(From Business 2 Community) -- Mentoring is a supportive form of employee training that takes place outside the conventional top-down manager-employee relationship. It typically comes in the form of long-term guidance provided by an experienced employee, the mentor, to someone less experienced, the mentee, in an effort to support the mentee’s overall development. A mentor is someone who has knowledge, skills, and experience in a particular area and is willing to share that information by providing insight and support.

Benefits of Employee Mentoring

Mentoring offers numerous benefits to both mentor and mentee. It serves to broaden staff insight into the business and build stronger relationships. Mentoring contributes to the success of the mentee by improving performance, increasing confidence, and addressing strengths and weaknesses. A mentorship can help a mentee learn and develop faster by encouraging an exchange of information that doesn’t always exist naturally. Mentoring programs let employees know that the company values them and has an interest in their personal development, leading to increased productivity and reduction in turnover.

Mentoring also benefits mentors by providing a sense of responsibility and a feeling of ownership in the company. It allows people who may not be a manager or supervisor to take on a leadership role.

Mentoring, as part of an overall training and development strategy can improve performance and boost the success of your organisation. When combined with other development tools such as 360 degree feedback and performance reviews, a mentoring program can help your employees grow.

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