Employees these days are very particular about the organisation they want to be part of. With mentorship becoming the number one area of focus for Learning and Development, the demand for mentoring will continue to grow. A mentoring platform plays a crucial role in facilitating these benefits by streamlining the mentorship process within organisations.
We already know that mentorship can be beneficial for both mentors and mentees. But how does an organisation benefit from such efforts too? How does an organisation get its return on investment (ROI) from mentoring?
Why Organisations Need Mentoring: 8 Benefits You Need to Know
We’ve gathered the latest research and data points for you. In this article, we talk about why organisations need mentoring and how an effective mentoring program can be a key factor in realising these benefits. Here are eight areas where your organisation can benefit from mentoring:
Employee Retention
One of the best ways mentorship in the organisation can be measured is through its employee retention rate. Having a high employee turnover cost can cost your organisation. Not only do you have to deal with the cost involved in hiring new employees, but you also have to face recruiting fees and the disruption to your workflow.
This is where mentoring comes into the picture. A good mentor can serve as the bridge between the needs of an individual and the organisation. Employees who take part in a mentoring program are five times more likely to advance in pay grade. Strong mentoring relationships boost your employees’ confidence and leave a positive influence on them, playing a crucial role in employee retention.
Diversity
Having a diverse workplace is not just the right thing to do, it’s good for business. In many countries, organisations are required by law to create a workplace free from discrimination and harassment. Workplaces must ensure that employees have equal opportunity and feel safe at work.
Aside from this law, data shows that diversity is good for business. Businesses with diverse workforces can be up to 33% more profitable. With today’s interconnected workforce, employees want to be part of an organisation that embraces diversity. They would leave their current organisations for a more inclusive one.
With the help of a mentorship program, you can give your employees the support they need to gain knowledge, share experiences, and practice a culture of inclusivity in the workplace.
Graduates
Mentorship programs hold immense value to students and graduates. Both students and graduates are early in their careers and can gain valuable support and career direction from a mentor. Graduates in the workplace often struggle to understand professional skills, stakeholder engagement, how to manage emails and all the unspoken rules of the organisation (“how things are done around here”). Mentors can be their ‘safe space’, the person they can be open with regarding any key challenges or struggles. A mentor can prepare a graduate student for a bright future ahead of them.
It is normal for graduates to feel imposter syndrome as they embark into the professional world. A mentor can help alleviate such feelings by giving them the support they need and fostering a sense of belonging and community. A graduate can also benefit from group mentoring, being connected with other peers who are going through a similar experience.
A mentoring platform supports this mentoring journey by providing resources and a strong mentoring match, ensuring a comprehensive support system as graduates transition into the professional world.
High Potentials
Sometimes, organisations choose to hire from outside (or externally) instead of promoting from within (or internally). However, a Wharton study shows that external hires typically perform worse than those promoted from within. Hiring externally can also result in frustration from your current staff that they are not being considered or promoted for opportunities.
Best practice is for organisations to develop their internal talent to ensure a strong high potential pipeline of potential future talent. By having a mentoring program focused on professional development for ‘high potentials’, you can equip your employees with the skills and knowledge they need for their professional growth and development to become effective leaders before they can get promoted.
With the number of senior leaders set to retire from the workforce, organisations should identify potential leaders from their workforce and prepare them with the skills they need for a future leadership role. In doing this, workplaces will increase their succession plan and future leadership bench strength.
Emerging leaders
Mentorship has forever changed the dynamic of learning in an organisation. Historically speaking, mentoring has always been treated as a one-sided affair with the mentor advising the mentee. In today’s mentorship programs, however, it’s all about give-and-take. The mentor gets to learn from the mentee too. It’s a two-way relationship.
Although mentors have the knowledge and experience to share with their mentees, they can still learn new skills along the way. A good mentor will do more than just chat over a cup of coffee– they draw their mentee out of their comfort zone. It’s no surprise that mentorship produces 46% higher quality leaders overall.
