For example, they offer instructions on how to perform particular tasks or develop useful skills. Individuals starting their career can benefit from such guidance, as it helps them feel comfortable in the role more quickly. For example, a mentor can help a person starting a business learn how to develop their initial business plan and budgets.
A mentor can help their mentee set personal or professional development goals. For effective goal-setting, they can create SMART goals—specific, achievable, relevant and time-based. These goals can help focus the mentee's efforts and make it easier for the mentor to track and assess progress. They may identify smaller tasks in pursuit of a larger objective to develop specific skills or meet particular priorities.
A mentor helps hold their mentee accountable for their goals. By tracking progress, the mentor helps the mentee stay focused and on track towards completing them. It can also ensure that the mentee does not forget about the goals they have set. Knowing that someone else is watching can serve as motivation, as the mentee likely does not want to let the mentor down by failing to meet goals. When the mentee finds themselves struggling to perform their job or reach a goal, they can turn to their mentor for support.
This encouragement can motivate them to keep moving forward despite challenges. A mentor can also identify and express their mentee's strengths to instill confidence in them. Having a strong sense of confidence can make the mentee less likely to give up on their goals. A mentor can help build their mentee's professional network. When the mentee identifies professional or personal goals, the mentor can connect them to potential opportunities or individuals who can help them.
As the mentor typically has more industry experience or a higher-level career, these connections can be valuable for career advancement. When an individual has ideas, they can use a mentor as a resource to discuss or try them.
The mentor can provide unbiased advice or opinions using their relevant knowledge and experience. With these insights, the mentee can better understand what steps to take and whether to pursue the idea or walk away.
Similarly, a mentor can also listen and advise them on daily concerns, such as workplace conflicts.
Trust represents a core element of mentoring relationships. The mentee must trust that the mentor has their best interests in mind and will provide accurate and honest guidance. The business world can also be competitive, so they need to rely on one another to keep confidential information private when necessary. Communicating regularly and following through on their promises demonstrate two methods of establishing trust in these relationships.
Related: 14 Ways to Build Trust in the Workplace. A trusting mentorship relationship enables honest feedback. By establishing trust, the mentee understands that constructive criticism aims to build their professional growth rather than make them feel bad.
Mentors can identify weaknesses and advise them on ways to improve. Because this is a professional relationship, the mentor plays an objective role. Meanwhile, a friend may hesitate to identify the mentee's weaknesses because they do not want to appear critical. For individuals just starting their career, a mentor can help set guidelines on professional expectations.
For example, they may clarify the priorities of the role and proper workplace behaviors. These guidelines can help the mentee establish appropriate work habits that enable them to focus and perform their job successfully. These effective work habits can help them be more productive and impress their supervisors.
Between and Sun Microsystems studied the career progress of over 1, employees. Still think mentoring is a fluffy, feel good thing to do? New perspectives lead to fresh ideas, and who knows where fresh ideas could lead you? Usually although not always mentors end up working with younger mentees, sometimes much younger.
Different generations think and act differently. If you are to be an effective leader, you need to have an understanding of how younger generations see things and where they can make a difference to the organisation. The intimacy of a mentoring relationship offers a unique insight into these generational differences. Do you remember a teacher, a coach or a former boss who said or did something that changed the trajectory of your life?
Through a mentoring program, a mentee can gain access to important career contacts sooner. This is especially true in remote work environments. Most mentoring programs require the mentee to consider their future direction or goals they hope to accomplish through the process. By asking younger workers to consider how they can grow through the experience, a mentoring program gives them more control over the direction of their careers.
This includes receiving higher compensation and more promotions, as well as higher career satisfaction. The mentor can impart wisdom developed on the job over time, information and workplace expectations or policies that will help the mentee succeed in the long run. For those who have just found a mentor, we've put together a very comprehensive handbook on how to be a great mentee. Mentorship is important because it provides employees with the opportunity to develop and become more competent in their roles as well as prepare for growth opportunities in the future.
