Mentoring is a terrific method to utilize when developing a new employee, or teaching new skills to an already valuable employee. Mentoring can be a very informal relationship, yet many companies adopt a more formal approach to mentoring and create a structured mentoring program. The benefits are countless; the following are the 5 top reasons to create a structured mentoring program within your organization.
Continuing on-the-job training
With the introduction of a mentoring program your company will ensure that employees who are part of the program are being guided by knowledgeable professionals within the organization who care about the mentee’s career progress. There knowledge can be an important aspect to their development . With this type of on-the-job training that is provided, your employees will learn more about the inner workings of the company that aren’t often spelled out in an organizational chart, policies or procedures. This type of knowledge is valuable to help move their careers in the direction they intend it to move.
If it works once, it will likely work again
If you do happen to have an individual who is the top performer in their field, use that to your advantage. If what they are doing is producing the quality of work that you are looking for then ask them to be a mentor to other employees. When they can teach the methods that they know will work and share their experiences with mentees, mentees are gaining knowledge that without a mentor could take a lot longer to learn. Mentors should be available for their questions when mentees are faced with new challenges.
Learn through teaching
Not only will your team learn from the best of the best, but at the same time your high performer experts will get even better. The more you teach a topic the more you learn and improve in that area of expertise. While the mentor is passing on the information that she knows is beneficial to the mentee, the mentor is also learning the subject matter even that much more. The mentoring process will reinforce and expand their knowledge.
Employee engagement
Whenever you have the chance to encourage employee interaction you are providing an opportunity to build stronger relationships within the company. And one of the factors to improving employee engagement is the amount and strength of the relationships an employee has within their organization. A mentor program increases the opportunities for your employees to have meaningful interactions and strengthens the emotional bonds and relationships.
Leadership training
When you allow your employees the opportunity to take a leadership role through mentoring it reinforces and builds their skills as a leader. Not only will your team members learn the necessary skills to become future leaders but at the same time it will demonstrate your confidence in their leadership and knowledge.
These are just five of the benefits that an organization can gain through the implementation of a mentoring program.
What are other possible benefits of a mentoring program that you have seen in your organization or others?
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