Employee engagement is critical for organizational success. Engaged employees are more productive, innovative, and committed to their work. According to employee communications company Haiilo, companies with high employee engagement are 21% more profitable, and a 2017 study by Gallup found that highly engaged workplaces saw 41% lower absenteeism.
However, boosting employee engagement can be a challenging task. Fortunately, there are solutions for tackling it, and one of them is workplace mentoring.
What is workplace mentoring?
Generally speaking, mentoring is a structured relationship between a more experienced employee (the mentor) and a less experienced employee (the mentee) that focuses on personal and professional growth. By providing support, guidance, and feedback, mentors can help mentees develop their skills, gain confidence, and achieve their career goals.
A well-designed workplace mentoring program can help employees feel valued, supported, and invested in their work. To create a successful program, you need to define clear expectations, guidelines, and goals for your mentees. Consider the needs of your company and your employees when designing your program. For example, you might offer one-on-one mentoring, group mentoring, or reverse mentoring.
In this blog post, we will discuss 5 ways company mentoring can boost employee engagement.
1. Building Relationships and Trust
Mentoring is more than just a professional relationship. It's an opportunity for the mentor and mentee to get to know each other, share experiences, and build a strong connection. This connection can help foster trust, which is essential for effective mentoring. Mentors should actively listen to mentees, provide empathy, and be willing to share their own experiences. Mentees should be open to feedback, willing to learn, and show appreciation for the mentor's time and expertise.
2. Providing Personal and Professional Development
Mentoring can provide a unique opportunity for personal and professional development. Mentees can learn new skills, gain insights into different roles and departments, and receive feedback on their performance. Mentors can share their experiences, provide advice, and act as a sounding board for mentees. This development can lead to increased confidence, job satisfaction, and engagement. Furthermore, mentoring can help employees develop the skills and knowledge they need for promotions and career advancement.
3. Improving Communication and Collaboration
Effective communication and collaboration are critical for successful mentoring relationships. By improving communication and collaboration skills, mentees can better interact with their colleagues, customers, and stakeholders. Mentors can help mentees develop their communication skills by providing feedback, modeling effective communication, and suggesting strategies for improving communication. Mentoring can also help bridge communication gaps between different departments, levels of management, and generations.
4. Knowledge sharing
Mentoring allows for knowledge sharing between employees, which can be highly valuable for both mentors and mentees. Mentors can share their expertise and experience with mentees, helping them to develop new skills and perspectives. At the same time, mentees can bring fresh perspectives and ideas to the mentor, leading to mutual learning and growth. Through this knowledge sharing, employees feel more connected to each other and to the organization. This can lead to increased engagement and motivation to contribute to the success of the company. Additionally, knowledge sharing can help to create a culture of continuous learning and improvement, which can be a powerful driver of employee engagement.
5. Encouraging Diversity and Inclusion
Mentoring can also play a vital role in promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace. By fostering diverse mentor-mentee relationships, companies can provide opportunities for underrepresented groups to learn from experienced colleagues. A more inclusive mentoring program can help create a more inclusive workplace, leading to higher employee engagement.
Bring mentoring to your workplace
If you wish to build a mentoring program in your company, you have two options - either you can create it yourself and set up an internal mentoring program, or enlist the help of a specialized organization who will do the work for you in an external mentoring program.
If you decide to go with an external mentoring program, research the various offers to find the company which best suits your needs. At Femme Palette, we will build a tailor-made company mentoring program for you, including matching your employees with mentors from our global community for 1:1 mentoring, support from an Account Manager, live reporting on your mentees’ progress, mentee training, and possible add-ons such as workshops and coaching.
What clients say about our Workplace Mentoring Program
The experience of working with Femme Palette has been impactful and really easy! Throughout the programme we felt supported, with useful reporting insights on progress for the mentees.
Raveena Dhadwal
DEI Business Partner at SThree
Our team got a chance to speak with senior mentors and gain experience through conversations without actually spending months or years of trials and errors themselves.
Pavla Munzarova
CFO at Mews
I've seen quite a few AHA! moments of our mentees, great progress and even shifts of their mindsets over the course of this particular program.
Zuzka Peskova
Head of People & Culture at Livesport
In conclusion, company mentoring can be a powerful tool for improving employee engagement. By building relationships and trust, providing personal and professional development, improving communication and collaboration, knowledge sharing, and encouraging diversity and inclusion, companies can create a more engaged and productive workforce. Investing in employee engagement through mentoring can lead to better business outcomes and a more positive workplace culture.
