Who Can Benefit from Mentorship Programs?

Back in the early days of Cronofy, the team met up with a mentor (who was also one of our early investors) to define the company culture. One of the things he said is still quoted around the office today: “Culture isn’t foosball tables.” There may have been some more colourful language included too…

I love a game of foosball as much as the next person, but I’m inclined to agree with him.

However, when you see places like Google or Facebook showing off their nap pods and games rooms and Starbucks and whatever other benefits they have, it can feel like that’s what a company culture is all about.

But it isn’t. It’s so, so much more than that.

And that’s the beauty of mentorship – it helps you to see things in a whole new way. You can avoid the mistakes that someone else has already made, which means you grow and progress faster. It also helps you to shake preconceived ideas (like that company culture is about employee benefits) while still giving you the freedom to make your own decisions.

There’s no denying it – mentorship is powerful.

Let’s take a look at how mentorship can benefit us at different stages of our careers and, more broadly, lives.

Students

When it comes to mentorships in education, there are two paths: peer-to-peer mentorship, and professionals mentoring students.

Peer-to-peer mentorship schemes are where a student mentors someone on the same or a similar course a year or two below them. This allows them to share knowledge, improve their communication skills, and gives the mentor something great to put on their resume. Working as a mentor is also something that will help students to stand out in job applications and can prepare them for managerial roles in the future.

When it comes to professionals mentoring students, colleges’ and universities’ career centers are a great way connect them. Counsellors can contact relevant businesses and connect them with interested students.

Having the right mentor can help you to avoid getting lost in the labyrinth of the real world.

Professionals can prepare students for the working world by sharing their experiences of looking for jobs and building their network. They can also give them advice on how their courses will apply to their future job, or general advice on how to prepare for the transition into the working environment. Mentorships of this kind can even lead to internships and even job opportunities after graduation.

Professionals can also help students with the job search process, which most courses don’t prepare them for. Career centers are great helps, but they have to factor in hundreds of industries. A mentor that works within the student’s chosen industry has much more in-depth knowledge and potential connections that could benefit the student throughout their career.

Mentorship is one of the best ways for students to figure out what to do after university. Navigating the post-university landscape is tough, and having the right mentor can really help students to avoid getting lost in the labyrinth of the real world.

Employees

Employee mentorship schemes are one of the ways businesses can assist employees in their careers. They’re particularly useful for new employees who need to get started fast, or for those who want to progress but aren’t sure what to do next. Mentorship schemes can be used to train employees to become managers, or teach them how to become an expert in a particular area.

Not everyone wants to manage people, so it’s important that companies offer employees different ways to grow and process.

Not everyone wants to manage people, so it’s important that companies offer employees different ways to grow and process. Mentorship can help employees and businesses to work out a mutually beneficial path.

Mentorship is also a way to keep employees engaged and make them feel valued. It gives them a way for their voices to be heard, which, in a large organization, can be difficult.

Managers

Managerial mentorship is one of the ways businesses can train their team members for career progression. It can build a prospective manager’s confidence by teaching them to speak up and improving their interpersonal skills.

Mentoring develops active listening skills while allowing managers to give back to the company that may have helped build their career.

For the mentor, it develops their active listening skills while allowing them to give back to the company that may have helped to build their career. This improves their loyalty and decreases staff turnover.

Mentees also learn about the psychology of a team, from how to motivate them, to what makes them tick, to how to adapt behaviour based on different members of a team. For someone starting out, knowing how to behave around different team members is important to ensuring a happy and productive team.

Having a mentor can also help newer managers to troubleshoot, or ease the burden of the hiring process.

Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs can benefit from mentoring more than anyone else. Forming your own business is super lonely, and without a mentor, you may have nobody to rely on for advice. There are so many reasons that a startup can fail, meaning that mentorship is both valuable and vital to a startup’s success.

Our very own Adam Bird is mentoring an entrepreneur right now, showing him the ropes as he navigates setting up his first company.

Mentorship can help entrepreneurs figure out how to navigate the complicated world of business faster.

Mentorship can help entrepreneurs figure out how to navigate the complicated world of business faster than if they were doing it alone. It also gives them someone with experience to discuss ideas and troubleshoot with. In the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship, this can be the difference between a business’s success and failure.

Mentors can also help up-and-coming entrepreneurs to decide how best to grow their company and what types of people they want to hire for their core team. The first few members of a company will dictate a company’s culture moving forward, so picking the right people makes a huge difference.

Conclusion

Whatever stage of your career you’re at, a mentor can guide you through current and future situations. Their guidance can be invaluable, helping you to avoid the steep learning curves that often come from navigating new areas of your career. You can then learn more and progress faster thanks to their invaluable guidance.

Mentorship networks like PeopleGrove and Veterati are fantastic ways for mentees to meet up with mentors. They make it a simple, seamless process for them to connect with one another, allowing them both to feel the benefits of mentorship faster.

You can find out more about how calendar sync can benefit mentorship platforms in our PeopleGrove case study.

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