Do mentoring templates work?

Developing a workplace mentoring program can be a challenge, which is why some organizations opt for mentoring templates. However, utilizing someone else’s formula for successful mentoring is not going to work for every organization.

Many organizations in North America are looking at mentorship to help combat problems like turnover rates and poor employee engagement. Yet, getting started on developing a workplace mentoring program can seem daunting. This is where mentoring templates can look like an attractive resource for companies. 

Mentoring templates are really just program outlines that you can use to create your own workplace mentorship. These guides can help those new to mentorship understand the steps they need to take to develop a successful mentoring program at their organization. 

Importance of mentoring at work

There is no denying that many companies are looking for a solution to some big problems. 

Employers across North America have been struggling with high turnover rates and low employee engagement. Statistics show nearly 70 percent of employees are unengaged with their jobs. The numbers are higher when it comes to millennials. A recent study has shown that while employees are disengaged, many of them continue on with the same employer. This complacency leads to poor productivity and can result in a negative workplace atmosphere. 

High turnover rates are also leading to high costs for organizations. Gallup estimates the annual turnover rate to cost $30.5 billion in the U.S. alone. Experts have indicated that the loss of one employee can cost a company 50 percent or more.

Workplace mentoring programs have the ability to tackle both of these issues and help create a more robust workforce at your organization. When it comes to improving the engagement rate among younger workers, mentorship is high on the list of successful strategies. That is because nearly 60 percent of millennials have indicated they are looking for a job that offers growth and learning opportunities. Good mentorships can offer these younger employees a solid onboarding process, connection to others in the company and a chance to develop their skills. 

Mentorships can also help new employees envision a future at the company and become more loyal as they see the organization invest in their development. An added benefit is that mentorships can be used by any employee, no matter how long they have been with the company or what their role has been. 

Organizations that are looking to develop a successful strategy for developing a workplace mentoring program may consider using mentoring templates to help them along. These templates are designed to be a formula to follow when creating a mentorship at work. 

Benefits of a mentoring template

The idea behind a mentoring template is to help organizations who are struggling to develop their workplace mentoring programs. Good templates will outline the steps that you need to take to create a successful mentorship. Some of the benefits of using a mentoring template include:

1. Step-by-step: Mentoring templates guide organizations through the steps of developing a program, cultivating a connection between a mentor and mentee and getting feedback from participants. Often they are easy enough to be used by those new to mentorship. These instructions can often make managing a workplace mentoring program easier and less time-consuming. They can also guide each mentor-mentee through their meetings, goal setting and achieving as well as feedback about their experience. 
2. Tool combination: Even though mentoring templates often offer step-by-step guidance on creating a workplace mentoring program, they give enough leeway to be used with a variety of mentoring tools including mentoring software. Using a template along with a program like Together can help streamline workplace mentorships. One of the ways these tools can complement each other is to use the template to guide the overall development of a mentorship program. Then bring in the mentoring software to help assist the process, such as the application process, mentor matching and reporting. 
3. Build on others’ success: Templates are usually designed by those with substantial mentoring experience. They usually offer a tried and true way of developing workplace mentorships. Many come with standard forms, questions and other details that can be useful in the mentoring program process. Organizations are able to use these resources and build on the success that others have had with workplace mentorships. 
   
   

Drawbacks of a mentoring template

While there can be some advantages to using a mentoring template, there can also be some drawbacks. These include:

1. Company culture: Mentoring templates are designed to be used by a large number of organizations. Therefore, the are not able to incorporate your unique company culture into the design of a mentoring program. If one of your goals is to improve your onboarding process of new employees, a mentoring template may be too bland. In addition, it can be difficult to add your own spin on the template. Thus, not every mentoring template will work for every organization. Some may be too rigid to fit into a more relaxed atmosphere. 
2. Troubleshooting: Unfortunately, not every mentorship leads to a good outcome. If your organization is relying on a mentoring template they may come up short when problems arise. Mentoring templates are unable to advise you when dealing with failures like a bad mentor-mentee match, unresponsive participant or lack of data/reporting issues. 

Conclusion

Mentoring templates can prove to be an asset for companies looking at developing or revamping a workplace mentoring program. Having a step-by-step guide allows organizations to streamline the mentoring process. However, there are some drawbacks to relying on a template for a mentoring program. Companies looking at using a mentoring template may want to customize the instructions to better fit in with their company culture. It may also be useful to employ other tools like mentoring software to help simplify the managing of a workplace mentoring program. 

If you’d like to see how mentoring software can work alongside tools like mentoring templates, contact us for a free demo.