The Importance of Mentorship
Loading...Finding a mentor that is your perfect match can be a beneficial and energizing relationship. If you’re someone looking to mentor, you’ll need a set of steps to guide you. It’s a two-way street and both participants must be well-equip to get the most out of the experience. Additionally, it is important for organizations to consider establishing formal mentorship programs, as they will reap many benefits from the decision.
Are you ready to become the best mentor you can be?
Being a Mentor
A mentor’s role is to help guide those who seek to further themselves in their career and life. They are there to make sure professional development happens at the right pace for the individual they are mentoring and that they have the right tools to succeed. When deciding if mentoring is the right move for you, understand that it takes:
- Time and energy. This may sound obvious, but mentoring will take time off of your schedule and chances are, if you’re successful, your schedule is packed. Be sure you are ready to set aside some real time to be of help to someone else. If looking at your schedule overwhelms you, right now might not be the best time. If you find you do have time to give to someone who could use your expertise, be sure to bring the energy necessary to guide and listen.
- Brain power. Being a mentor requires you to share more than just what you do, but rather requires you to dig into the specifics of the tactics and strategies of how it is you do it. That’s a major reason why you have been approached to mentor in the first place! You have those details down, now be sure to share the most relevant information with your mentee.
- The desire to inspire. Chances are, your mentee found you because you specifically accomplished what they wish to accomplish in their own lives. Take this opportunity to model honest humility. Share your own trial and tribulations and inspire your mentee to overcome their own by being their cheerleader. When you show you make mistakes like any human, yet still achieved your goals, you will inspire your mentee to persevere.
Establishing a Mentorship Program
The role of a mentor may vary, dependent on the scenario in which you have found yourself becoming a mentor. In every field, a mentor can be that difference-maker in someone’s career. We encourage organizations to create mentorship programs that allow for this relationship to grow and bloom. When employees feel supported, they are inspired to do their best work. Organizations can capitalize from their own employees when they build on talent, profiting from high performing, innovative teams. As a mentor, you can watch your mentee learn and accomplish great things within your very own organization.
Establishing a mentorship program gives organizations an opportunity to:
- Show the company cares. You wouldn’t give a child a bike and expect them to pedal off on their own right away. Mentoring programs show the organization truly cares about the people they hire and want to see them grow and succeed. A mentor is there to guide from the beginning and makes mentees feel they have someone they can lean on.
- Extend the skills of employees. If the mentor is sharing their knowledge and competencies, mentees are learning and growing in their roles with little fear of taking on new challenges. Better trained individuals are simply more engaged.
- Create a cohesive structure. Your teams will benefit from being on the same page regarding levels of skillset and will find it easier to perform at a unified high-level. When you have a mentor who really knows the ropes of your organization, it is easier to build key relationships across the wider organization, creating a tighter overall organizational bond between employees.
- Ensure happy employees. Happy employees are simply more likely to stay. When the above happen, employees are motivated, skilled, and doing their best work. Turnover rates are dramatically lowered when mentorship programs are in place. Additionally, mentees will likely become inspired to mentor when the time is right, keeping the culture alive and well.
