PLEASE NOTE: This mentoring platform is for ALL business lines, not only WWOps or those enrolled in MAP. It is for military and non-military, both of which can be Mentors or Mentees Globally.
The Military Mentoring Program (MMP) is a Career Development resource specific to Veterans, connecting new Amazonians with experienced employees outside of their site who can help translate their Military background to Amazon's Peculiar Culture.
Amazon recruits experienced Military leaders from all branches and all backgrounds, and leaders with a military background form one of our highest-performing pipelines of talent. By researching Military talent at Amazon, we identified common challenges in their first year at Amazon and developed resources to help Veterans transition to Amazon's culture and become even more effective as leaders.
By taking part in MMP, mentors and mentees commit to six or seven meetings over the mentee's first year. To get started, new Amazonians complete their MMP profile (takes less than 5 minutes!) to view and send match requests to mentors suggested based on Military- and Amazon-specific matching criteria. Based upon your profile inputs, the program will generate suggested mentors for you.
Once a mentor accepts a match request from a mentee, upcoming tasks and content from the Military Ambassador Program will immediately populate on both participants’ dashboards to guide their mentoring relationship. Mentor pairs are not required to discuss the MAP materials in their monthly meetings, but the MMP team highly recommends that each new Amazonian take time to review and complete the six MAP modules during their first 12 months at Amazon. These materials were designed (through research) to address specific challenges likely occurring at specific times during the first year at Amazon, although much of it is more widely applicable.
What is MAP?
MAP is a 12-month program that consists of research-based career development resources focused around the year one experience for Veterans transitioning to Amazon from Military service and other companies.
Each module requires approximately 60 minutes to complete, and contains action items to use in your role. Experiences vary and include writing, videos, and virtual huddles.
Why Become a Mentor?
"Being a mentor was really helpful for me, too. I learned a lot by helping someone else who was getting adjusted to Amazon. I wish more people had the opportunity."
Becoming a mentor is not only a great way to contribute to developing the best; it’s also an opportunity to develop yourself. As a mentor, you may improve your interpersonal skills, become a better listener, gain perspective about different parts of the business, and develop your ability to dig and understand what’s at the root of a situation.
Each MMP mentor receives insights specific to Amazon’s Veteran population to equip them to enter mentoring relationships armed with research in addition to their own experience.
Why Become a Mentee?
"Having a person to just ask questions to from outside my site was super helpful. I could ask all the 'dumb' things without worrying that it would reflect badly on me."
Working with a mentor can help you to focus on setting goals, creating outcomes and managing personal change. The role of a mentor is to facilitate development of self-awareness, enabling leaders to make conscious choices in order to drive their goals. Your mentor will support you in discovering or clarifying your professional development goals. You’ll set the agenda and priorities for your sessions; your mentor will help you to draw out solutions and strategies for success, and will be your ‘accountability partner’ as you follow up on your action plans from each session.
One of the greatest values of mentors is the ability to see ahead what others cannot see and to help them navigate a course to their destination. - John C. Maxwell