Here are five compelling stats that you’ll want to consider as you develop and manage your mentorship programs, according to an Olivet Nazarene University study.
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54% Claim That They Don’t Currently Have a Mentor
This statistic is concerning, as 76% of those individuals who do have a mentor view their mentoring relationship as being important to their overall success.
Mentors, especially those who are within the same industry as their mentees, help their mentees better understand how to navigate long-term career paths and trajectories. And that inspires those mentees to be more productive and engaged at work on a daily and long-term basis, which also boosts overall organizational performance. Furthermore, mentors are critical to engaging and retaining Millennials.
61% Say Their Mentor-Mentee Relationships Developed Naturally
While your HR and L&D departments can develop more formal and compulsory mentorship programs, you might want, instead, to focus your efforts on offering additional support and resources to those mentor-mentee relationships that naturally develop.
Instead of focusing on assigning mentor-mentee participants and pairings, for instance, focus on developing resources that existing mentor-mentee pairings can use to take advantage of their relationship.
Fifty-nine percent of respondents also claimed that they don’t work toward formal goals and that their interactions are “casual and loose.” So, develop resources that mentor-mentee pairs can use to formulate official goals and to track their progress toward those goals amongst themselves.
41% of Mentees Claim That It’s Difficult to Get Time with Their Mentor
Offer mentor-mentee pairings tools that help them easily schedule time together. Offer them access to cloud-based calendar scheduling tools, as well as virtual communications tools, so that they can connect virtually if needed.
Currently, mentors and mentees barely meet in person once a month and only spend around 4 hours per month together. To maximize the effectiveness of your mentorship programs, make it easy for participants to connect and schedule time with one another.
Average Length of Mentor-Mentee Relationships Is Around 3.3 Years
Mentor-mentee relationships could last longer if they lasted when mentees switch jobs. Currently, 66% of respondents claimed that their relationships with their mentors don’t last when they switch jobs.
While there could be multiple factors contributing to this, if you want these mentor-mentee relationships to last longer, work to establish ways that mentor-mentee pairings can continue to connect with each other and track career progress once they acquire new jobs.
67% Claim That Their Mentor Did Not Also Manage Them
When supporting mentor-mentee relationships and developing and managing mentorship programs, it’s important to closely monitor pairings that involve managers who mentor the employees they also oversee.
Managers—especially bad managers and ill-trained managers—are consistently found to be the leading cause of stress inside the workplace. So, ensure mentees aren’t paired with a manager who also stresses them out. As you develop and manage your mentorship programs, keep the above statistics in mind if you want them to be successful.