Educating from within: the value of an employee peer mentorship program

The successful growth of any company depends on the ability of team members to grow. While outside training is a great way for employees to build upon their skills, often times it’s the people in the next cube who teach each other the most.

But in a competitive job market, expertise isn’t just going to rub off. After all, your employees were hired based on their particular skill set, and they might be possessive of their knowledge base. But by initiating a mentorship program, you can give all of your employees the incentive to grow together.

Find your mentors

Mentorship is an instinctive behavior to some. They enthusiastically share their tips and tricks with others. Even though educating the team is not part of their job description, they are constantly sharing new information and looking for ways to do things better. If several of your team members come to mind when you read this, these are great candidates for your mentorship leaders. A general “call for mentors” email can reveal even more.

Create your program

Approach the design your mentorship program as you would any other valuable project. Decide on a budget and how much time your company can afford to spend a week on mentorship efforts. Remember that the cost of outside training can be very expensive, while this is free for the most part. Make mentoring a scheduled “must” with your resource department. In addition, create a communication plan, training meetings, and a program kickoff to fuel interest. A nice gesture might be to offer incentives for the mentors like extra time off or factor it in to their next pay increase.

Measure success

Once you have decided on the plan of operation for your mentorship program, put some measurable goals in place. Track the career growth as well as retention rate among program participants. Is there a noticeable change in the cooperation level of your company?

In addition to improving the knowledge-share among your team, implementing a mentorship program is a great way to demonstrate your loyalty to the group. By nurturing their personal success, you can foster company-wide success.