Workplace mentoring programs have become more and more popular as companies look for ways to attract top talent. Many job seekers have shown they are looking for organizations that offer growth opportunities, such as mentorships. Research has shown that employees that have a mentor also have a 23 percent higher retention rate.
But how can companies go about starting mentoring programs? Who’s responsible for managing it? How much time and administrative effort will it take?
These are valid concerns. Mentoring programs are usually an additional responsibility on HR, L&D, DEI, or operations professionals. For that reason, using established mentoring apps to connect employees is a saving grace.
What is a mentoring app?
A mentoring app handles the registration, pairing, managing, and reporting of a mentoring relationship. Employees can access mentoring resources, like sessions agendas, schedule meetings with their mentors, and leave notes on their sessions.
Mentoring apps are also used by human resource managers to monitor mentoring programs. They can see who’s meeting, who’s matched with who, and what the feedback is.
A key characteristic of a great mentoring app is that it is accessible from all devices; mobile and desktop.
Looking for a free mentor-matching tool?
If you’re looking for a quick way to get started building your mentoring program, get access to Together's full mentoring platform for free. You can quickly invite mentors and mentees, have them fill out a questionnaire that builds their profile, and start matching them with our intelligent algorithm. It’s the fastest way to build a scalable mentoring program.
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Why do you need an app for mentoring?
Having an app or platform to manage your mentoring program streamlines the administrative aspects of managing a mentoring program. Rather than manually matching participants using tools like spreadsheets, mentoring platforms have pairing algorithms that instantly match mentors with mentees with a high degree of relevancy.
Mentoring apps also improve connection and communication between mentors and mentees because they don’t have to be in front of their computers to schedule meetings or access mentoring resources.
A mentoring program that is successful can produce a variety of benefits for the participants and the company, including:
- Develop communication and listening skills
- Increase knowledge
- Create personal satisfaction
- Enhance onboarding process
- Reduce employee turnover rate
- Improve employee engagement statistics
- Increase productivity and organizational profits
- Boost the organization's reputation
Statistics show that employees who are mentored often receive more promotions. They are more committed to their jobs, are more satisfied with their work, and are more positive in their thinking regarding their future career options.
Benefits for employees
For employees, mentoring apps are a great place to keep everything about their mentoring relationship in one place.
Workplace mentoring programs have become a large part of an organization’s attraction and retention strategy. Employees who are mentored have proven to have better careers, receive more pay and be more positive regarding the company and their futures. This presents a win-win for everyone involved.
Benefits for managers
Through mentoring apps, human resource managers keep track of employee mentoring relationships at scale. Mentorships have often been defined as a work-related relationship that develops between a more experienced or senior member of the company and a younger or newer employee.
However, workplace mentoring programs today do not always follow the traditional path. Mentoring programs have become a place to promote diversity, encourage interns and attract new talent to the organization.
Apps you need to use while mentoring
There are several apps that can make running or participating in a mentoring program easier.
Some include communication apps and others are more focused on productivity or organization. Regardless of the type of app, there are many ways that mentors or mentees can get the most out of their relationship by leveraging tech tools.
Here are some commonly used apps that are helping to connect mentors and mentees:
Together mentoring platform
Together platform is a mentoring app employees and managers can use to meet their learning and development needs. It has an extensive library of resources that helps employees make the most of their mentoring relationships.
There are also handbooks and short actionable blog posts to help mentors and mentees become effective in the mentorship program.
Fitted with a sophisticated algorithm that considers all employees' learning goals and needs, Together matches them with the best possible mentor.
Zoom
Zoom offers users the ability to hold virtual meetings or conferences between two or more people. Mentors and mentees can use Zoom to chat with each other or to introduce one another to a larger network of people. Also, this app can record video chats in the cloud, which means users can access recordings at a later date if they need them.
Evernote
Used primarily as a digital notebook tool, Evernote can prove to be a useful app in the hands of a mentor or mentee. They can record quickly or write ideas or thoughts down so they discuss them later.
These notes are also sharable between users, so mentors and mentees can send their thoughts, ideas or questions to one another easily. It can also capture images such as documents, notes, drawings, and more, which can be sent to others to start a discussion. This is a great app to store mentoring topics for later discussion. Here are some mentoring topics for different mentoring relationships.
Outlook calendar
This is a calendar that can schedule appointments. Clicking a particular time slot will allow you to write in them like notebooks. You can also organize events, meetings and view group schedules. You can also manage another user’s calendar. They integrated it with features like email, contacts and other features.
The company has added a mentorship feature to their Facebook Groups. They made the announcement last year on their website. People who are a part of community groups on the social media platform can find each other and create mentoring relationships. In their announcement, they give an example of a woman who was paired with a mentoring in a business coaching group and has now launched her own company. The key is that the group admin needs to create a mentorship program in the group before anyone can be paired.
GoToMeeting
This platform has already established itself as a reliable conferencing tool. Through the app version, mentors and mentees could schedule meetings, meet virtually and even share screens for better communication.
Slack
Commonly used among workplaces that deal with mobile teams, Slack is a great place for users to stay in touch, share files or other content and send private messages. It can be a boon for workplace mentoring program managers who can easily stay connected with participants. However, it can also be another way for mentors and mentees to stay in touch and share information.
Basecamp
This app is like Slack, as it focuses on team communication. It offers a real-time chatroom where mentors and mentees can meet to discuss things. There is also the ability to send direct messages or forward emails to the app. Other useful features include to-do lists, check-ins and reports or progress charts that could track mentorship goals.
Skype
Another app that is usually used just for video calls, but Skype can do so much more. It has a chat or texting feature that can help mentors and mentees stay connected anywhere, anytime.
Ready to run launch your mentorship program with Together’s mentoring app?
If you are looking for mentoring software that is available on all devices, Together’s platform has been custom designed to be responsive. This means no matter what piece of technology your participants use, they will always be able to stay connected with Together.
Our platform has an extensive library of resources, ideal for HR, people leaders, L&D teams, managers and anyone who cares about learning and development through mentorship.
It is integrated with an email and calendar system, there is no need to learn a new system. All your needs are in one place so you can focus on what matters—mentorship.
For the best mentorship app on the internet, check out the Together mentoring platform today and contact our hands-on support team if you need help along the way.
