocating for underrepresented talent, progress stalls in achieving a diverse talent pipeline.
Our Sponsorship Programme is designed to solve these organisational challenges that matter to your business sustainability.
Proven Impact
Sponsees feeling noticed and visible in the organisation more than doubled, rising from 24% to 54%.
Understanding how to build and leverage an effective career network increased from 41% to 67%
Sponsors reported a much deeper understanding of why underrepresented talent leave and how to actively counter this, jumping from 34% to 76%.
What Participants Say About Our Sponsorship Programme
The organisational impact is clear time and time again – developing talent, supporting the pipeline and enhancing leadership qualities. Here’s how sponsees and sponsors describe the experience.
Sponsee voices
I have gained confidence and feel more comfortable in my own skin.
Participating in the programme has been reassuring. The gap to the next level now feels smaller than I imagined.
I felt seen, I felt heard, and I felt supported. My sponsor had a genuine interest in our discussions.
My sponsor is an inspirational leader. She shared her broader perspective on the company strategy and how I could align it to my goals.
Having a sponsor gave me the confidence and legitimacy to connect with leaders I wouldn’t have approached otherwise.
My team was restructured and I was effectively made redundant. My sponsor had my back and helped me secure another role.
Sponsor voices
I loved the experience and I’m sure I learned as much as the woman I sponsored.
A very valuable programme – it builds networks and develops both sponsees and sponsors.
The programme deepened my understanding of the challenges under-represented talent face and how I can actively counter these.
I’m so grateful for the match – we speak the same language and would never have connected otherwise.
It was wonderful to have a space to engage intellectually beyond the boundaries of our current roles.
Seeing my sponsee grow into her voice and step up in meetings has been incredibly rewarding.
We will help you
Retain diverse talent
Build stronger leadership pipelines
Equip leaders to advocate for underrepresented colleagues
Create trust and psychological safety
Move from intention to measurable, strategic impact
Sponsorship is a business-critical talent and leadership strategy.
Ready to find out how to create this impact in your organisation?
About the Programme
Sponsors are usually senior leaders who use their position to influence and advocate for a more junior, talented individual (their sponsee). This helps increase visibility, professional opportunities, access to networks and inevitably supports career advancement.
Sensemaking
Using your people data to help understand where the talent pipeline is leaking.
Develop Clear Programme Outcomes
A vital step so we can measure success.
Senior Stakeholder Engagement
So everyone is clear why sponsorship, what is it, who it is open to and how to get involved.
Design And Manage Applications
Capturing the right data is key to effective matching and mitigating bias.
Engage And Educate
So everyone understands their role in the sponsor-sponsee relationship.
Evaluate Impact
Checking in with sponsors/sponsees throughout the programme.
Frequently Asked Questions
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We recommend between 10-12 months in order to establish the relationship, develop the relationship and create the impact.
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We’ll design a sponsee application form and a sponsor expression of interest form. We work with you to create the sponsee eligibility criteria and support you with the comms. We then sift through all the applications, with 2 Avenir consultants independently rating them and suggesting matches for those who will benefit the most. These initial matches are then validated with key stakeholders in your business before they are confirmed.
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We can deliver the whole programme virtually, which works well for global organisations. Equally, we can deliver elements or the whole programme in-person.
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This can be as large or small as you like. We can start with a small pilot group of 20 pairs, or go for 60 pairs straight away. We will discuss the best approach once we understand your organisation.
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We will design and deliver a programme that is tailored to your needs, and offer as much or as little support as you would like throughout the process. The typical support we offer is with comms, the matching process, kick-off workshops for sponsors and sponsees, regular touchpoint calls with sponsees, mid-point reviews and a full evaluation of the organisational impact. The evaluation process is vital to demonstrate the return on investment and ensure future cohorts are able to access the benefits of sponsorship.
