For many individuals, starting a new job can be exciting and, perhaps, a little intimidating. Training can be demanding and diving into a new role quickly can sometimes be a challenge. Incorporating a mentorship program into an organization’s management strategy, however, can be a seamless way of integrating new employees into the organization.
Pairing a new employee with a seasoned worker does not always fair well; the process is not always productive and the information may not be adequately transferred and understood by the new employee. Instead, implementing a mentorship program for willing participants to be accurately matched with a mentor or mentee would have a great impact on the training procedure as a whole. By creating a questionnaire for willing mentors and mentees to answer regarding their communication styles, their career objectives, and what they’re looking for in a mentor or mentee, mentors and mentees will be matched with an individual based on similar interest, personalities, and goals.
While a mentorship program is a wonderful onboarding tool, it can be developed for so much more than that. A mentorship program has the ability to create an open and inviting culture for employees to share their ideas and thoughts for improving procedures and the company as a whole. According to Accountemps report, “93 percent of the workers surveyed said goal setting is important to their work performance.” This discussion, however, does not always happen with their managers. Mentors are able to assist with goal setting by providing feedback on performance, as well as recognizing them for their achievements. Additionally, mentors can provide access to additional training and development opportunities in an effort for the mentee to reach their goals.
It is important to note that mentoring relationships vary from person to person and from one organization to another. Establishing the roles and responsibilities of mentors and mentees is equally as important. Mentors are not supervisors and can offer guidance and advice, but they do not dole out tasks and tell mentees how to do their jobs. To ensure both parties are benefiting from mentoring, scheduling regular check-ins via email or phone is important, but it is even more crucial to incorporate face-to-face check-ins.
The benefits of incorporating mentorship into a management strategy are astounding. There is an opportunity for an increased transfer of knowledge, higher job satisfaction, professional development, and accountability, Additionally, mentorship lends to leadership development, demonstrates to superiors the ability to take on more responsibility, and increases the likelihood of reaching goals and objectives for both mentor and mentee. Moreover, mentorship increases the diversity of skill sets of individuals by pairing employees with different areas of expertise and generations.
Boeing is a great example of a company that incorporated a mentorship program into their onboarding and management strategy. Boeing believes that mentoring provides the opportunity for leaders to learn and define and model leadership. Additionally, mentorship increases the ability to retain and develop talent. The program at Boeing includes orientation, training and an agreement that establishes objectives, goals, and definition of roles, as well as regular evaluations and check-ins once a month. The combination creates a mentoring program that is satisfactory to both the mentor and the mentee. “Past research tells us while mentors are overwhelmingly satisfied with mentoring programs, mentees often are not. And that defeats the whole purpose.”