
Amel Murphy
Business, Career, Personal Development Coach
Over 20 years experience at running and leading businesses globally. Business Mentor to startup owne…
Have you ever been considered 'the new kid'? Starting a new job is exciting, but it can be intimidating for just this reason.
Have you ever been considered ‘the new kid’? Starting a new job is exciting, but it can be intimidating for just this reason. As a manager, it is your job to make sure that new hires are confident in their role at the company, and that they don’t have to feel the discomfort of being the new kid. Peer mentorship is a way to make onboarding a painless process, and it also comes with many great benefits for participants and the company as a whole.
Peer mentorship is a program where a new hire is partnered with an experienced individual in the company for the first few months of their employment. Ideally, a peer mentor has the same level of authority as the new hire, and they may have similar roles, hence the term peer mentor. They would offer advice, guidance, encouragement, resources, and support as the new hire gets acclimated to the corporate culture. They are there as a warm welcome to make the new hire comfortable in a new environment.
Think about your first day a a new job. What were your main concerns?
A new hire might wonder, where do I eat lunch? Who should I talk to if I get sick and need to miss work? The peer mentor would be the person that answers these questions informally in more of a friendly manner, instead of in a supervisory role.
Book a 15-minute call with one of our business coaches to learn how to implement a peer mentorship program in your company.
Business, Career, Personal Development Coach
Over 20 years experience at running and leading businesses globally. Business Mentor to startup owne…
Business, Personal Development, Performance, Life, Psychology Coach
Master Certified Coach (International Coach Federation) …
Business, Performance, Wealth, Life, Psychology, Personal Development, Career Coach
I have Diplomas in Life Coaching, Adult Psychology, Marketing and Event Management. I am currently s…
The benefits of having a peer mentor program go beyond a warm welcome and a comfortable work environment. Many studies have shown the ripple effects of having a mentor program benefit the whole company and the entire careers of the individuals who participate. Here are some of the direct and indirect benefits of peer mentorship:
Decide how you will match your mentors and mentees. Some companies use computer algorithms which require participants to take a survey, and then they are matched according to their preferences. Other times, managers make the call of who they think will be the best fit for the new hire based on their own personal evaluations.
In identifying potential mentors, the manager should consider things that will make the partnership successful in the short and long term. This means that having compatible personalities is probably more important than surface-level characteristics, such as being from the same hometown. One way to start this analysis is through employee profiling. Employee profiling is a way to assess how a person’s traits fit for a certain task. A career coach is a great resource to help profile new and existing employees so that each participant (and the company) gets the most out of the program.
This can be the most difficult step in creating a successful peer mentorship program, and there is little research to support what works and what doesn’t. The important thing is that the partnership should build trust and make the new hire confident in their role at the company.
Establish clear expectations for the program. Each party should understand what the end goal is for each other and for the company. The mentor will gain leadership and communication skills, professional growth, and recognition for participating in the program. The mentee will have a more comfortable acclimation experience, an understanding of the ins and outs of the company, and one-on-one time with a helpful colleague. Make sure that these benefits are clear, and also think of some boundaries.
What would be considered a limitation for your peer mentorship program? For starters, it is recommended that neither party gain any extrinsic rewards for participating because it takes away from the sincerity of doing it in the first place. If the mentor is promised a bonus, it is hard to tell who wants to do the program to help out a new colleague, versus earning a monetary reward.
Furthermore, make sure that the mentee knows that his or her manager is also someone who can provide support and help. Having a peer mentor should not take away from or replace the relationship between the manager and the new hire; it should supplement it. These are things that should be made clear at the start of the program to allow everyone, including the manager and the rest of the company, to benefit.
Have a structure to the program to get it going. This structure would depend on the preferences, schedules, and priorities of the participants. For example, maybe they meet up and eat lunch together every day. Or, for employees that go through virtual onboarding, there could be a scheduled, 15-minute catch-up call twice a week. This would be up to each participant and their managers, but make sure that before the program begins, there is a dedicated time and place for them to meet. This encourages active involvement in the program.
Overall, having a peer mentorship program is a great way to introduce new employees to the company culture. It is proven to improve performance, pay grade, and loyalty to the company for mentors and mentees.
If onboarding new talent is a difficult task, schedule a 15-minute call with one of our business coaches to see how a peer mentorship program can benefit your company.
Book a 15-minute call with one of our business coaches to learn how to implement a peer mentorship program in your company.
Business, Career, Personal Development Coach
Over 20 years experience at running and leading businesses globally. Business Mentor to startup owne…
Business, Personal Development, Wealth Coach
I help finance leaders develop their careers and build finance teams of the future. I’m a former Mic…
Business, Personal Development, Performance, Life Coach
15 years experience in Sales and Business Development. I have undertaken 10,000 hours of personal de…
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