Why So Many Successful Businesses Are Incorporating Mentoring Programmes?

5 min readAug 23, 2021

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When we examine companies and how they became remarkably successful, one trait that stands above many others is that successful companies have excellent leaders who guide outstanding employees.

Leadership and guidance are essential to success in nearly every field. Workplace mentoring is one way to provide personalised leadership for both new and tenured employees.

Skills-based mentoring should be part of onboarding to teach new executives the company ropes and help them excel and grow as they continue their position.

Did You Know…

71% of Fortune 500 companies have mentoring programmes. (Source)
Of those with a mentor, 97% say they are valuable. (Source)
Yet only 37% of professionals have a mentor. (Source)
89% of those who have been mentored will also go on to mentor others. (Source)
People with mentors are happier at their current jobs than those without. (Source)
25% of employees enrolled in a mentoring programme had a salary grade change, compared to only 5% of workers who did not participate. (Source)
79% of millennials see mentoring as crucial to their career success. (Source)

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Mentoring programmes are becoming increasingly popular in workplaces. They help reduce turnover, promote growth, and overall help employees adjust to new positions and prepare them to move up in the company.

We shared earlier that over 79% of Millennials see mentoring as crucial to their career success. According to Chronus Corporation, over 71% of Fortune 500 companies offer mentoring programmes. This shows that mentoring schemes are becoming a standard in many workplaces.

This begs the question…

What Is Mentoring?

Mentoring is essentially about helping people to develop more effectively. It is a relationship designed to build confidence and support the mentee, so they can take control of their own development and work.

Mentoring is not the same as training, teaching or coaching. A mentor doesn’t need to be a qualified trainer or an expert in the mentee’s role. Instead, they need to be able to listen and ask questions that will challenge the mentee to identify the course of action they need to take regarding their own development.

What Are the Benefits of Mentoring Programmes?

1. Educate and Learn.

By introducing mentoring programs, businesses can ensure that their employees are able to complete their work with knowledge of the field and their position.

Mentors will elevate and escalate “knowledge transfer,” which helps shorten a learning curve in the workplace. This means that companies can have highly productive employees in a much shorter period of time than they would have had mentors not been implemented.

2. Personal Development.

As a mentee, you will work on your personal and professional development. A mentor can help you identify the skills needed, set goals together, and help you stay focused and on track in your career and find your passion. In addition, they can help you navigate various work situations based on their own experience in their organisation.

As a mentor, you will gain the opportunity to reflect on your own development, build on key skills such as listening, questioning, facilitation, empathising and rapport building.

3. Reducing Turnover Rates for Companies.

Mentors can play a significant role in reducing the turnover of employees. Thus, the company will not have to invest in training new employees as often if they had a higher turnover.

By providing personalised advice to a mentee, a mentor can help ensure that employees will work through any frustrations or concerns they may have, help them build the skills they need for success, and encourage them to stay longer in the company and have a career growth there.

Women in Tech, LMF’s Special Edition Mentoring Programme.

Due to high demand and the success of our mentoring programme in 2021, we decided to launch a special edition of our scheme. It is a three-month mentoring cohort for this autumn 2021 to enable women into technology.

It will be a comprehensive multimedia programme open to everyone from everywhere to provide supportive relationships, opportunities and tools to achieve our community’s goals.

It will cover topics such as goal setting, personal branding to CV and interview skills, and public speaking.

The first special edition cohort launches October 2021 and it will include:

One-on-one mentoring sessions.
Monthly workshops for mentees and mentors.
Interactive Slack and LinkedIn groups.
Access to partner organisations and their opportunities.
Support from the wider community.

Express your interest in our “Women in Tech” Mentoring Programme here.

This blog contribution was made by Eleonora Papini.

Eleonora is a native Italian living in Greece, passionate about human psychology, sustainable development and international cooperation.

Eleonora is a multilingual Data & Communication consultant, 1+ years of international experience in the European Union Government sector.

In 2021, she became a Data Analyst for the LMF Network and content creator for their blog.

How can you keep in touch?

Email — hello@lmfnetwork.com |LinkedIn |Instagram | Slack

What is LMF Network?

The LMF Network is a global social enterprise (not for profit) focused on empowering, enabling & educating women and marginalised groups into tech, entrepreneurship & digital. We specialise in designing and delivering accessible programmes and supporting a global community. We’ve gone from a brunch club to a social good brand based on what the community wanted. We are a real community run by real people.