A career progression and mentorship programme shouldn’t just be for large multinationals. You can identify talent and develop a strategic plan in any SME, David McCarthy shows us how.

With all the talk of supply chain challenges, Covid driven staffing issues and an impending recession you could be forgiven for hitting the desperation button in your business. However, lessons can and should be learned from how multinational organisations have been developing over the past decade and in particular how they have embraced talent development and active mentorship as a tool in their culture arsenal to deliver positive impacts on attraction and retention rates.

Your business or organisation does not have to be a Google or have bases in 30 countries to emulate this. If you have 50-500 people, you will no doubt have a hybrid model in place post Covid across many departments and teams. This flexibility has led to challenges when it comes to job progression and managed professional development which is why it is important to look at effective mentorship programmes as a resource not just for employees but for your business growth ambition.

Understanding the talents in your team is vital and spending time getting to know your people, their professional skills, and their skills outside of work is key. By taking the time to speak with them and gather this data you will be best positioned to identify your mentors and mentees. You will know what excites and motivates your people and you will be able to align this with your business goals and growth targets.

So, what are the benefits of mentoring? Done right they go way beyond personal development.  For those who take part we have seen the positive effects first hand. These effects see greater support within the team for the organisation’s gaols and a greater buy-in to your culture through a deeper understanding of your vision, mission, and purpose. This is a real driver for the next generation of worker. Participants also see not just their place now but the possibility for their future, and importantly their future in your business.

Mentorship also provides positive effects both for the mentors and your business. The mentors we have worked with show greater levels of self-confidence having supported a colleague. They develop key leadership skills and can use the experience to grow their professional network within your organisation, this in particular can lead to better collaboration and idea sharing across your business.

For both the mentor and the mentee there is a better chance of promotion following a successful programme. There are also greater levels of job satisfaction, employee engagement and happiness and an all-round better culture. Capitalising on these positives will allow you to break silo’s, increase productivity and foster a culture of inclusiveness that will reduce talent drain and increase attraction rates.

3SIXTY works closely with our clients to support your people team in designing and delivering this approach to talent development. Using our successful framework, we will be able to build a project suited specifically to your business with your people at the heart. Our aim is to walk this journey alongside our clients in partnership, an approach that has allowed us deliver exceptional results.

If you would like to learn more about our work and to arrange for a coffee conversation, please get in touch by following this link – https://3sixty.ie/book-a-consultation