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Mentoring, unlike employee development programs such as training seminars, utilizes resources a company already has in place.
Mentoring programs can help lead to more job satisfaction, which translates to higher employee retention rates. It makes your company more appealing to new recruits and provides you with an internal stock of future leaders who are ready to step up when needed.
Launching a successful mentoring program depends on several crucial structural factors such as:
Mentoring is one of the most cost-effective means for any business to enhance its performance and maximize its potential. Developing the ideal plan may take some time and effort but the potential is enormous.
Mentoring programs can help lead to more job satisfaction, which translates to higher employee retention rates. It makes your company more appealing to new recruits and provides you with an internal stock of future leaders who are ready to step up when needed.
Launching a successful mentoring program depends on several crucial structural factors such as:
- Having enough employees: For smaller businesses, this can be a problem because a manager should never mentor a direct subordinate. The manager-subordinate relationship and mentor-mentee bond have very different dynamics and shouldn’t be mixed. One way to avoid this issue is to collaborate with another business with similar values and company culture.
- Develop cohesive pairings: Developing pairing that will benefit both the mentor and the mentee is essential. If the mentee is looking to improve their work-life balance and they are matched with a career focused individual, both parties will be frustrated. Some companies use algorithm matching services similar to the format of online dating sites while others use an application process. Programs differ based on the needs of a company and what it seeks to achieve with a mentorship program. It pays to be flexible in your planning.
- Training: Training is an important step toward developing a successful mentoring program. Once pairs have been set up, it's best to implement a form of training to maximize the mentoring program. Training can be individual or a group setting and can be conducted by either qualified internal employees or through external vendors. This may be done either as a group or individually.
- Set clearly defined goals: These goals can be set by management or by the pairings themselves depending on the general purpose of the project. The structure of your program depends on the purpose of the program within your organization. For example, if your goal is work/life balance or industry acumen, choose mentors and mentees that will help you best achieve these goals.
- Upper-management must sponsor your mentoring program: When employees see the C-suite is not only interested, but actively involved, it signals that it's important to actively engage in a mentorship program, and not a waste of their valuable time. In larger organizations where direct participation is difficult, the implementation of a monthly or quarterly group meeting to review and evaluate the mentoring program is an alternative.
- Evaluating your program with measurable criteria: Making adjustments is a normal part of the improvement process. Ideally, mentoring will become part of your company culture. For this to happen, it must be an ongoing practice that delivers value to all those involved. At the end of a set cycle, take time to study feedback surveys, look at productivity numbers, and evaluate skill levels. Look for the strengths and weakness in your program and make the necessary corrections.
Mentoring is one of the most cost-effective means for any business to enhance its performance and maximize its potential. Developing the ideal plan may take some time and effort but the potential is enormous.
