- By Maite G. Latorre 

The absence of casual interactions at work is a significant problem for early-career professionals, and with the added pressure of working remotely, these interactions have not been easy to do.

From Zoom meeting to Zoom meeting, we miss those quick chats while grabbing a coffee, or the pre-meeting catch ups. 

When you work alone from home, how can you learn best practices to thrive in your career? How can one establish the necessary professional connections to advance in the future? How does an organization create a culture that promotes diversity and inclusion goals in the midst of a pandemic?  

According to a Gallup study, 34% of American workers are engaged in their work, and 70% of team engagement is directly connected to the leader's quality, implying that organizations that establish more caring workplace environments have a greater success rate than those that do not. According to a study conducted by Deloitte, millennials want mentoring in the workplace and believe they are more useful when someone invests in their leadership abilities. They are also more likely to stay with an organization for more than five years if it offers mentorship programs.  

Here are a few reasons why mentorship should be a part of your organization:  

Lifelong Learners: A learning culture is established within the organization, in which knowledge is shared in a collaborative manner on a regular basis. 

Reaching Full Potential: Employees benefit from mentoring as it helps them fulfill their maximum potential while also supporting their personal and professional growth. 

Productivity: People that seek mentorship produce more at work, which benefits their organization as a whole. 

Retention and Satisfaction: Employees who participate in mentoring relationships report higher job satisfaction and higher levels of engagement in their jobs.

Mentorship is crucial to employee retention and happiness, particularly for people of colour and women, who are both more likely than others to rate mentorship as highly important to their professional growth. 

Positive Environment: Job satisfaction contributes to a more pleasant work environment, which results in lower employee turnover and a stronger sense of loyalty to their organization. 

Elevate Leadership: “Mentors are leaders. Leaders don’t produce followers. They create additional leaders.” (Top 10 Benefits of Mentorship in the Workplace) 

Succession Planning: You're building a pipeline of talent to replace important employees when they leave the organization, as well as a safety net to secure leadership transition. The search for talent is one of the most costly and time-consuming efforts an organization can face and cultivating and fostering talent inside may save a lot of money, alleviate a lot of strain on management, and help assure the company's longevity and institutional memory. “Succession planning places value on an employee’s critical contributions to the success of the organization, thus boosting their self-esteem.” (The Value Of Mentorship In Running A Successful Business) 

Mentorship has the potential to not only benefit you, but also to have a significant influence on your organization, colleagues, and the future. So, why not strike up a conversation, share your knowledge, and encourage others in your organization to do the same? 

Further Readings:  

What Great Mentorship Looks Like in a Hybrid Workplace, Harvard Business Review 

What Efficient Mentorship Looks Like, Harvard Business Review  

Top 10 Benefits of Mentorship in the Workplace, Assurance 

The Advantages of Mentoring in the Workplace, CHRON 

The Value Of Mentorship In Running A Successful Business, Forbes 

Employee Engagement on the Rise in the U.S., Gallup 

The 2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey Winning Over The Next Generation Of Leaders, Deloitte 

Don’t Just Mentor Women and People of Color. Sponsor Them., Harvard Business Review