Mentoring: Good for Business, Good for Employees

Aug 13, 2020

By Carol McGlogan

EFC has just polled our members to determine the game changers that keep them up at night. Understandably, COVID-19 topped the list this year. However, talent remained the biggest issue outside of the pandemic. In September, members will have a chance to gather insights from EFC’s most recent research study: Talent for an Emerging Workforce. 

This is not intended as a spoiler alert, but “upskilling of current employees” is identified as one of the critical strategies that members need to employ: 25% of our workforce is over the age of 55 and the most important legacy this group can provide is to help “engage, inspire and build your organizations from the inside up.” The idea is to pass on the knowledge and insights from senior executives to emerging leaders to sustain the success of the organization.

According to the American Society for Training and Development, 75% of executives state that mentoring has been critical to their career development. I had some great mentors in my career, but the relationships were organic as there was no formal system in place. As an employer, we know that formal processes help ensure positive results. This would be no different for mentoring; it needs to be identified as a corporate strategy to upskill and build future leaders.

Mentoring builds employee engagement and retention while providing a stronger succession pipeline for the business. From an employee perspective, it demonstrates that you value your employees and that you are interested in their career goals and engaged in their success. Employees that are mentored and engaged are your best form of advertisement for talent acquisition. Especially in this new era of glass door insights into organizations, the way you treat and develop your employees is visible to everyone. Mentoring provides the emotional connection to the organization and the people within it.

As leaders we must formalize this important initiative and take advantage of the years of knowledge and experience we have within our own organizations. There are many resources available to help companies start their mentoring programs including best practices and software solutions, like MentorCity, to facilitate the process.*

Mentoring: It’s good for business and good for employees. Formalize your mentoring process and unleash the years of knowledge and insights your own people have, to share with your future leaders.

Carol McGlogan is President & CEO, Electro-Federation Canada.

* MentorCity is an intuitive cloud-based mentoring software that cultivates the future of your organization and the individuals in and around it through the power of relationships.