To encourage the continued loyalty and productivity of your workforce, it’s beneficial to consider a mentoring programme for employees. Here’s how you can go about setting this up, plus how and why you can benefit from it.
Why should you mentor your staff?
With mentoring and coaching in the workplace, you can offer a level of one-to-one support and guidance to promising employees, you can aim to remove barriers that would otherwise stop your employees’ success. Helping your staff members in developing new skills, and progressing within your business, can have a major effect on how your progress in the future. You can, essentially, train your staff to lead your success in the years to come. In this respect, a mentoring system can have significant benefits for younger, developing employees. But you can also offer established employees the chance to develop, too.
The benefits of upskilling your employees
Usually, focused mentoring is undertaken between a series of meetings between a mentor and mentee. This can vary between a few months to a period of several years. Allowing older employees the opportunity to act as a mentor can help to encourage them to remain in their roles for longer. This then enables your business to benefit from their experience and knowledge. It also ensures they don’t feel unfairly treated due to their age. This system can also be helpful for promising female workers who may otherwise feel they have less opportunities to develop. This can be the first step in counteracting any gender pay gap issues within your business. Having a long-term mentor also encourages a climate of trust in otherwise stressful situations. This can help counteract any issues or worries employees may have—they may feel uncomfortable discussing this with managers, but mentoring is an excellent way to broach such concerns. As such, it’s essential the mentor and mentee are carefully matched. You should take into account skills and experience, personal qualities, and availability. It’s also highly advisable both are able to refer to a co-ordinator, which you can put in place to answer any additional questions they may have.
Coaching
Companies may also benefit from introducing coaching in the workplace. This takes the same approach to mentoring but on a more short-term basis, focusing on more direct, concrete issues such as effective managing and speaking more articulately. What are the benefits of coaching in the workplace? Well, coaching is less personal than mentoring. This means it has a chance of delivering information to larger audiences and usually involves the employees’ immediate managers. This option can be useful if you’re looking to develop a talent pool of potential leaders as part of your future.
Want to find out more about mentoring?
You know the benefits of a mentor at work. Not we can help you establish a programme. Get in touch today for expert advice: 0800 028 2420.
