11 Useful Benefits of Workplace Mentorship

1. Develops New Managers 

Managers are the cornerstone of every successful business. Your managers have a significant effect on almost every aspect of your organization, including recruitment, employee retention, and even your business' success. While managers play an important role, many of them aren't given the tools or support they need to truly maximize their potential in the workplace. Companies that invest in mentorships can help these individuals build their skills, boost their confidence, and improve their overall work experience.  

2. Helps Retain Talent 

All companies are looking for qualities of good employees when recruiting. After all, your high-potential employees work harder than others and bring more value to your business. While many employees have the qualities you're looking for, they may not be able to reach their true potential without your help. By showing you care about their professional growth with a mentorship program, you can retain top talent and train them to become successful.  

3. Promotes Inclusion 

Mentoring not only helps you retain the best of the best, but it can also support your inclusion efforts. Instead of constantly hiring managers outside of the company, you can develop a mentorship program that trains and promotes from within. This allows you to retain and train your underrepresented employees for future leadership roles and career growth.  

4. Saves Time  

Mentorship programs can increase productivity and save time in the workplace. With mentors, employees can work with leadership to learn different ways to reduce the time needed to finish tasks. Mentors can also decrease the formal training required for employee onboarding by working one-on-one with new hires. 

5. Strengthens Company Culture 

A mentorship program can further impact your company culture as it allows you to demonstrate your commitment to your employees. With a mentorship program, you can increase retention while making your employees feel cared for, ultimately strengthening your workplace culture and making your employees happy to be at work.  

6. Increases Employee Engagement 

Mentoring can increase employee engagement by allowing them to work directly with someone that they admire. Employees with mentors typically feel more valued for the work they do, which can raise their overall work performance and wellness. When your employees are fulfilled, they are more likely to be engaged in their work, which means more dedication and fewer mistakes.  

7. Improves Recruitment  

Most job seekers are looking for more than just a job; they're looking for an opportunity that will help them grow and support their career goals. Mentorship can help your company attract high-quality candidates who care about their career development, allowing you to save on resources since these individuals are less likely to leave a job soon after taking it.  

8. Augments Shared Knowledge 

Your employees will always be learning something new at your organization, which can help boost the shared knowledge at the workplace. Knowledge sharing improves collaboration and helps more employees learn how to do their jobs better. Mentoring programs promote knowledge sharing as more individuals from different backgrounds and ways of thinking come together to collaboratively complete projects. Two heads are better than one, and increasing shared knowledge in your workplace can help all of your employees efficiently solve problems.  

9. Raises Workplace Happiness 

As more employers realize that the happiness of their employees is just as important as their bottom line, they're looking for ways to help reduce their stress and anxiety. While you can't completely prevent stress in the workplace, you can help decrease it. When employees have an issue at work, they may not always want to bring it to their manager or other team members.  

A workplace mentor can help lower stress in the workplace by allowing employees to have someone to turn to for guidance, which can reduce stress and make employees feel more valued.  

10. Builds Strong Teams 

Employees involved in mentorships will be more inspired to give back and help others. While an employee is getting support from a mentor, that employee can learn how to support team members and assist them in overcoming obstacles.  

11. Enables Reverse Mentoring 

Mentoring doesn't only influence the quality of work and life for the mentee; it can impact the mentor as well. Even though mentors may be more experienced or have been at the company longer than another employee, they can learn from their mentees. After all, everyone has different experiences. For example, a mentee may come from a firm that did things a little bit differently, allowing them to share what they learned to help improve the mentor's productivity.