Providing these opportunities is key for organisations that want to attract, retain and engage their talent. Organisations that want to attract talent should build teams and organise projects that promote the social links that employees want. Providing mentoring systems to these employees to facilitate coaching will give them rewards of growth and professional development while giving them a sense of belonging and responsibility towards their role.
Organisations that provide professionally supportive work environments can expect to attract talent and experience greater levels of retention with those they attract. Mentoring less experienced employees promotes their skill development and social ties with the organisation in a way more meaningful than job training. Rather than learning new skills and being evaluated on them, employees want to grow more holistically by building relationships with mentors. When reporting on their success , the program administrators at Randstad shared that:.
The ROI of mentoring is clear both for attracting top talent and employee retention. To learn more about the return on investment organisations experience see our report, Measuring the ROI on Retention at Randstad. Employee engagement is critical to attaining company goals and success. They are the employees that drive the business forward and encourage others to do the same.
There are 5 areas that mentorship helps with employee engagement :. Mentorship enhances employee engagement because it gives high performers personal and professional development. It satisfies their desire for career progression and the development of their knowledge and skillsets. For example, First Horizon , a bank in Tennessee has run several mentoring programs with Together with notable high potential mentoring programs that prepared exemplary employees for leadership positions.
By hand-selecting their top performers to be mentored by leaders they gave them visibility for promotions. Mentorship is the antidote for disengagement. To re-engage employees encourage them to meet regularly with a mentor who will provide them with feedback and act as a sounding board for them to discuss their goals and challenges to overcome to reach them.
Several studies show that diverse workforces are connected to higher revenue. The studies revealed that organisations where women are given senior management roles have a 10 percent increase in cash flow returns on investment. McKinsey found that organizations that are more racial and ethical diverse are 35 percent more likely to see higher revenues.
If your organization wants to create a more equal and inclusive workspace , having a workplace mentoring program is essential. Mentorship allows employees to interact, learn from each other, and grow from the experience. A mentoring program is a way for organisations to give employees the opportunity to be a mentor or receive mentorship from a senior leader.
Mentoring in the workplace is not just a feel-good initiative. There is a plethora of research to support the business advantages that mentoring in the workplace has. There's often a lesson to be learned from someone who's further along in their career. The key is being open to whatever lesson or message that is. You want to create an environment where you're paying that knowledge forward to others. Additional reporting by Skye Schooley and Sammi Caramela.
Some source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article. The key to mentorship and advancement: being proactive.
How to Find a Mentor. Matt D'Angelo. Learn what a mentor is and how you can find the best one to help you reach your professional goals. A mentor is a seasoned professional who informally helps guide a lesser experienced person in their professional endeavors. A mentorship is mutually beneficial for the mentor and mentee. Find an experienced mentor in your network and industry that holds your same values.
This article is for anyone looking for a mentor to help develop their professional skills. What is a mentor? Anyone looking for a mentor should keep these three things in mind: Define what you want out of your career and what you need to learn to get there.
Approach a mentor relationship as if it's a business friendship — be casual and friendly, and try not to ask weird questions like, "Will you be my mentor? We often already have mentors who provide advice in various ways, and all it takes is a little effort from us to grow that connection into an ongoing relationship. What is the difference between a coach and a mentor? What does a mentor do?
How to find a mentor The first step to find a mentor is defining what you want out of your career. Why you should consider working with a mentor A mentor can be a very valuable asset, especially for young, aspiring entrepreneurs, and those new to the world of business. It offers you a new perspective from a seasoned professional. What qualities does a good mentor have? Experience and success At the most basic level, your mentor should have more experience than you and a track record of success.
How to add value to a mentor-mentee relationship As a mentee, it can be easy to fall into a pattern of asking a lot of your mentor without giving anything in return. Business News Daily Contributing Writer. I've worked for newspapers, magazines and various online platforms as both a writer and copy editor. Currently, I am a freelance writer living in NYC.
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