At any given organization, the typical employee pool comprises people with different levels of ability, varying degrees of motivation, and assorted work ethics. Finding individuals with superior potential can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. But identifying these employees and fast racking them for success is essential to building an effective workforce motivated to see the company succeed. Year after year, organizations spend copious amounts of money and resources searching for top talent.
Employing the services of staffing and recruiting firms has become the norm. However, many businesses fail to grasp that the talent they seek is almost certainly already on staff. They need the right to coax it out. By employing mentors, you take the recruiting away from third parties and bring it in-house. Instead of spending money searching for outside talent identified by others, you direct the investment wherein counts: developing your employees and encouraging the hidden gems to shine.
How does having a mentor help?
Mentors are specially qualified to identify high-potential employees and separate them from the crowd because of their years of experience working with people of all personalities and skill levels. The purpose of mentoring is to help a mentee grow in both their personal and professional lives. An essential step in the process is identifying strengths and unique skills to gauge individual mentees' potential. Many organizations are prone to reward and promote employees who shine amongst their peers, whether through demonstrated leadership or performance exceeding expectations.
The problem is that there are no accurate means of positioning employees with the support and resources they need to shine, which means that internal advancements like these can be few and far between. There may be cases where exceptional employees are too afraid to stand out or unsure how their particular areas of strength fit into the organization. Rather than aspire to greatness, they chose to keep their heads down and perform what they need to. Their potential goes undetected and untapped, prompting management to look for talent outside the company. The relevance of a mentor's advice is critical at this point. It can unlock hidden potential and assist mentees in realizing that potential to progress their careers and the company's success.
Mentoring over in-house training
Mentees are groomed to build specific skill sets and increase productivity, which is one of the significant advantages of an effective mentorship program. Mentoring, as a comparison to traditional training methods or manual training, saves time and effort. Mentors are experts in their industries who have years of practical knowledge. Their guidance is unique and targeted compared to a non-personalized training program that makes mentoring far superior to theoretical training.
The outcome
The relationships forged through mentoring encourages employees to invest time in themselves and helps them find the motivation to develop their potential and stand out among their peers. Mentees gain a solid idea of how their skills can be applied within the workplace, empowering them to make their best contributions where they are most needed. When highly motivated individuals are given tasks, they outperform their peers and are eager to climb the corporate ladder. Employees who realize their full potential are happier at work and more willing to contribute. Motivation is key to employee engagement, and employees are most motivated when working within their true potential.
Mentors help them reach that level through targeted guidance, skills development, and encouragement. Don't waste the potential you have lurking within your workforce by seeking talent outside the company. Instead, employee mentors to find the needle in the haystack.
If this post resonated with you, check with your organization to see whether you are part of the MentorCloud network. If not, sign up for a demo here! Our vision is to create a mentoring planet where true equality is achieved, and hard work is rewarded, but it's only possible with your participation.