Latest / The Diversity Career Podcast with Fexingo: Inclusion, Equity, and Underrepresented Professionals / How One Company Built a Sponsorship Program That Actually Works
Transcript
- Lucas: We hear a lot about mentorship as the great career equalizer. And mentorship is good. But there’s growing evidence it doesn’t actually move the needle on advancing underrepresented professionals into senior leadership. Luna: Right — mentorship is advice. Sponsorship is action. And there’s a real difference. Lucas: Exactly. So today I want to look at one company that built a sponsorship program with real teeth. It’s a major professional services firm — one of the Big Four, actually — and they redesigned their approach after realizing their mentorship efforts weren't translating into diverse partner promotions. Luna: What did they change? Lucas: They started with a brutally honest audit. They looked at their partnership pipeline and found that while they had plenty of diverse managers and senior managers, the drop-off happened right at the step to partner. The bottleneck wasn't talent — it was access. Luna: Access to what, exactly? Lucas: Access to the informal networks where assignments get handed out. Access to the partners who decide who gets the marquee client work. Access to visibility. So they created a formal sponsorship program where senior partners — almost all of them white men — were assigned to sponsor high-potential diverse managers. Luna: Assigned — not volunteered. That’s key, right? Because if you leave it to volunteers, you get the people who are already inclined to sponsor. The people who need to be involved often don’t step up. Lucas: That’s exactly it. And they made it mandatory for the top fifty partners. Each partner had to sponsor one diverse manager for a minimum of two years. And here’s the part that made it different from mentorship: the sponsor’s performance evaluation included specific metrics tied to their sponsee’s advancement. Luna: So it wasn’t just a nice to have. It was part of their compensation. Lucas: Part of their bonus. The sponsor had to show concrete actions: did they put the sponsee in front of key clients? Did they recommend them for high-visibility projects? Did they advocate for them in partnership review meetings? And they tracked it. Luna: What were the results? Lucas: Over three years, the firm saw a 40% increase in diverse partner promotions. And when they looked at retention of diverse senior managers, it improved by about 25%. Those are not small numbers. Luna: Forty percent — that’s huge. But I wonder if it’s sustainable. Did they just pull forward promotions that would have happened anyway? Lucas: That’s the question every skeptic asks. And the firm did a control-group analysis. They compared the promoted sponsees against a matched group of diverse managers with similar performance ratings who weren’t in the program. The sponsees were promoted at nearly double the rate. Luna: So sponsorship itself was the variable. That’s compelling. Lucas: It is. Now, I want to talk about what made this work structurally — because a lot of companies copy the form but miss the substance. The first element was the mandatory pairing, which we mentioned. The second was training for sponsors. Luna: Training — what kind? Lucas: They brought in an external facilitator to run half-day workshops on what sponsorship actually looks like in practice. Not just theory. They role-played scenarios: how do you advocate for someone when you’re not in the room? How do you push back when someone says a candidate isn’t ready? And they addressed unconscious bias head-on. Luna: Because sometimes sponsors would say, ‘Oh, she’s not ready yet,’ when the real issue was they didn’t see her potential the way they saw it in a white male candidate. Lucas: Exactly. And the training gave them a framework to separate readiness from potential. The third element was transparency. The firm published the list of sponsors and sponsees internally — not to shame anyone, but to create accountability and allow others to see the program in action. Luna: That’s a bold move. I imagine some partners were uncomfortable with that level of visibility. Lucas: Some were. But the CEO made it clear: if you’re a partner, sponsorship is part of your job. And the data showed that the sponsors who took it seriously — the ones who actually met with their sponsees monthly, who made introductions — those were the ones whose sponsees advanced. The ones who treated it as a checkbox? Their sponsees didn't move. Luna: So the program also served as a signal — it revealed which partners were genuinely invested in developing diverse talent. Lucas: And that became part of their leadership evaluation. The firm started tracking a ‘sponsorship effectiveness’ score for each partner. It’s not the only metric, but it’s one of them now. Luna: I want to bring this back to the individual level, because our listeners are often professionals trying to navigate their own careers. If you’re a manager or senior manager at a company that doesn’t have a formal sponsorship program, what can you do? Lucas: Great question. The research suggests you can’t really sponsor yourself — sponsorship requires someone with positional power to act on your behalf. But you can identify potential sponsors. Look for senior leaders who have a track record of developing diverse talent. Find ways to get on their radar — through good work, yes, but also through volunteering for projects they care about. Luna: And when you do get that opportunity, be explicit. Say, ‘I’m looking to grow into a leadership role. Would you be willing to advocate for me in promotion discussions?’ Some people find that uncomfortable, but sponsors respect clarity. Lucas: Absolutely. And if they say yes, make it easy for them. Give them a one-page summary of your accomplishments and goals. Remind them of upcoming review cycles. Treat it as a partnership. Luna: This also ties into something we’ve talked about on this show before — the idea that underrepresented professionals often over-rely on formal mentorship programs and underutilize informal sponsorship. It’s not a knock on mentors, but sponsors are the ones who actually open doors. Lucas: And that’s especially true for women of color and first-generation professionals, who statistically have less access to those informal networks. One study found that white men are 12 times more likely to have a sponsor than women of color. Twelve times. Luna: That’s the gap we’re trying to close. And programs like the one at this firm show it’s possible — but it takes intentional design, not just good intentions. Lucas: Speaking of intentional design — and I know we’re in the middle of this — but I want to take a quick moment to mention something that keeps these conversations going. A couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these shows ad-free and independent. If you’ve gotten something out of this episode, or any episode of the Fexingo Business network, you can support us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That’s buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It’s a small thing that makes a big difference for a small team. Luna: Yeah, and honestly, it’s what lets us dive deep into topics like this without worrying about sponsorship deals dictating the content. So if you’re able, we’d appreciate it. Lucas: Alright, back to sponsorship. One more element from this firm’s program that I think is worth highlighting: they created ‘sponsorship circles’ for the first year. Luna: Sponsorship circles? What’s that? Lucas: Instead of one-on-one pairings, they put three sponsors and three sponsees together in a small group. The idea was to reduce the pressure on any single relationship and allow sponsees to benefit from multiple perspectives. It also made it harder for sponsors to neglect their responsibility — because the group would notice. Luna: That’s clever. It also builds a mini-network within the firm. Those sponsees now have three senior advocates instead of one. Lucas: Exactly. And after a year, they moved to one-on-one pairings based on who had the best chemistry and alignment. So the circles were like a discovery phase. About 80% of the pairs continued into the second year. Luna: That’s a high retention rate. It suggests the matching process was working. Lucas: They also used a matching tool that considered both professional goals and personality traits. It wasn't just random assignment. And they surveyed both sponsors and sponsees every quarter to check engagement. Luna: So it was data-driven, not just programmatic. That’s a lesson for any company thinking about launching something like this: measure it, iterate, and hold people accountable. Lucas: Right. And the final piece I want to touch on is the alumni network. Sponsees who were promoted to partner were encouraged to become sponsors themselves within two years. That created a virtuous cycle — the people who benefited from sponsorship became the next generation of sponsors. Luna: That’s how you make it sustainable. It’s not a one-time intervention. It becomes part of the culture. Lucas: Exactly. And that’s the long game. The firm’s goal was to change who gets access, not just to check a box. And from what we can see, it’s working. Luna: I’m curious — you mentioned this is a Big Four firm. Do you think smaller companies or nonprofits could adapt this model with fewer resources? Lucas: Absolutely. The core principles scale down: identify senior leaders with influence, make sponsorship an explicit part of their role, pair them deliberately with high-potential diverse talent, and measure outcomes. Even a small company with ten senior leaders can start with one circle. The key is intentionality. Luna: And accountability. Without that, it’s just another mentorship program with a different label. Lucas: Right. So if you’re listening and you’re in a position to influence your company’s DEI strategy, this is a concrete, evidence-based place to start. Sponsorship isn’t a silver bullet, but it’s one of the most effective tools we have for closing the leadership gap. Luna: And for those who are seeking sponsorship, remember: it’s not about finding a fairy godmother. It’s about building a genuine professional relationship where someone with power is willing to use it on your behalf. Be proactive, be prepared, and be persistent. Lucas: Well said. That’s our show for today. Thanks for listening.