The Importance of Mentoring

Many firms have new staff joining them fresh from college, and while they are quite intelligent, they have limited business experience. You need to create an environment for them to “learn the ropes,” so they can become more valuable very quickly.

One of the best ways to help any new staff grow within the organization is to assign a mentor to them. Now the choice of who you assign is critical, as they must be able to communicate in the same manner, which means they must be age-appropriate. While you may have many senior staff who are quite knowledgeable, they may not be able to teach what they know if they do not communicate the same way. You can also use someone who is of a much younger age group to help a senior staff member deal with issues that are very new to them.

You may also find that you have existing staff that, while they are experienced, seem to have trouble handling some business situations. In this case, giving them the opportunity to have a mentor can make a big difference in their ability to grow in the organization. While offering the opportunity to have a mentor to guide them can be quite beneficial, you need to find the right match in personalities. Ask your staff member to prepare a list of skills they feel they need to improve, and perhaps have them list two or three internal staff they feel that can best teach them. Once they have prepared their list, ensure that you assign a reasonable time line for each skill to be completed. Mentoring is about having a personal conversation between two people and needs to eliminate using electronic messaging. If a younger staff member does not feel they can communicate successfully without using messaging, then you need to help them learn personal communications skills before they can move forward.  

You can create an exercise where you have several staff members sit in a conference room and give them a problem to solve and not allow them to speak during the exercise. Create the exercise so that people will have a hard time understanding the assignment given to them, and they have to keep typing to individuals or the group trying to find the solution. Eventually they will realize that group texting can create more problems than having a conversation. The point of this exercise is help the group feel more comfortable having face-to-face conversations, and when done in a group everyone gets to benefit from the exchange.

Also, it is not unusual for a new staff member to work very hard in the beginning and then have their productivity drop off. Many times the excitement of a new position pushes people to excel in their new position. However, after time many people either get bored with their position or need an additional challenge to get them motivated. You may also find they need help and just are not sure how to ask for it. Let me suggest that you approach this individual in a neutral setting, such as during lunch in an offsite location. Make a point to tell them that you saw the original enthusiasm they had and that they seem frustrated right now. If you make a point to then ask them if you can offer help in specific areas, this may be just what this individual needs. Since many people are afraid to ask for help, you approaching them with an offer to be their mentor can make a big attitude adjustment for them. Make sure though that if you want to get involved with another staff member as their mentor that you are committed to giving them the time they need for as long as they need it.

Ted Miller, CHME CHSP, CGTP, CGMP, HMCC