How to mentor new employees? A question usually asked by team leaders and CEOs. The answer is: Employee mentoring is when an employee is paired with either a peer or leader to work together on building their skills and work towards their career goals. A mentor provides support to their mentee, giving them the resources, guidance, and encouragement they need to succeed at work. Here are some tips to help you mentor effectively.
8 Tips to effectively mentor the new employees
- Set up Expectations and Ground Rules: When you first meet your mentee, make them feel comfortable by explaining your role and the goals of the mentoring process. Answer any questions they have about the mentorship program. Point out what you expect from them (for example, that they should come prepared with problems to resolve or issues to discuss; that they should show up on time; and that they should treat this as a professional and respectful relationship). Explain what you’re prepared to do for them: provide advice, support, and opportunities.
- Know your employees: It’s important to get to know your mentee. This will help you build a strong relationship and discover more about who they are as a person. You’ll know how they interact with others and so on. Mentoring is more than just asking questions. To truly impress your mentee, you should really get to know them. Use the most career-oriented questions to start: What is their work style? What is their dream job? If they could change something at work, what would it be? And so on. But don’t forget to ask the questions that make them unique. For instance, what do they do during their free time? What is their favorite food? Their favorite movie? Etc.
- Schedule time to contact: How often will you and your mentee meet in person? Can you be available to consult by phone or email/text at any time during the day or evening, or do you prefer doing so only at certain times? Be clear about your time boundaries. Be available enough to give your mentee the attention and guidance they need, but not so much that they become a nuisance.
- Listen, Ask, and Advice: You may be so full of wisdom, but you shouldn’t just give it all out to your mentee. They are not empty vessels! It is unfair to them if you drone on and on, taking pleasure in your own brilliance. First, let them talk. Hear what they have to say before offering your advice. Ask them about their point of view. They can give insights and perspectives that you haven’t considered yet.
- Be Supportive for their Decisions: In the mentoring relationship, the mentor generally has more experience than the mentee. It would be easy just to impart your wisdom to them. Except it would deprive them of the opportunity to think through challenges and come up with solutions. It wouldn’t allow them to learn from their mistakes. And you might not know every answer. So be supportive to them in taking their own decisions.
- Be accountable: If you tell your employee that you will look into an issue or provide a resource to them, you should do so. However, if they fail to meet their pledge to you, accept it without fuss. Trust and accountability are foundations of successful mentoring relationships, so assign work and attach consequences if the task is not completed. But allow them to express disappointment if you fail to deliver on your undertaking.
- Celebrate their Achievements: No matter how much you do for your mentees, there is never enough that can be done. Mentors must take time to celebrate their mentees’ achievements and successes. This will build their confidence and motivation. A psychological need for recognition is satisfied by acknowledgment of success. When you ask your mentee what his or her achievements are, you can create a list of things to celebrate.
- Help your employees grow: Mentors have a responsibility to their employees to help them get closer to their goals. Mentors can do this in a number of ways, but the most effective is by recommending a conference or introducing them to someone with experience in the field they wish to pursue. If you want your employee to grow, you must know what areas they hope to improve in.
Asking for feedback from participants can help you structure the employee mentoring in a way that will continue to benefit those who are a part of it, both as a mentor and the employee, is How to mentor new employees.