Mentoring can provide valuable insight and advice to help you and your workforce succeed in business. In fact, a good mentor can provide guidance on how to accomplish your goals and overcome obstacles when you get stuck along the way. Furthermore, he or she can help you gain confidence in your ability to achieve these goals. In this article, we look at the 5 benefits of having a good mentor.
But first of all, let’s look at how mentoring is different from training. After all, businesses spend time and considerable money training their workforce to be more effective and productive. So, what benefits can mentoring bring to a company (and to employees) that training does not?
How is Training different from Mentoring?
- First, some context. Training is geared toward the “average learner.” It examines the entire group of trainees. The facilitators then create content based on where the group is now and where they need to be. Participants have varying levels of knowledge and experience. Typically, learning occurs in the classroom and (hopefully) transfers to the workplace.
- The second significant difference is the outcome. In training, skills are typically limited to specific duties – how to complete compliance paperwork, for instance. We believe that long-term and practical skills are gained through mentoring. Growth is intended to assist the mentee in achieving his/her long-term goals. For example, learning how to successfully implement Lean tools, set up a Kanban board or carry out a Kaizen event.
5 Benefits of Having a Good Mentor
1) Company Values & Culture
Successful businesses that have incorporated mentorship into their company culture report a higher level of employee engagement. This in turn can impact your bottom line. A good mentor will help support your business’s values and goals by sharing their own experiences and providing a Lean Practitioner’s perspective on Lean tools like Kaizen, DMAIC (Define Measure Analyse Improve Control) or PDCA (Plan Do Check Act).
And mentorship works both ways—it doesn’t just benefit your business. It benefits you as well. With such direct access to another industry expert, you have an opportunity to expand your knowledge and learn new skillsets that can benefit you both personally and professionally.
Having a mentor can help you learn how to handle challenging situations. Your mentor may be able to offer guidance when something unexpected happens at work. The ability to bounce ideas off someone who is objective and experienced can provide invaluable insight when things get tough.
A good mentor makes you more efficient. Mentors offer valuable insight into processes, systems and workflows. A mentor’s experience allows him or her to provide real-world solutions for problems you may encounter in your role.
2) Personalised Learning for Sustainable Results
Learning programs that are highly structured and one-size-fits-all do not work for everyone.
Mentoring enables employees to engage in learning and development at a time that works for them. This is especially useful when their workload is heavy. It makes learning more accessible and reduces stress by allowing employees to schedule regular meetings.
Now more than ever, flexibility in learning and development programmes has become even more important as remote working arrangements have become the norm.
High-quality mentorships can help improve personalised learning strategies. These are vital to sustainable personal and professional development. As a result, your employees will feel empowered to take on challenges and deliver real results.
A good mentor will encourage you to do more than just talk about what you want. Moreover, they will push you out of your comfort zone and into action. This is where sustainable results come from.
3) Succession Planning & Leadership Development
Training managers isn’t just about motivating and inspiring employees. Moreover, it’s about getting them to look at issues in new ways. A mentor can bring experience, perspective and challenge thinking to your team – qualities that can accelerate development and improve performance.
By paving the way for high-potential employees, mentoring can help with succession planning and leadership development. Employee promotion from within has numerous advantages, including lower training costs, increased employee retention, and improved morale. Some employees also find that working with a mentor helps them develop new skills and move up through the organisation faster than they would otherwise.
- 91% of mentored employees are satisfied with their jobs.
- Mentored employees have a more positive attitude toward their organisations as a whole.
- Mentored employees are far less likely to quit their jobs, with mentee retention rates of 72%.
4) New Perspectives
A mentor offers a fresh perspective on an existing problem or idea. You may be so invested in an idea or project that you’re not able to see it clearly enough to improve upon it. A mentor can take what you’ve created and challenge you on your assumptions about why it works, how it works, and if there are ways to make it better. A great mentor will bring more than just a new perspective. They also have the expertise that can help you improve your skills as well as direct experience from which you can learn.
5) Employee Retention
Employers are being forced to deal with the Great Resignation as more and more staff leave. And this is a worldwide issue.
According to recent reports, between 20% and 40% of employees in the United States and the United Kingdom are considering leaving their current jobs. In Ireland approximately 40% of 1000 respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “my future career lies outside of this organisation”. This was true whether they worked for global corporations, Irish-owned businesses, small businesses, or the government.
It’s one thing to hire good people; it’s another to have them stay. Today, more than ever, people are looking for reasons to move on from their jobs. Mentors act as your extension in hiring and keeping employees happy by proactively reaching out, connecting with employees in ways that you can’t always do alone.
How to Choose a Good Mentor
Choosing a good mentor can be difficult but if you are looking for process improvement, then you need a mentor who has lean business experience. In other words, you want a mentor who knows what they’re doing and whom you can trust.
At LeanTeams, we have experienced and knowledgeable mentors who have walked where you want to go. First and foremost, we work with you to achieve your business goals.
They are all experts in Lean Thinking and we individually match our mentors to your team members. We value learning and are active listeners. Our team treat everyone with respect and always provide constructive feedback. Finally, our aim is to add value to your teams and your business.
Our team of mentors are ready to give you access to expert knowledge to Lean tools and methodologies.
Conclusion
If you’re looking to make a real difference with your business and you’re ready to get started, then consider the power of 1:1 mentoring. One to one mentoring provides you with the necessary knowledge and skills required to run your business with efficiency and minimal waste.
We hope you enjoyed reading about mentoring for success and the 5 benefits of having a good mentor. You may also be interested in reading our articles on 9 signs your business processes are broken and why companies are turning to online experiential learning for training & development. All our blogs are available to read here. Please connect with us on Linkedin and Twitter.
