Mentorship replacing favoritism favors all involved
Employees dislike favoritism, especially when they are not the ones receiving favor. It means they are not being given chances to develop their abilities and talents, not being given the help needed to learn at breakneck speeds, not being offered the opportunities to advance to realize their potential.
For employees receiving favor, it’s an optimal environment. They are assigned challenging projects and given the help and guidance to do well on each one. They learn more quickly with help, as if they had a private tutor; they reach their goals; and along the learning path, they receive the emotional support to boost their confidence. The employee wins, and the organization wins. This is what can happen when mentorship replaces favoritism. With a mentorship program in place, employees can receive the answers they need as each week unfolds, the guidance they need to produce a better work product — and all as it is needed. Employees would then have the opportunity to rise to a potential they may never have reached before.
Mentorship is a no-brainer, win-win situation. Overall, it makes one’s job easier and can open doors to exciting positions employees may never have considered. Mentoring creates a workplace where all are favored, where all receive the guidance and help they need to gain knowledge and skill sets that advance the company, as well as the employees. Mentorship is favoritism equally distributed. It allows the best in each person to rise from obscurity and results in employee success.
It also helps the mentor, who gets to show leadership qualities and become the teacher and producer who offers help to an employee who needs it. The mentor shares in the successes of each mentee, knowing they were instrumental in creating the near-perfect work environment.
The mentees are now on the fasttrack to learning the job, improving at warp speed, and advancing in their career beyond what might have been possible.
According to a study on mentorship conducted in 2018 by Olivet Nazarene University, many successful people attribute part of their professional success to having a mentor. The study surveyed 3,000 full-time American employees ranging from 21 to 68 years old, spanning 50 states and 21 industries. It discovered mentoring is not just for new employees: 57% of junior-level employees were mentored, followed by 35% of mid-level and 8% of senior-level employees. Of those 3,000 employees, 37% currently have mentors, while 9% said “maybe,” because they had help but were unclear about the relationship. Eighty-two percent said they were “sure their mentor would formally identify as their ‘mentor;’” 25% said their mentor offered to take on the mentorship role; 14% of employees requested their mentors; and 61% of mentoring relationships developed naturally.
The average mentorship lasted 3.3 years; the average time spent talking came to a total of 4 hours per month; and the in-person meeting frequency totaled less than once per month (except where they normally interacted with each daily at work). Of the mentees, 29% said mentoring was “very important” to them; 47% said it was “important;” 18% were “neutral;” and 6% said it was “not very important.” These responses could be due to the individuals involved in the relationships, as 15% said it was “very difficult” getting time with their mentor; 26% found it “fairly difficult;” 40% found it “fairly easy;” and 19% found it “very easy.” What is no surprise is that most employees had same-sex mentors (69% of women and 82% of men).
Based on the study’s findings, employees with mentors “are slightly happier at their current jobs than those without.” Clearly, implementing mentorship programs within companies and their various departments would not only increase employee job satisfaction, it could improve the speed and accuracy of employee performance. The best side effect is that it could decrease the existence of favoritism.
Clearly, implementing mentorship programs within companies and their various departments would not only increase employee job satisfaction, it could improve the speed and accuracy of employee performance.