A lot can be said for a new hire to have a point person they will interact with for the questions they have that the don’t necessarily want to ask their manager - or to help mitigate their manager from being overwhelmed with questions. Having an onboarding mentors can help your new team member settle into their role, build relationships within the team, and navigate the organization and benefits companies with three employees to thousands of employees.
These are incredibly easy to set up and roll out and have several advantages for your company and team(s):
Provides an initial relationship for the new hire.
Gives a reference point for simple questions.
Promotes team engagement from an early stage.
Provides senior or longer term team members the opportunity to mentor others and develop their leadership skills.
It puts informal / social learning into practice and helps cultivate a culture of learning.
Having a central mandate to have onboarding mentors can help define consistent parameters and experience between teams, but isn't necessary if it isn't a practical fit to match for your culture. To launch, all you need to do is select mentors and pair with new hires, and communicate the program with participants.
Does your company use onboarding mentors? What have been the pros and cons in your experience?
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