Having a mentoring relationship is a unique learning opportunity for both mentor and mentee. It is an opportunity to build a close, confidential, and safe relationship, where all the "stupid" questions can be asked, where the mentor can share knowledge about the workplace, and the mentee can share about own experiences and expectations for the career.
Especially after the pandemic, working remotely is increasing in popularity in many professions, and we see that companies have established mentoring programmes to get employees back into the workplace. Here, mentoring programmes can ease the way, support employees in feeling comfortable and safe in the physical work environment and encourage more informal networking.
In other industries, such as the health sector, working remotely is not an option. However, you may be so busy that there is not much time for socializing with colleagues. There are always new tasks, new demands and new expectations that must be fulfilled. Here, the purpose of mentoring programmes is to provide space for good conversations, with time to think, breathe and feel like part of something bigger.
Retention of graduates
Mentoring programmes become more and more relevant, and it has been proven that they contribute positively to retention - both in private organizations and in the healthcare system. Especially among the younger generations, it takes very little before they decide to leave a job and a company. When the young and recent graduate gets a mentor who is experienced, knows how to find their way around the organization and can talk about opportunities and career paths - in addition to supporting the employee in being successful in the new job - it makes a big difference. "There is a person at work who takes an interest in me as a person and takes the time to listen!"
For both mentee and mentor, the collaboration provides the opportunity to accelerate learning and development. The mentorship ensures that the mentee's knowledge comes into play and turns into real competences, and that the mentor's knowledge and expertise is put into perspective and enhanced through the mentee's questions. It can also happen that the mentor is surprised and has to think in new ways when the mentee brings in new knowledge and challenges the mentor.
Benefits for the organization
Organizations that establish mentoring programmes focus on:
- Creating coherence, connectedness, and a good atmosphere in the workplace.
- Retaining both newly trained and experienced employees.
- Accelerating learning and development for both mentor and mentee.
- Creating an environment that will also attract the right new employees.
with the aim of ensuring a healthy, successful organisation.
How is the mentoring programme a success?
It is easy to initiate a mentoring programme – it is more difficult to ensure that it will be successful! Many mentoring programmes have been initiated with good intentions, but without having researched or recognized the pitfalls. Mentoring programmes require frameworks and guidelines, training of mentors and clarification of expectations with mentees, as well as a good process for matching and initiating the pairs.
Some of the most important questions to clarify before starting a mentoring programme are:
Time – How do we create time for the mentor/mentee conversations in an organization that is already pressed for time?
Competences – Do the selected mentors understand what the role of mentor entails. Do the selected mentors have the right skills for the role?
Expectations – Do mentees understand what a mentor can and cannot help with? Do mentees have a realistic expectation of what the mentor/mentee collaboration can contribute with?
Motivation and readiness – Are the mentors motivated to take on the role, or have they simply been given this task on top of all the other tasks? Are mentees motivated to "get help" from a mentor, or do mentees feel it as a message that they are not competent?
Matching – What would be a good match in this programme? What criteria should we use to match? How can we collect mentors' and mentees' own expectations and wishes, so that they have the opportunity to influence the match.
