Mentor programs in business

These vets have been through both good times and bad in the industry. The primary role of a mentor in business is that they give guidance to their less-experienced colleagues. Some of the most important contributions that a business mentor can provide is that they can offer valuable feedback and reassurance. Moreover, a mentor can also provide priceless help to the mentee by providing the latter access to his or her extensive networks and resources. Business mentoring programs can surely give an employee the much needed help and experience in order to succeed in the company and progress in their career.

With all those descriptions and roles of a business mentor in mind, having them on board can be so advantageous! The biggest benefit of these mentors are that they do this for free usually volunteers and that the vets are more than willing to be of help to a younger and less-experienced coworker. There are different reasons why having a mentor is a vital key to success for an aspiring executive. Most importantly, these all-important anecdotes and snippets of wisdom cannot be read in any self-help books or seen in any motivational videos.

A study on executive coaching done by Stanford in found that eighty percent of business leaders shared that they have received mentorship in one form or the other. While it is crucial that any aspiring business leader learn through their own experiences and failures, having a mentor will definitely speed up the learning process.

Having business mentoring programs in the workplace is highly recommended. While formal training can definitely be of much help, i t can only help an employee to a certain extent. However, pair it up with an effective mentoring program, then you might have a winning formula for your organization! For example, pairing up a new hire with veteran employee can be a great activity for the former to see firsthand how the skills learned in new hire training are applicable to real-life work scenarios.

These strategies can also be used to train and develop a high-potential employee too. Take management skills, for example. Aside from formal training, can also be learned through mentoring.

Pairing a potential manager with a more experienced and high-performing business leader can help the former get to know more about the nature of work, what competencies need to be developed, and what specific processes must be mastered.

With all the aforementioned benefits of business mentoring programs, it would make sense to implement these strategies in the workplace.

Not only is mentoring in business a great complement to your training programs, but it will improve career progression, employee development, and staff motivation. These, in turn, will ultimately result to better performance, highly skilled employees, and better retention. With that said, here are five steps on how to start your own programs for mentoring in the workplace:. First and foremost, mentoring programs in the workplace need an underlying purpose, which will define the overall objectives of the program.

This not only helps to ensure that they are developing their employees which results in great returns for them , but also really helps their employees, as one KPMG employee reports:. At every step of the CPA process I was surrounded by colleagues and mentors who had successfully navigated the program. Their willingness to mark cases and support me along the way was phenomenal. KPMG mentors can speak to the CPA exam as well as anyone else, which makes their support and advice relevant and trusted.

Intel takes a slightly different approach to many other Fortune companies. Rather than focus on hierarchy connecting junior employees with senior employees , Intel focuses on specific knowledge transfer and domain skills that are in demand right now. This philosophy is grounded by the fact that everyone has something to learn — and everyone has something to teach. This results in more engagement with the program, as well as a deeper sense of autonomy and mastery for the employees, which serve an innovative company like Intel very well.

Zynga wants their new grads to be challenged and integrated into the culture — but also wants their mentors to be challenged too through reverse mentoring, with fresh new employees bringing new ideas and an outside perspective. After six months, you can apply for other positions within Zynga and try a new team or even a new location.

The primary role of a mentor in business is that they give guidance to their less-experienced colleagues. Some of the most important contributions that a business mentor can provide are that they can offer valuable feedback and reassurance. Moreover, a mentor can also provide priceless help to the mentee by providing the latter access to his or her extensive networks and resources.

Business mentoring programs can surely give an employee the much-needed help and experience in order to succeed in the company and progress in their career. The trouble is, all entrepreneurs are inexperienced the first time they launch a business. Mentors are the way to achieve this. But, how do you find mentors? There are dozens of ways, but these 10 have my highest recommendation:. Networking events are designed to put people in contact with one another, making these events perfect opportunities to expand your professional network.

For example, there might be a startup incubator with an open workspace where you can get some work done and still meet some new people in the industry, or else a weekly brainstorming meeting among creative minds at the downtown library.

Keep your eyes peeled, and attend whatever you can. Small Business Development Centers SBDCs are independent organizations that provide resources, expertise, and advice to emerging entrepreneurs in major cities across the country. Drawing Small Business Administration federal funds, state and local government funds and resources form the private sector, you should be able to find free consultation at an SBDC near you.

SCORE is an organization dedicated to helping individuals start, run and grow their own businesses. There are currently more than Through SCORE, you can request a free face-to-face meeting with a mentor to discuss your business idea — and you may be able to form a more lasting partnership.

Related: support groups for small business owners. Are there any industry expos coming up in your surrounding area? Conferences or speaking events regarding your industry?