We began to see changes in middle market companies in 2023 that continue today. Companies are finding it is more cost effective to promote from within than chase talent in a seller’s market. They are focusing on internal staff promotion and mentoring them in a new job Employers are also finding that it creates a healthier employee view of their future.
Evidence across industries is clear. Deloitte has released statistics from studies stating, “A coaching culture is the practice that’s most correlated with business performance, employee engagement, and overall retention.” Companies that are considered high-impact leadership organizations spend 1.5-3.0 times more on management development than their peers.
What is mentoring and how does it work? Is mentoring the same as coaching? Mentoring is a relationship where a more experienced person (the mentor) provides guidance, support, and advice to a less experienced person (the mentee). The mentor helps the mentee develop skills, navigate challenges, and improve the skills needed for the job. Coaching is a long-term performance driven, is less skills focused and a more personal process to develop leadership skills, general strategic thinking, and personal improvement.
In a 2022 Harvard Business Review article written by Erica Keswin, she states, “Organizations with a strong learning culture are 92% more likely to develop novel products and processes, 52% more productive, 56% more likely to be the first to market with their products and services, and 17% more profitable than their peers. Their engagement and retention rates are also 35-50%
higher.”
Setting up a mentoring program is straight forward and can be done in any size company. The steps are:
- Identify those employees who are candidates for mentorship.
- Set clear, measurable goals for each person and a desired time for goals attainment.
- Determine if the program is 1 on 1 or group mentoring. We find 1 on 1 with senior leaders is most effective and group mentoring is more of a general training program.
- Identify and select mentors. They must have not only the experience but also the desire to mentor others. They must be strong communicators, embody the company values, value personal relationships, and be well respected within the company. This is the key point of failure in many programs in selecting ill-suited mentors.
- Document the process to set expectations for both mentor and mentee. These are specific to each relationship.
- Senior management must continually monitor and evaluate the program to assure progress on goals achievement.
- Celebrate success as it occurs; thus, recognizing both mentees and mentors.
Mentorship programs often last for a year or two depending on each mentee’s needs and complexity of their job. Finding a mentor to go the distance may be a problem if their job is changing as well. This must be considered when picking the mentor. It may be necessary to go outside the company to bring in mentors with the skills and bandwidth to provide the best advisors.
We currently mentor multiple C-level leaders in a variety of industries. We enjoy mentoring and provide some mentoring with every client. It is in our blood. Our goal is to build strong business leaders, who are well-skilled in their job, and eventually become mentors themselves.
C Squared Solutions provides interim or fractional CFOs, COOs, and CEO advisors in nearly all industries. We mentor and advise private company officers frequently through sophisticated and experienced management experience. Give us a call or visit our website for more information and details.
We have been there and done that through serving more than 100 companies, 250 years of combined experience, and having sold our companies totaling more than $500 million!
