Why You Need to Develop a Workplace Mentoring Program

A common characteristic of all successful companies is that they know how to attract and retain an engaged and qualified work force. Mentoring is one tool they use to ensure their employees are constantly learning to facilitate improved performance across the board. Below are several benefits of building and implementing a strong and effective workplace mentoring program for government employees, may of which are outlined in “How to Build a Successful Mentoring Program” by MBA@UNC, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s online MBA program.

Mentoring helps you build strong leaders

According to a recent HR & Talent Management article, 67% of managers are not actively engaged in the career development of their workers because they don’t know how to coach employees. Companies often select managers based on their leadership potential, but never commit to fully developing them. However, mentoring managers makes them better leaders by increasing their leadership abilities and skills.

Mentoring leads to better employee retention

A Right Management study reveals that companies that mentor their employees are four times less likely to lose employees compared to companies that don’t have mentoring programs. That’s because taking the time to mentor employees shows them that you care about the workers as individuals – they’re not just cogs in a machine.

Mentoring improves the quality of your workforce

A part of the mentoring process involves identifying an area that needs improvement, and then working to enhance that area or diminish that deficit. Often times there are new workers who struggle to learn all of the steps required to perform a certain job task or a traditional process has changed, and experienced employees find it difficult to adapt. Mentoring can help employees learn how to better excel at their job. When there is improvement across the board, the quality of a company’s workforce also improves.

Mentoring makes for more productive workers

When employees are not confident performing their jobs, they tend to procrastinate, and/or they tend to work at a slower pace because of their uncertainty. Mentoring invalidates doubt and allows employees to be certain about the right course of action. This in turn allows employees to work more efficiently and therefore be more productive employees.

Mentoring allows employees to become more qualified to transition into management positions

Ideally, companies will promote workers from within the organization. But this is only possible when the existing workers have the skills and expertise necessary to move up through the ranks. Mentoring helps companies relay and reinforce the organization’s goals, expectations, and processes, and this knowledge equips workers with the tools they need to prove their value and advance their career within the organization.

Mentoring facilitates stronger relationships

There are several types of mentoring programs, including one-on-one mentoring, group mentoring, electronic mentoring, and peer group mentoring. No matter which program you use, each type of mentoring program involves two-way communication, information sharing, and trust. These are three elements designed to build trusting relationships and strengthen interpersonal interactions.  

Mentoring provides a bridge to the Millennial workforce

By the year 2020, 46% of all workers will be Millennials, and research shows that they place a high value on mentoring. At least 66% of Millennial workers responding to a recent survey said they want a mentoring relationship. Of those surveyed, 80% expressed interest in receiving regular feedback from their immediate boss and 89% of respondents said that continuously learning new things on the job is important. While Millennials may have a reputation for using digital devices to find information and answers, when it comes to their jobs, they prefer personal interaction.

Mentoring helps your organization to stand out

While mentoring programs are on the rise, not all organizations have raced to embrace them. The companies that do will stand out from their competition as organizations that are in step with the future, and in tune to the importance of developing and nurturing employees.