IES Blog

Use Ongoing Mentoring to Retain Your Best Talent

Posted on November 12th, 2016 Read time: 2 minutes

When employees remain loyal to your company longer, you save time and money by not hiring new workers. Find out how mentoring can help you retain top talent longer and improve your bottom line.


What Mentoring Is

 Mentoring occurs when more experienced workers provide training and guidance for less-experienced workers. New hires, especially recent graduates, want and need seasoned professionals transferring their years of knowledge and experience. This is especially beneficial for replacing the skills and experience that are lost when older workers retire.

Matching Mentors and Mentees

 Formal mentoring programs may let employees volunteer to become mentors, mentees, or a mentor to one worker and mentee to another. Each staff member completes a mentoring profile to more effectively match mentors and mentees. An administrator or committee matches the profiles based on knowledge, experience, abilities that mentors may share with mentees, or areas in which mentees need improvement with the help of mentors.

Potential Issues with Mentor/Mentee Relationships

There are a few issues to watch out for in a mentor/mentee relationship. For example, the mentor must remember to respect the differences between themselves and the mentee, and not try to turn the mentee into a replication of the mentor. Also, the mentor must give the mentee honest feedback to be most effective, even when it’s not positive. In addition, the mentor needs to be an active listener and participant in the mentee’s professional life, not simply someone stating their own experiences and lessons.

Types of Mentoring

 There are different types of mentoring to fill various needs. For example, mentoring employees for career development helps produce engaged workers who become highly skilled and productive leaders. When team members actively spread their knowledge and best practices, they secure interpersonal relationships and work more collaboratively. When staff members are engaged in their work, they’re happier and remain loyal to your organization longer.

Mentoring for leadership development helps develop team members’ potentials to increase their value to your company. By cultivating leaders in your organization, you have them available when new positions open up. Therefore, it’s important workers are exposed to different areas of your business so they’re prepared to take on roles as they become available. You’ll spend less time and money training leaders when they move to their higher positions.

Diversity mentoring encourages innovation, creativity, and business development. Various employees from different backgrounds may share their knowledge, ideas, experiences and opinions for moving your company forward. Leaders also develop cultural awareness and inclusion within your organization. Workers feel a sense of trust, belonging, support, understanding and encouragement in a diverse company. Employees may more effectively discuss issues, work through obstacles, and find answers to compelling problems.


Create a mentoring program that benefits your employees and increases your organization’s success. For further help with growing your business, reach out to the seasoned experts at Innovative Employee Solutions today!

Related Articles