Should you implement a mentoring program?
According to a 2013 study, mentorship programs improve employee retention by 72% for mentees. Another study conducted around the same time found that employees who serve as mentors experience greater job satisfaction and a higher commitment to their employer. Mentor programs go further than morale. Sun Microsystems, for example, reported that increased retention rates resulting from their mentorship program saved their business $6.7 billion as they avoided costs associated with staff turnover and replacement.
What is Mentoring?
Mentorship is a relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. The mentor may be older or younger than the person being mentored, but he or she must have a certain area of expertise.
Things to consider when implementing a mentoring program
Successful mentoring programs offer both structure and flexibility. Structure provides participants a mentoring workflow to follow and is critical to help participants achieve productive learning that reaches defined goals. Similarly, flexibility is essential to support varying individual mentoring needs across specific learning goals, preferences, and learning style. An example of how you can easily implement something is by pairing new hires with seasoned employees. This can generate additional guidance and institutional knowledge, as well as an opportunity for continued growth and personal engagement with your organization.
Key design decisions include:
Enrolment – is it open, application, or invite only?
Mentoring style – can be traditional, flash, reverse
Connection type – possibly 1:1, group, or project
Connection duration – typically weeks or months, or perhaps even just a single session
Community/social aspects beyond formal mentoring, tracking and reporting needs.
According to a study by Jerry Wilbur, mentoring is a significant predictor of career success. Mentees earn more money and experience more satisfaction in their work.
A well thought out and structured mentorship program can increase employee motivation, happiness, and most importantly, employee retention. It can also Give employees a feedback loop outside of the traditional routes and increase motivation and performance for both the mentor and mentee so what are you waiting for?
Do you have mentorship program in place? Let us know your thoughts?
Source:
https://chiefexecutive.net/leadership-can-impact-employee-engagement-retention/
https://chronus.com/how-to-start-a-mentoring-program
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/employee-mentorship-program