Mentorship programs have a longstanding reputation of bridging the gap between individuals in the workplace and their supervisors, providing transferable knowledge and skills, and preparing individuals for success through goal-setting and career readiness opportunities. Though it’s common knowledge that trade jobs require apprenticeships for hands-on learning to hone specific skills for the trade, the soft skills taught through a mentorship program are just as important. Here are just a few of the tangible benefits that can be gained through a mentorship program in the workplace:
1. Mentorships provide opportunities for career planning and goal-setting. It’s very common to get thrown into a work environment where there is no discussion of learning objectives, personal growth goals, or career advancement. This can often lead to feeling lost and aimless in your everyday work, because you don’t really know what you’re working toward. With a mentor, you can sit down and plan out exactly what your goals are and how to achieve them through actionable steps. Goal-setting can result in more purposeful behavior in the workplace and an overall feeling of satisfaction with yourself and your job.
2. Mentorships can be mutually beneficial to both mentor and mentee. Mentorships generally involve having an older, highly experienced professional working alongside an employee who is relatively new to the field; however, that doesn’t mean there much knowledge to be gained from either side. Especially with trade jobs, technology is constantly evolving, bringing in new techniques that even an experienced mentor might not be familiar with. Just as you may have lots to learn from a mentor, they can learn from you as well.
3. Mentorship can promote diversity and inclusion. Formal mentorship provides opportunities for pairings that might not occur naturally in the workplace. Studies from Lean In indicate that formal mentorships (where pairings are set up rather than allowing mentors/mentees to choose each other) prevent mentors from only reaching out to people of their likeness.
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If you are interested in Mentorship opportunities make sure to click here and learn more about our Mentorship programs.