Pay it forward
In the spirit of giving this festive season, what can your offer your team?
Have you considered how much time you give to your employees? Giving the gift of your time to your staff can help them grow and develop their roles within the company and as individuals.
Time is a limited, precious and personal commodity.You invest your time to impart knowledge and skills to staff to help them improve on productivity and efficiency. A regular check in with individual team members can give you better insight into how things are progressing and an opportunity to reflect on your principles and values.
How can you offer more time? Consider a mentorship programme. It’s an investment into the growth and development of the mentee, growth which takes place at no direct financial cost to the company. Even a person in a senior position can benefit from a mentor. An effective mentor is one who is empathetic, a good listener and willing to share information.
Benefits
- A mentoring relationship benefits both mentor and mentee. As the mentor you get more in-depth feedback on work progress within the team while the mentee benefits from personal growth, development, improved confidence and self-esteem.
- Mentors should inspire mentees to build their skills in order to more effectively do their jobs.
- Through a mentorship the mentee develops better problem-solving skills and leadership qualities.
- Mentoring can assist with grooming a particular employee to take over managing a team, new department or position.
- You can highlight your values, principals and work ethics as you guide your mentee going forward.
Guidelines
- Be realistic on the time you have to offer the mentee. Set up a regular meeting time and stick to it.
- Learn to be a better listener. By giving a team member your time, you can benefit by learning more about the difficulties faced by your teams, so listen to what your staff are telling you. Use the opportunity to look beyond the obvious. You may identify problem areas with the team, which can be addressed in a different forum.
- Practise mindfulness – be present in the moment and give the employee your full attention. Turn off ‘phones.
- Ask questions to encourage your charge to find answers rather than you dictate them. Consider the old adage: show rather than tell.
- Provide straightforward feedback.
- Look for teachable moments to impart valuable skills and knowledge.
- Share your own personal experiences and what you have learnt through trial and error.
- Consider your own mentors over the course of your career and how they influenced you – use their advice and guidelines in your own mentorship programme.
- Be open to learning from your mentee.
- Make ongoing learning a part of your organisation’s culture. Keeping abreast of changes and innovations in your industry can be essential in order to keep you competitive in your market.
- Consider a mentoring programme that not only involves you, but other members of the team. Mentoring programmes should not only focus on senior staff mentoring younger employers, but rather both directions and peer-to-peer mentoring. Programmes can also be tailored to ensure that new employees are matched up to mentors that enable them to quickly settle into company culture and their new roles.
- Consider learnerships or internships as a way of giving back to the community.
Resources
- Chron, www.chron.com
- The Balance, www.thebalance.com
- Real Estate Investing Club, www.reiclub.com