Employee mentoring programs aren’t just buzzwords to add to job descriptions and career pages. Creating a method that supports chemistry and lasting productivity through an effective mentorship program has a place in your strategic planning.
We’ve spent the last few years re-learning what employees need and want. The Great Resignation has shown us that individuals are more than willing to make big career changes if it means moving somewhere they feel they’ll:
- Be more valued
- Have more flexibility
- Get better pay
- Grow in their career
This has placed a critical focus on retention – and all efforts that go into supporting that. This is where having a strong employee mentoring program can make the difference between someone who may be quiet quitting at their desk and someone who’s feeling more plugged in to their team and the company’s mission than ever before.
Why have employee mentoring programs?
Successful employee mentoring programs can create a variety of positive outcomes. But they should exist for one reason – to address a specific organizational need or set of needs.
These might include:
- Developing leaders and managers
- Improving onboarding and acclimation of new hires
- Transferring institutional knowledge to reduce the impact of attrition/turnover of staff
- Boosting retention
- Enhancing customer service
With clear insights into the need behind the mentoring effort, you’ll be better able to gauge success.
Benefits of employee mentoring
Small businesses can benefit greatly from mentoring because it’s relatively inexpensive compared to formal training and development programs. Regardless of business size, there are a variety of benefits that include:
- Mentoring offers more variety than formal training, which may be a cookie cutter, on-size-fits-all solution
- Unlike formal training courses, mentoring often results in deeper, personalized conversations and feedback
- Mentoring increases an organization’s bench strength, making it easier to keep things moving when a team member is on vacation, retires or moves on to another job.
- A mentoring program can get off the ground faster than a formal training program. This is especially important in today’s professional landscape, where leadership may not have six months to come up with a new training program. There may be an immediate desire to start investing in professional development for employees now so that they don’t leave for new opportunities.
Building an employee mentoring program in a post-pandemic workplace
As with any other HR endeavor, there are both best practices to follow as well as pitfalls to avoid. Here are eight tips to help you develop an outstanding employee mentoring program that will support today’s workforce.
1. Think beyond one-way mentoring
Mentorships involving tenured employees are a great way to get new hires used to the company’s workflows and processes, but employee mentoring should go beyond just the tenured teaching the new.
Mentorship from recent hires who have brought valuable new information into your organization (i.e., reverse mentoring) can also re-energize and re-engage workers in the middle of their careers.
2. Define desired outcomes and milestones
What does a successful mentoring relationship look like? How does this help the employee and your company? Defining your desired outcomes for an employee mentoring program from the beginning helps you address your needs best.
For example, at a software company, you might state that a mentoring program goal is for incoming and junior level software engineers to be able to acclimate to your environment, understand your processes and help achieve company goals.
With those goals in mind, you can set milestones for your mentors to use as benchmarks. You can also decide what tools and resources (e.g., mentor training, timelines) you’ll need to create to foster success.
3. Identify a program overseer
Strong employee mentoring programs have one or two people who oversee the program at-large. This could be someone from your HR team or an employee who is passionate about mentoring.
These program administrators are responsible for:
- Connecting mentors and mentees
- Monitoring the relationships
- Ensuring mentorship activities benefit the mentee and the company
- Resolving any issues that arise in a consistent manner (e.g., what happens if a mentor leaves the company?)
4. Don’t play matchmaker
Don’t choose mentor and mentee pairs only because their personalities are compatible. It’s not a blind date. A match should be based on the skills of the mentor and the needs of the mentee.
5. Develop specific mentor criteria
The best employee mentors have distinct, important skillsets to share and characteristics that align with your organization’s values (e.g., perseverance, a servant leadership mindset).
They also have the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to successfully deliver the desired outcomes of your program.
Using this information to guide you, you can develop criteria for your mentors.
In general, some things to look for in an employee mentor are:
- A desire to work with someone and share information
- The ability to have two-way communication about processes
- Willingness to accept mentees’ input as well as provide guidance and support
- A desire to help the company as a whole and make it a stronger organization
- One year of service in your company
- This may be less important if you have an individual who is hired specifically for new skills or technology that they bring on board. There will likely remain some duration for the person to be properly onboarded, but they may not need a full year or so before beginning to mentor others.
- The ability to meet any performance evaluation rating requirements
These factors are important because employee mentorships aren’t just about the tactical transfer of information. They’re also a strategic opportunity to pass on attitudes and values important to your company culture.
6. Take a practical approach
Rather than just have mentees observe their mentor or ask questions, get them involved in the actual work when they’re ready and when appropriate. So doing helps the learning take hold while building confidence in the mentee and trust in the mentor and supervisor. Plus, in client-facing roles, this approach may help forge new relationships with customers and may help keep them at ease in the event of a handoff.
The process of a true mentor naturally shifts responsibility to the mentee:
- The mentor shows the mentee how to do something.
- The mentor and mentee do it together.
- The mentee shows the mentor how to do it.
- The mentee does it independently.
7. Don’t let it look like a fast track
Studies show that people who participate in workplace mentorship programs (both mentees and mentors) are more likely to be promoted than their peers.
However, you don’t want your mentoring program to be perceived as a guaranteed path to a promotion, as it’s not a realistic outcome for every employee. This perception could also draw participants for the wrong reasons and distract from the program’s real goals.
Participation doesn’t hurt, but it doesn’t guarantee a move up the ladder either.
8. Don’t use the employee mentoring program as a crutch
Mentoring programs are not a replacement for performance management processes or day-to-day leadership. Likewise, the mentor should not become the mentee’s de facto supervisor. That would undermine the authority of their actual manager.
Rather, if performance issues arise with a mentor or mentee, your program should have a plan for modifying the mentor relationship when needed and communicating with the supervisor who should address the issue.
9. Set the mentorship length to fit your objectives
If you’ve given mentees some new experiences and they’ve done well, there’s no problem in bringing the mentoring cycle to a close.
In fact, establishing a program timeline at the outset can help motivate participants to make the most of the opportunity. Plus, in larger companies, repeating mentoring cycles may help ensure that everyone who wants to participate can do so without overwhelming any of the mentors.
Mentoring can take place over the course of a year, a season, or even a quarter. It all depends, again, upon your company’s needs, demand and calendar.
Wrapping things up
When it comes to talent development and strengthening professional relationships, there’s always room for improvement. Mentor programs can go a long way to help foster growth. And, arguably, mentoring may be seen as an ongoing leadership competency in our rapidly changing world of work.
When the mentorship period is over, consider holding a special wrap-up meeting, luncheon or recognition ceremony to mark the occasion. This is another great opportunity for senior leadership to step in and sing the program’s praises, cheering the efforts of all those involved.
You can also showcase mentors and mentees in a company newsletter so that you not only celebrate participants, but also build buzz for the future.
Growing your business through employee relationships
Want to learn more about creating effective employee development programs that set your business up for success? Download our free magazine: The Insperity guide to leadership and management.