After five decades of mentoring relationship research, the evidence is irrefutable: people who have strong mentors accrue a host of professional benefits, including more rapid advancement, higher salaries, greater organizational commitment, stronger identity, and higher satisfaction with both job and career. They also see personal benefits, such as better physical health and self-esteem, ease of work-life integration, and strong–er relational skills. At its best, mentoring can transform lives and careers while bolstering retention and maximizing employee potential.
People who have strong mentors accrue host of professional benefits including more rapid advancement, higher salaries, greater organizational commitment, stronger professional identity, and higher satisfaction with both job and career. But marginal or mediocre mentoring plagues organizations. Prospective mentors often are randomly selected or told to participate with little or no training and leaders fail to reward mentoring, so it is seen as an onerous add-on duty. Organizations that want to improve their mentoring programs should start with who they select to be mentors. Competence in the role requires two things: functional mentoring skills, which can be taught, and foundational virtues and abilities that mentors should already have. Look for the best-suited employees to serve as mentors and then give them the preparation and support they’ll require to achieve genuine expertise in the role.