Building Effective Mentorship Programs For Gen-Z Employees

Cofounder & CEO at Abode. Leading the team on our mission to modernize the way companies engage and retain Gen-Z talent.

For decades, mentorship programs have served as an important catalyst for individual and collective development within organizations; in fact, a MentorcliQ study (via Forbes) found that 84% of Fortune 500 companies have mentorship programs in place. For Gen-Z employees, that high stat bodes well—considering workplace mentorship can help them contribute to a committed, engaged and productive workforce. Mentorship programs facilitate connections between early-career candidates and more seasoned professionals who can guide candidates through their careers. For young employees, these types of programs present an unmatched opportunity to gain insights, acquire skills and navigate the professional world.

The Benefits Of Mentorship For Gen-Z

Before understanding how to build effective mentorship programs for Gen-Z, it’s important to understand who they are. As digital natives, they are incredibly comfortable with technology and highly connected, and they are said to value flexibility and autonomy in their work. They often prioritize diversity, inclusion and social responsibility. These characteristics can inform how to structure mentorship programs with Gen-Z employees; they should be interactive, personalized, digitally accessible and driven by mutual respect and purpose.

Providing social learning opportunities such as mentorship can have a significant impact as Gen-Z integrates into the workforce. In a survey by Springtide Research Institute (via The 74), an impressive “82% young people report it’s important their supervisor helps them set performance goals; and 83% say they want their supervisor to care about their life.” Mentorship can contribute to the professional growth of Gen-Z employees by offering personalized learning, skill-building and exposure to industry-specific knowledge that goes beyond the college classroom. It can also impact their earnings. Research from Sun Microsystems found that 28% of mentees in their program saw an increase in salary, compared with only 5% for non-participants. Mentorship can also offer crucial networking opportunities.

Designing Mentorship Programs For Gen-Z

A quality mentorship program includes elements that are both tech-enabled and in-person, personalized for each participant and incredibly collaborative.

Leveraging Technology And Digital Platforms

Given Gen-Z’s tech-savvy nature, digital platforms can be an effective means to enhance mentorship experiences. Virtual mentorship platforms, video conferencing and online collaboration tools provide accessibility and foster continuous, asynchronous learning. These digital solutions can also facilitate more frequent and flexible communication between mentors and mentees, enabling instant feedback and guidance.

Matching Mentors And Mentees

Effectively matching mentors and mentees is critical to ensuring a positive and productive experience for both parties. There are a few schools of thought on the matching process, but matching mentors and mentees based on shared interests, personality and communication styles can enhance compatibility and lead to more impactful experiences. In my experience, a good match is best achieved through self-matching—when mentees are given a pool of mentors to choose from. This allows them to select a mentor whose characteristics and expertise are ones they aspire to. However, the duty of the organization is to ensure the pool of mentors is suitable.

Setting Clear Expectations And Goals

Clearly defined expectations and goals provide direction for the mentorship process. For both mentors and mentees, objectives, milestones and measurable outcomes should be established at the outset to enable progress toward goals and program success. For mentees, provide context into what a mentorship program is, why you’re including them, and why it’s important. Give candidates thought-starter questions to bring to their first mentor meeting to help alleviate the anxiety that might accompany meeting a mentor for the first time. Perhaps most importantly, make it goal-oriented. Set goals for candidates for how many mentor-mentee interactions they should strive for on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis.

On the mentor side, ensure they understand the purpose they are serving for your program and the value they are offering in terms of organizational retention. Prepare them with background information on their mentee and suggest establishing pre-set times (like office hours) when they are available to their mentee. Most importantly, make sure your mentors are appropriately trained.

Tailoring Structure And Format

It’s important to offer mentees various mentorship formats so they can choose which one will prove most effective for them. Organizations can offer traditional mentorship programs with a mentor and mentee matched, they can offer group mentoring with like-minded individuals all learning from one another, or they can even delve into reverse mentoring—when Gen-Z employees flip the script and mentor their millennial colleagues on new-age technologies, social media trends, emerging consumer preferences and more. Offering variety will ensure that every Gen-Z employee feels comfortable with their chosen mentoring approach.

Nurturing A Supportive Mentorship Culture

Leadership buy-in and integration of mentorship into performance management processes can incentivize participation and foster a positive work environment. Additionally, facilitating open communication and creating safe spaces for sharing can encourage trust, openness and learning within the mentorship relationship.

You can facilitate open communication and nurture a sense of safety in several ways. Ensure your mentees understand that the information they share with their mentor will remain confidential—a sentiment that can be conveyed by incorporating a written confidentiality agreement between the two parties. In addition, create a hierarchy for discussing any issues in the mentor-mentee relationship, such as by designating another individual who can serve as a sounding board if the mentee is feeling judged or uncomfortable in any way. This point also relates to the need for mentor training: Acceptable tone, mannerisms and proper responses should all be part of the training process.

Ensuring Ongoing Evaluation And Improvement

Mentorship programs require regular evaluations for continuous improvement. Implementing feedback loops, conducting periodic assessments, and reviewing programs are steps that are integral for enhancing effectiveness and achieving desired goals. Moreover, this process helps identify gaps or challenges in the current program, providing insights for necessary modifications.

Specific metrics to analyze should include:

• Number of mentor and mentee sign-ups.

• Number of active mentoring relationships.

• Total mentoring sessions.

• Total mentoring hours.

• Number of actions taken.

• Volume of notes taken.

• Number of mentor/mentee issues escalated.

• Promotions awarded to mentees.

• Awards given to mentors.

• New skills learned by mentees.

Takeaways

Ultimately, by investing in mentorship programs that cater to Gen-Z, organizations are investing in their future by ensuring they have a talented, motivated and well-prepared workforce ready to face upcoming challenges.

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