Mentorship programs are becoming an important part of the modern-day workplace. Consider the fact that 83% of workers have participated in a mentoring program and admit that their experience positively influenced their desire to stay with an organization. Furthermore, 56% of Americans have had a professional mentor or have one now.
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With all the different workplace mentorship programs out there and their growing popularity among younger generations, ensuring your mentors have the right resources is important. Below are five resources you want to make sure your organization’s mentors have.
1. Employee Assessments and Data
Allow mentors to access their mentees’ training assessment scores and self-assessments, career maps, and any personality and performance assessments.
These assessments and data will give mentors valuable insight into the mentees they’re working with, such as what professional goals their mentees are pursuing, where their strengths and weaknesses are, etc. But of course, make sure that mentees consent to disclosing this information and data with their mentors, too.
2. Leadership Development Programs
Being a mentor often entails leadership, so ensure your organization’s mentors have access to leadership development programs. In such programs, they’ll learn how to offer advice, set a professional standard, coach employees, etc.
For more insight, read “3 Tips for Training and Developing Leaders Your Employees Will Respect.”
3. Videos and On-Demand Content
As mentors work with their mentees, they’ll have their own questions on how to best help or support them and may need some on-demand resources to refer to or use.
Provide mentors with helpful manuals or on-demand video content that they can access or even share with their mentees. If a mentee is applying for a promotion, a mentor could access videos on how to tackle an internal interview and how to update or improve a résumé, for example, before sharing that information with the mentee.
4. Templates, Worksheets, and Forms
Have worksheets that mentors can use when setting goals with their mentees or when they’re tracking what’s discussed during their meetings. Also, have a repository of helpful forms and templates mentors can use and share with their mentees, including checklists and calendars.
5. Mentor or Coach
Sometimes, mentors need their own mentors. Mentors can benefit from peer mentors who are also mentoring others, as they would be able to swap best practices and approaches. They might also benefit from a master mentor themselves, depending on their role, tenure, and industry.
If you want your organization’s mentors to be successful, ensure they have at least most of the five resources listed above.