Collaboration
Mentorship is a partnership between a mentor and a mentee. Both parties need to work together so they can achieve their goals. They also need to be on the same page so they can win together.
Think about it this way: you’re both building a house together. For the house to be built properly and correctly, you’ll need an architect and a carpenter. In this case, the architect is the mentor, who guides the carpenter as he puts up the foundation of the house. Without his guidance, the foundation will be poorly built and easy to shake. But once the two work together and collaborate on their goal, they’ll be able to complete it in no time.
A mentoring platform enhances this collaboration by providing tools and resources for effective communication and goal setting, ensuring the mentor-mentee partnership is strong and productive. Mentoring encourages collaboration and sharing of knowledge by 37%.
Wellbeing
HR professionals have attested to how mentorship can provide a positive impact on an individual’s development. Apart from providing them with professional guidance and support, mentorship allows them to experience less stress.
A 2014 study found that mentored employees showed better overall health than those without mentors. A mentor conducts periodic check-ins with his mentee, which provides him a chance to stay motivated to overcome obstacles that may come along the way. Through mentorship, an employee can get clear insight when facing a roadblock.
Productivity and Profit
Mentorship helps keep employees engaged in what they are doing. When employees are engaged, you boost employee productivity by 38% more than disengaged employees.
Organisations with engaged employees outperform those without by 202%. These employees are happier in their jobs and are more motivated and productive.
Book a Demo of Our Online Mentoring Platform to See Results in Action
It’s time you see these results in action. Book a demo with Brancher today and we’ll help you get started in creating a customised mentoring program for your organisation, leveraging our mentoring software.
Let’s start with our AI chemistry matching algorithm - we are the only mentoring platform worldwide to take personality and values into account, a key predictor of mentoring outcome success. With Brancher, we can help you save over $400,000 in administration savings alone, eliminating the tedious process of manually matching mentees and mentors, training participants and providing follow-up support.
Our expert team of Organisational Psychologists and experienced mentoring program managers are ready to assist your organisation in customising your mentoring program, ensuring a responsive, involved, and committed partnership that never disappoints. Additionally, Brancher streamlines the process of scheduling and preparing for meetings by integrating with popular calendar applications, facilitating seamless mentor-mentee interactions. Book in a demo with our team today to learn more.
Resources:
- LinkedIn Learning. (2023). 2023 Workplace Learning Report. https://learning.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/learning/en-us/pdfs/workplace-learning-report/LinkedIn-Learning_Workplace-Learning-Report-2023-EN.pdf
- Knowledge at Wharton. (2007. May 16). Workplace Loyalties Change, but the Value of Mentoring Doesn’t. https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/podcast/knowledge-at-wharton-podcast/workplace-loyalties-change-but-the-value-of-mentoring-doesnt/
- Hunt, Dame Vivian, Yee, Lareina, Prince, Sara, Dixon-Fyle, Sundiatu. (2018, January 18). Delivering through diversity. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/delivering-through-diversity
- Deloitte University. (2017). Unleashing the Power of Inclusion. The Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative (BJKLI). https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/about-deloitte/us-about-deloitte-unleashing-power-of-inclusion.pdf
- The Association for Talent Development (ATD). (2017, November). Mentoring Matters: Developing Talent With Formal Mentoring Programs. https://www.td.org/press-release/new-research-by-atd-mentoring-helps-employees-and-leads-to-better-business
- Dr. J van der Merw, (2014, May). How mentorship is perceived to contribute to the well-being of an employee in an explosives manufacturing organisation. HJ Botha. https://repository.nwu.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10394/10573/Botha_HJ.pdf?sequence=1
- Photiades, Melissa Dawn. (2014, July 2). 6 Eye-Opening Employee Engagement Statistics. TalentCulture. https://talentculture.com/blog/6-eye-opening-employee-engagement-statistics/
- Dale Carnegie, (2022, September 27). 4 Ways to Engage and Retain Employees in Today’s Hybrid Workplace. https://www.dalecarnegie.com/blog/employee-engagement-infographic/