Enhance Employee Experience Through Mentorship
04.06.23
Elisha Kessman
VP, Experience Delivery/ Executive Producer, Experience Delivery
Enhance Employee Experience Through Mentorship
It should be of no surprise that companies that invest in their people retain talent. In fact, 94% of workers would stay longer if their employer offered more learning and career development opportunities (LinkedIn). Further insight from CNBC/Survey Monkey reported that 90% of workers who have a mentor report being happy in their job.
So, how can we as employers address and deliver a mentorship program that nurtures the growth and success of its employees? Employee engagement and talent retention have always been at the forefront of InVision Communications’ goal to be the best audience engagement agency there is.
We sat down with InVision Communications’ Elisha Kessman, VP, Experience Delivery / Executive Producer, who leads our Mentor Program, to learn more about the steps InVision takes to provide greater growth opportunities for employees to help support their professional career path and well-being.
“Learning is finding out that you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, and teachers.”
Q: What prompted InVision to build an internal mentorship program?
Elisha: Although InVision has a robust internal learning and professional development program in place, we were missing a critical component to truly achieve developmental success—a formal mentorship initiative. We learned through many conversations that people wanted more opportunity for influence, even more so since we no longer have the organic connections we had when we were all in-office consistently. Employees expressed that they’re eager to learn and expand their knowledge, and not just from their client teams and their manager, but from others outside of their day-to-day workings. And you can’t get this valuable interaction from standard training programs.
We saw this is an opportunity to develop a program that would empower employees to explore outside their day-to-day, and even independent of their discipline, to be mentored by someone whose expertise interests them and/or cultivates an existing skill to help advance their career.
Q: What were the first steps you took?
Elisha: Validation and information-gathering. We knew employees wanted it, so it was equally important for me to first do extensive research into the importance of mentorship, as well as educate myself with success stories from other companies. Understanding the ethos of mentorship enabled me to develop a thoughtfully crafted program that would meet the needs of InVision employees.
From there, I presented my findings to the executive leadership team, which outlined what success looked like, the flow and responsibilities for mentors and mentees and the goal. Our ambition is ultimately to grow and retain talent by establishing a mentor program that pairs team members with similar learning objectives with qualified experts to learn, grow and succeed.
Q: After your discovery and development phase was complete, what did you do next?
Elisha: It was time to roll out the program to the company and test the waters. We kept an open mind knowing that the initial rollout was a learning curve and would serve as a base to measure future success. The program was launched at our all-company staff meeting in late 2022 and we encouraged everyone to apply. There were two questionnaires, one for a mentee and one for a mentor, to gauge what people were looking for in that partnership, where they felt their expertise was or what they wanted to learn the most, and where the opportunities were.
Q: Was there a lot of interest? Did anything surprise you?
Elisha: I wouldn’t say I was surprised; I was excited. I thought some of the people who applied wouldn’t have the time, yet they made the time. In the first call for mentors and mentees, we received 24 applicants. We were able to pair multiple people—ten pairings altogether so far—, and a few were with those who they didn’t specifically request. Those connections are where we have seen even more appreciation for the program. We noticed that some employees were asking for mentors from people they work with all the time; however, the whole point was to get exposure and understanding from people that matched their desired goals, and that isn’t always from the person you think it is.
Q: How did you pair mentees with their mentors?
Elisha: We were very strategic in the pairings, which is extremely important for other companies looking to build or rebrand their mentorship program to consider. We didn’t look at who was available. The employee’s manager and I worked closely together to identify the best pairing that would truly expose the mentee to a new skill, need or desire that would guide them forward in their career path. So, even though some of these combinations might seem random from the outside, they are calculated choices and the mentees are going to get so much out of them, which is exciting.
Q: What are the expectations and outcomes for participating mentors and mentees?
Elisha: The nuts and bolts of the program itself largely rests upon both the mentor and mentee. We purposely gave loose criteria as to not turn people off from participating by demanding it would be a large commitment. All we asked was for them to meet on a consistent basis whether that’s once a week or bi-weekly. And we also didn’t enforce a length of time commitment either, so they could meet for one year or just six months. We emphasized, though, that it was important that by the end of the mentorship, employees felt like they fostered new relationship skills, reached their identified goals, and furthered their career path. We also provided an Asana project template and asked them to track their goals and conversation topics to monitor progress.
Again, it’s very important that these meetings are purposeful and with a goal in mind. This is different from our Buddy Program where buddies are assigned to new employees to show them the ropes of the company. This is all about the employees’ desire to grow and learn in their career. In the middle of the year, all participants will be coming together to share their approach and key takeaways to date. At the end of the program, we will have them take a survey and provide feedback—what worked and tips for improvement—so that we can evolve the program and truly make it impactful. We want them to be our champions. And, we hope they can share and evangelize their story to the company to inspire others to join the program in the future.
Q: Anything else you would like to add or key takeaways for other companies looking to launch or rebrand an existing mentor program?
Elisha: One thing that I uncovered during my research was that others indicate for a mentor program to be successful; it needs to be mandatory. We just aren't in that position yet. We are taking slightly slower steps by gauging interest and gathering learnings from early adopters to refine our approach. What we didn’t want to do is enforce a program and then find the cracks later.
At the end of the day, a well-tuned mentor program is a fantastic investment to help companies improve employee retention and increase employee satisfaction. My advice, approach the program with patience and take extra time to pair employees together where it makes sense—don’t lose sight of your end goal during this phase. Be open to feedback and listen to your employees. Remember, engaged employees impact business success. I’m excited for the upcoming year and optimistic that the program will continue to grow in 2023 and beyond.
We believe employee engagement is crucial to an organization’s success. We also help business leaders create meaningful change by aligning employees with organizational purpose. From message development to communications planning, to employer branding and DEI strategy, we offer full-service engagement solutions to align every part of your organization. Contact your Account Director or info@iv.com to learn more.