Organisations are always looking for ways to add to their employee value proposition (EVP) and retain amazing staff. Fortunately for them, most employees are similarly looking for ways to get fulfilment and satisfaction out of their work, making this a key area that businesses should prioritise and focus on.
Employees are happy, engaged, and productive when their individual needs and the needs of the organization are aligned. The extrinsic rewards that things like salary and benefits offer are only short term motivators and are not enough to retain employees in the long term as they will not be kept feeling consistently satisfied and fulfilled when only motivated by extrinsic factors. Intrinsic rewards should always be used in conjunction with extrinsic rewards. This helps to ensure that employees have meaningful work that is connected to their own personal and professional development.
This is where workplace mentoring can come in and provide an organisation with a way to leverage their current key talent to provide other team members with a relevant and meaningful coaching experience that will not only benefit the employee through increased professional development, but will also benefit the organisation by being able to utilise the benefits that come from a workforce that is motivated, fulfilled and constantly learning.
What is mentoring in the workplace?
Mentoring in the workplace is an established partnership between colleagues for the purposes of learning and growth. The purpose of workplace mentoring is to connect an employee who has a lot of knowledge and experience with an employee who hasn’t gained the same knowledge or experience as of yet. By having someone who knows more than yourself share advice, offer guidance and be a sounding board for your thoughts, mentoring allows for a multitude of benefits! And not just for the mentee – the experience can be incredibly rewarding for the mentor and also allows them to develop further skills and development with coaching and communication – key skills for great leaders.
Benefits of mentoring in the workplace
Mentorship programs in the workplace leverage existing key leaders to help employees grow and thrive. For this reason, they play an integral role in employee retention and satisfaction due to their ability to provide their workforce with a strategic career development opportunity; a huge advantage for an organisations EVP. Mentorships can also foster a learning culture, which promotes a multitude of organisational benefits such as increased performance, increased employee engagement, innovation facilitation, and retaining top talent.
There’s also a wide range of benefits to the employees who are a part of the mentorship programs which go beyond being offered professional development. These benefits are important to be aware of, as they add a great deal of value to the employee workplace experience provide intrinsic rewards that help foster increased retention rates, employee satisfaction and succession planning:
Employee benefits:
- Receives guidance and support from a respected member of the organisation
- Professional development opportunities
- Increased confidence
- Useful, objective and meaningful feedback
- Grow a personal network within the organisation
- Builds a network of colleagues and expanded knowledge of different areas of the organization
- Having a confidential sounding board for ideas and challenges
- Exposure to new and different perspectives
- Opportunity to learn from other peoples experiences
- Develop communication skills
What’s next?
One of the most impressive things about an effective mentorship program is how far the effects reach. It’s ultimately a win-win for everyone involved. Mentorships are the most effective when they are designed according to specific business needs and when they are built on clearly defined objectives – taking the time to create a mentorship program that provides your workforce and your business with the tools and experience that will most benefit them will be far more successful than quickly implementing a generic style program. A well planned and thoughtfully executed mentorship program will have the capability to reap long term benefits and should be a strategically planned process to see success.
About Employment Innovations
Employment Innovations is one of Australia’s leading providers of employment services designed to increase productivity and ensure compliance. Its services and solutions include all the tools that every Australian small to medium sized employer needs – including workplace advice, legal services, payroll solutions, migration, human resource management and HR software.
Disclaimer
The information provided in these blog articles is general in nature and is not intended to substitute for professional advice. If you are unsure about how this information applies to your specific situation we recommend you contact Employment Innovations for advice.