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The benefits of a mentorship program are many, including better decision-making, more engaged team members and reduced turnover.

How to build a mentorship program that yields measurable results

Investing in a formal mentorship program can lead to lower turnover, better employee engagement and stronger company culture, executive search firm The Elliot Group says

Connie Paris is a senior vice president with The Elliot Group, a retained executive search firm with expertise in the restaurant, hospitality, retail, and service sectors. For more than 35 years, The Elliot Group has been globally recognized for its thought leadership and human capital knowledge. This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of Nation’s Restaurant News.

A mentor can be a huge benefit to the strategic development of talent. Of the leaders we’ve placed across the restaurant and hospitality world, many — even those in senior or C-level roles — have sought seasoned council. For both organizations and professionals, the benefits of a mentorship program are many, including better decision-making, higher salaries, more engaged team members, and reduced turnover. Let’s look at some key highlights that make a productive mentor-mentee relationship and why companies should strive for lasting mentorship programs.

Put culture first

Professional mentorships can and do materialize organically, but if a company wants to actively encourage mentorship across its ranks, a formalized, leadership-backed initiative with clear member benefits is the more effective approach.

Programs like these can only thrive in organizations that are culturally able to sustain them and that embody transparency, inclusivity, and confidentiality — three critical pillars of a healthy learning environment.

Workplaces that can cultivate those values will find their team members are more comfortable building mentorships and opening up to their peers.

Make it mutually beneficial

In the mentor role, professionals are set to gain critical skills that will improve them as leaders, strengthen their communication abilities and drive personal change. In addition, getting to know the next generation of talent can offer insights into how they’re best managed and nurtured as well as how they can be set up to benefit the entire organization.

Effective mentors bring both their experiences and their humanity to the table. Mentorships are professional relationships, but the quality of the guidance relies on awareness of the other person’s career path, goals, hopes, and life outside the workplace. We recommend that mentors make an effort to know and understand their mentees. A key skill of an effective mentor is the ability to provide genuine advice based on true life experiences. By sharing their experiences and telling stories of their own professional and personal growth — both the successes and the failures — mentors build their own credibility and serve their mentees better.

Identify the right connections

Pairing the right people is key, and understanding the mentee’s goals is the first step to creating a valuable relationship. For mentees, that means identifying their goals and clarifying what they want from a mentor. Is it to propel career advancements? To test ideas? Each person’s motivations will be unique.

A common misconception is that a mentor should be someone in a directly senior role, or at least someone in the same field. Neither of these is the case. In fact, having a boss as a mentor can get complicated fast. That narrow focus also can lead to missed opportunities for cross-disciplinary learning.

Connect mentorship to measurable results

Sustaining a mentorship program means showing results. Leaders of mentorship programs should identify the metrics that matter to your business and start measuring those connections. After all, a program that can prove real business benefits, is far more likely to earn unanimous buy-in.

Measuring other cultural initiatives, which don’t always tie directly back to the bottom line, can be difficult. But in our experience, mentorship programs boost employee retention, bolster morale, and improve brand image. Together, these can build an inclusive workplace culture that encourages growth and leadership for all employees.

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