Mentoring Programs: The Secret to Employee Retention

For business leaders, retaining high-performing employees has always been a huge focus. Research has shown that employee retention is affected most by job satisfaction and environmental factors outside the company (i.e., families, financial obligations, friendships, community relations). A company can’t have much affect on environmental factors, but it can have a major impact on job satisfaction.

How companies have gone about providing job satisfaction has changed over time. I can vouch from years of experience that there isn’t a single magic solution that is going to prevent employee turnover. But what absolutely will help is a solid mentorship program. When employees feel like their future is worth the investment, they are happier and more likely to stay with their companies.

What Does a Successful Mentoring Program Look Like?

Mentoring is all about helping someone build their skills, so they continue to develop within the company. A mentor needs to be reliable and willing to help, especially when the mentee is just starting their role. Here’s what I’ve experienced when being a part of or starting a successful mentoring program:

• Identify people you can trust to be mentors. Mentors should be emotionally intelligent and supportive, and they should want to grow as a person and as a leader. When you are hiring leaders in your company, look for candidates with these fundamental personality traits and build a pool of potential mentors.
• Give clear guidelines for what the relationship should look like. How long will it last? How frequently will they have formal meetings? What are the communication expectations?
• Understand the goal. What is the end game? What improvements should the mentee make? What progress they should make in three months, six months, and one year’s time?

Mentorship is an ongoing process. It doesn’t take place when the mentor feels that performance needs to be improved. The best way for a mentor to help their mentee is to get to know them. Figure out their talents and the work they enjoy doing, so they can find confidence in their role.

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Pairing the Right Mentor/Mentee

A great mentor is someone who has career experience that can share advice and act as a confidant and guide for high-potential employees. Being a mentor takes energy, time and attention, making it tricky to recruit people for the task. But no matter how challenging it is to get the right people on board, that effort is critical to getting any kind of mentoring program off the ground.

When you have identified your mentors, finding the right pair is the next step. It can be difficult knowing who will work best together. Be thoughtful about this pairing, because it can make a huge difference in the mentee’s experience with your company.

• Find a mentor outside of the mentee’s department. A neutral, objective mentor can help the mentee work through any issues that might arise by offering a fresh and unbiased perspective.
• Pair people that have common ground. Be it a hobby outside of work or similar career path, pair two people together that have something they can bond over.
• Allow mentor/mentee relationship to develop over time. Assigning a mentor to someone when they first start might feel a bit forced, especially because the two likely haven’t met before.

Ultimately, it’s up to the mentee to get the most out of the relationship. Like the cliché, “You can lead a horse to water…” the mentor can give all the advice and guidance they have, but if the mentee doesn’t heed it, then nothing will help.

Creating a Mentoring Culture

For a company to truly have a strong mentoring program, there needs to be a culture of promoting from within and creating career paths for their employees. Your mentoring program won’t matter much if there isn’t upward mobility.

A mentor can help their mentee be prepared for these opportunities when they arise and feel confident about taking on more responsibility. Having these relationships is crucial for employee retention.

 

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