Think of the pro you look up to the most. They could be a famous business leader, celebrity or all-star athlete. Whatever they do, it’s clear you know them for doing it.
But no matter how they found success, they likely didn’t reach it alone. Their secret? A great mentor who pushed and guided them to the peak of their potential. For Michael Jordan, it was coach Phil Jackson. For actor Nicole Kidman, it was her mom. For Steve Jobs, it was Bill Hewlett, HP’s co-founder.
And you could benefit from mentorship, too! Let’s dive into how a worthwhile mentor can set you up for lifelong career growth.
Why is mentorship important?
All of us are responsible for our own development. Still, it can be tough to know how to reach our goals without some guidance. That’s why formal mentorships have become a vital part of employee retention programs.
In fact, workers overwhelmingly agreed mentors are crucial to shaping a healthy employee experience, according to a survey from the Gallup Center on Black Voices. Even if you know the kind of work you want to do, mentors help you find the confidence to do it well. They can even broaden your perspective, helping you uncover opportunities you might not have thought about.
Still, even if your employer has a program in place, you have to take the initiative to hear their feedback and open yourself up to direction. You should also remember that a great mentor isn’t going to appear out of thin air. Plus, not all of them will have decades of experience, endless wisdom and a shelf full of awards. Your mentor may still have a ton to learn themselves, but as long as they’re in the industry you want to pursue, they’ll have something valuable to share.
4 benefits of mentorship
Mentors come in different forms, but they all share a purpose: to help you grow. Without them, it could be hard to find your footing with an employer. It’s no coincidence that 40% of employees who didn’t have a mentor left their jobs within three months, according to a study from CNBC and SurveyMonkey.
Here are just four ways they can support your development and inspire you to reach the next level.
1. Accountability
Even when we know we want something, it’s sometimes hard to pursue it on our own. That doesn’t mean we’re lazy, weak or apathetic. Sometimes it just means we need to hear from someone else that we’re headed in the right direction.
When you express your goals to a mentor, they can help keep you on task by regularly following up and documenting your accomplishments. Every time you meet with them, there’s a good chance they’ll compare your progress to where you were before. If you told them about a specific problem, expect them to ask for detail and how you plan to overcome it. Once you’ve worked through it, most mentors will ask what you learned, too.
This routine will eventually help you own your success and prepare you to share your knowledge down the road. (After all, great mentors will shape their mentees into powerful leaders, too.)
2. Personable development
Online and group training is undeniably useful. But it doesn’t always deliver the personalized, down-to-earth guidance we need. In this way, mentorships are less of a development program and more of a unique relationship.
In other words, a great mentor isn’t just going to drop unsolicited advice on you. Instead, they’ll ask questions — you should, too — to determine what kind of direction would benefit you the most. You’ll also hear how they realistically overcame a challenge you could be facing.
3. Constructive feedback
Mentorships are a two-way street. You might ask your mentor questions, or they might give you input on how they’d approach an issue. What works best between the two of you doesn’t really matter. What’s important is that a mentor helps create a cycle of feedback.
This can be the difference between growing and stalling in your career. And for most employees, valuable direction isn’t common. Just 21% of U.S. employees said they received meaningful feedback in the last week, according to Gallup.
Mentorships can help turn this trend around by making a positive and regular cycle of feedback the norm.
“As people kept pouring into me, helping me develop, I felt empowered to do more with what I’ve learned,” said LeRoy S., an IT business analyst at Paycom. “Your leaders, mentors and peers are all here to help you. It’s up to you to take what you’ve learned and pour into others.”
4. Networking
Ready for the next step in your career? Mentors are great for building your network and making connections you may have otherwise missed. It’s proven, too. According to LinkedIn, 73% of employees were hired because someone made an introduction for them.
Even if mentors don’t directly introduce you to an employer, lean on them to help you revamp your online presence and make an excellent impression. After all, 70% of hiring managers told The Harris Poll that organizations should screen the online presence of every candidate. And don’t forget to bounce ideas off your mentors. There’s a good chance they had to go through the same experience as they looked for opportunities.
You could even find a mentor in an employee resource group (ERG). At a bare minimum, ERGs help expand your professional network with people of different fields. The groups also let you sharpen your leadership, communication and collaborative skills. And through community service — like the kind Paycom’s ERGs regularly participate in — you can continue to grow your network in unexpected ways.
Ready to find a career with unlimited potential? Apply to Paycom today!
