“Just imagine… just anywhere in your office, 2 or more gather, to be supported, and to reinforce one another. That is a culture I wake up excited to every morning.”

In today’s fast-paced world, if you want to scale from good to great, it is important to build strong culture fundamentals, since the best bet to achieving that is through amplifying talents and teams. It is both an art and science, and more than fancy interiors, ping pong tables, or great workplace meals (although that’s amazing too!), it’s about investing in your employees. Now you must be wondering – How?

I often find it tough when I get feedback to run more “engagement activities”, can’t help but feel like someone trying to treat the symptoms. I, on the other hand, like to solve root causes, but I know that takes time, and I need everyone to understand that. One of the strategies, however, which I have found so useful, is to deliver impactful mentoring programs within your organization.

Imagine a workplace where more experience colleagues are always available to guide you enthusiastically. With the fast-changing VUCA world, often, planning 1 year ahead, is just not going to cut it. However, having someone who is just a step ahead, guide and point you in the right direction, is going to be so impactful. Having a group of mentors, supporting you in different areas, is just going to make coming to work something you look forward to everyday. But do you know that there are other benefits?

1) Integrated Work Environment

If you’re aiming to foster an environment where every single person feels comfortable discussing their targets & challenges, this is where effective mentoring takes the lead.

Advice coming from such a person, you know that they had their fair share of challenges & failures – this situation actually makes it ten times easier to trust. They offer you professional guidance on navigating development opportunities, work-life balance & even personal goals. If an employee feels loyalty & belonging, this is the kind of holistic approach a well-structured organization aims for.

KPIs/OKRs/KRAs, are often dynamic, to review them only half-yearly, makes its paper-exercise. Having a pool of mentors who work for you together, make them SMARTer (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, Time-bound) because you get a 360 view as the ship sales, with everyone working coherently together.

“When my manager is busy, my mentor is there to guide me.”

2) Improving The Productivity & Clarity

In all the organization development work I do, one root cause is often the lack of clarity of where we are heading in the company. The lack of “why” is often described as everyone are like bees, working too hard, to achieve someone else’s dreams. Do you know? Investing in mentorship programs eventually will yields significantly high returns by sharpening the strategic intent and the execution daily. When your team gets support & personalized guidance, they witness confidence, engagement & motivation, which is directly proportional to improved productivity & efficiency.

Vital mentorship programs boost productivity by 20% and reduce turnover by 50%, according to studies conducted by the Association for Talent Development (ATD).

When I was looking after sales for one of the multi-national organizations, one of the proudest moments in my career, I had my Sales Ops Manager mentor my salespeople, and my sales head mentored the client support teams. We received many compliments from our customers, as a team who truly puts customer first. A well-thought-out mentoring design program helps empower your team with knowledge to be more efficient, reinforce clarity in the approach, clarifies roles and responsibilities but it also drives up collaboration and patience as understanding between people enhances. Won’t you like that in your culture?

“The best form of support I can have at work, is a listening ear.”

3) A Strong Supporting Network

Potential employees can now evaluate a company’s culture with the help of online resources like Glassdoor. Suitable Candidates are frequently drawn in by positive evaluations that emphasize effective mentorship programs. According to a Fortune Magazine poll, 97% of millennials believe that mentorship possibilities are essential when comparing employment offers.

A wide range of learning styles and preferences should be accommodated by establishing several mentorship models, such as official programs in addition to informal peer-to-peer mentoring.

Furthermore, because mentorship opportunities should be accessible to employees at all organizational levels, not just senior management, or high potential employees, because, all staff members can receive helpful advice regardless of their position. This is one of the reasons why, wherever I go, mentoring is always a part of my strategy toolkit.

In Singapore, www.Mentoring.SG promotes such a culture where you have access to continuous learning & mutual support. A perfectly designed mentoring initiative that transforms your working experience into an “Awesome place to work.” Speak to the team (I can link you up), who works so hard, to ensure that our young talents work in supportive culture, well-backed by mentoring.

Makes sense? Well, this isn’t just a dream; Mentoring can help you unlock this. It can be your magical wand for creating an awesome place to work, and it all starts with investing in your valuable assets, i.e., your employees.

You can take the first step, and I am happy to speak further with you. Happy impacting and happy weekend! 🙂

“I am willing to lend a ear, to mentor, or to lend a shoulder to cry on, but my I need my boss o understand why I do this”

Kelvin Kong

Group Chief People Officer, Lightstorm Group www.lightstorm.net

Executive Director & Executive Coach, Mentoring SG www.mentoring.sg