Make Mentoring Work for Your Business

Many businesses invest in training and development for their employees whether traditional classroom style workshops, online training, or through the hiring of a training company that comes into the workplace.


But mentoring is often overlooked by some organizations, and yet, mentoring could be instrumental in helping key employees develop the skills that they need. Mentoring should be in addition to other training resources and not instead of, but it does provide the perfect opportunity for employees to work alongside their mentor learning key skills.
The mentor sets targets for their charges and helps them achieve their goals. This gives them something to aim for, and it’s a considerable aid for their professional development. But it’s also useful on a personal level, too, as mentoring develops a connection between the two people, and it enables them to informally discuss individual growth, learn how to resolve issues, analyse training requirements, and any other workplace issues. It’s about managing how they work and learning how to conduct themselves under pressure.
The aim of mentoring is that the individual starts to learn the most efficient way of working and can take advantage of learning from the best, understanding and learning the tips and techniques that make for the best future manager or leader.  Mentoring offers both professional and personal development, with the individuals involved maintaining a strong relationship with each other. There will be regular informal meetings that take place over a period of time and involve a variety of circumstances so that every aspect of business can be gleaned.
As well as the ongoing development, this process also offers the chance for the employees to develop new leadership skills so that their morale develops as well as abilities to handle any number of difficult situations. Even remote workers can benefit from mentoring, providing they can use a service such as Skype and be able to connect with their mentor. It still affords the employees the chance to increase their skill set and knowledge. It is worth stating that mentoring works best on a one-to-one basis with both parties being present in an informal environment, but with the increase of workers out in the field or those working from home, remote mentoring is still of benefit. An employee can have various mentors, depending on the areas of development required, and the results are highly significant, promoting increased confidence, increased loyalty to the business, and a chance to learn from the best.