It's no secret that providing new professionals with a mentor or coach can positively impact their careers and the company they serve. According to Guider, "87% of mentors and mentees feel empowered by their mentoring relationships and have developed greater confidence."
In recent decades, places of business have gravitated towards more prescribed methods of training new employees. Instead of one-on-one apprenticeships or mentorships, professionals now receive much of their on-site training from interactive programs, assigned reading, and video tutorials.
Medical, music and even professional sports are examples of industries that still employ a mentorship and coaching approach to training their experts. Notably, these industries do not simply throw just anyone into mentor or coach positions.
They take into deep consideration who is a true master at their craft and empower those professionals to pass on their knowledge to the new generation of professionals. As a result, they reap the benefits of providing each new professional with a knowledgeable field expert prepared to take them under their wing.
With over 30 years of experience in coaching, I've had many first-hand experiences that have led me to advocate for this approach. Here are a few of the key benefits for businesses who take a coaching and mentoring process to train their professionals:
One of the top coaching benefits is the result of new professionals feeling connected and deeply supported by their mentor(s). In addition, employees feeling supported by their company is linked to many residual perks, including employee retention, company loyalty, higher profits, and even more.
If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Would you feel more valued if a company dedicated time and payroll to having someone mentor you than if they stuck you in front of a computer to learn in solitude?
Companies that fail to make their professionals feel valued, supported, and a part of the team often have low employee retention rates. The inability to retain employees can result in reduced profits, low-quality services, and loss of time and funds.
Losing quality professionals can leave a company at risk of being run by a new generation of employees that haven't received proper training. Consequently, this can also lead to lower performance from the company as a whole and loss of profits.
Professionals who are mentored and coached by the industry's finest experts are likely to grow and develop into well-rounded professionals themselves. Being mentored and coached by an industry expert allows new generation professionals to absorb more intricate knowledge than what they will receive from a computer screen or book.
As an added perk, "Mentees are promoted 5 times more often than those without mentors" and "mentors themselves are 6 times more likely to be promoted (Guider)." Thus, the master to apprentice method of training professionals creates a positive spiral of fulfilling opportunities for both mentees and mentors.
As it turns out, junior professionals want to learn and connect with a mentor in their industry and company. As reported by Forbes, "76% of people think mentors are important, but only 37% have one." Unfortunately, many companies have turned away from a mentorship approach to training and have replaced them with cheaper training alternatives.
Although it sometimes costs companies more payroll dollars to adopt a mentorship program, the long-term benefits are guaranteed to pay for themselves. For more information about the benefits of coaching in business, I invite you to check out my book Lift: The Nature & Craft of Expert Coaching.