An individual’s dream, as in the case of most entrepreneurs, may prove to be life changing not only to the individual but to the people around them. By starting up and nurturing businesses, entrepreneurs create employment opportunities to a number of people, raising their standard of living. Creating a good business however is not enough. Successful businesses look out for ways to expand t heir businesses adding value to it and to the employees’ lives.
Formal mentorship programs are now being embraced by many businesses in an attempt to improve the quality of product and, or services provided while adding value to their staff. There are four key benefits accrued from mentorship programs in business:
Recruitment and Retention
Identifying talented individuals in your organization and engaging them in a formal mentorship program gives these individuals a sense of belonging. Such individuals develop a personal relationship with the organization since the mentorship program acts as a sign of interest in not only their current skill but the potential that lies within. Mentorship programs thus help to create a sense of loyalty among current employees reducing turn over costs.
A well structured mentorship program attracts prospective employees to your organization. It lets talented individuals know that working for your organization not only comes with a pay check but a chance to improve on their areas of interest.
Increased productivity
Any business is only as strong as its weakest link. Pairing an individual weak in a particular area with a mentor with expertise in the same area helps a business eliminate the issue of weak links. This in turn produces a diverse team with hands on knowledge on different sectors in the company. The end result is therefore higher productivity rates per employee translating to increased company productivity.
Branding
Successful, well-developed mentoring programs portray organizations to have the best of their people at heart. This acts as a form of corporate social responsibility with which employees and consumers of the organizations products identify with. Having being branded as a peoples’ organization, consumer numbers increase as more people will want to be associated with your brand.
Innovation
Focusing on talent development of your staff through mentoring helps to birth innovative ideas that may go a long way in reducing the company’s cost of production while increasing profits. This helps the organization keep up with the current trends in their respective fields and relate better with their consumers, employees and suppliers of their raw materials and other services.
Dan is a blogger and a contributing writer for a website that provides domain hosting reviews.