Mentoring: The Key to Successful Succession Planning

Modern industry is tumultuous. Businesses are still recovering from a crippling pandemic. Inflation is on the rise. Turnover rates are unpredictable, and market trends are chaotic. The competition for talented employees is cutthroat. 

Looking over the vast panorama of pitfalls businesses can fall into can overwhelm even the most competent CEO. In a landscape like this, it is wise to focus on things that can be controlled. Worrying over broader trends in the economy and job market that are entirely out of a company’s zone of control only results in more worry. CEOs, HR Execs and companies should be honing in on what they can tangibly influence.

The Society of Human Resources reports that the average cost of replacing an employee is $4000, and it can take anywhere from 45 to 70 days to fill a vacant position. If company retention rates are low and no effective succession planning is being executed, the cost and stress can be crippling.

Alarming Stats

1 – CEO turnover is at a 20-year high, with the average CEO lasting less than five years.

2 – Companies spend more than $370 billion on leadership development.

3 – Only 35% of organizations have a formal succession plan for critical roles.

4 – More than 74% of those in leadership roles report feeling underprepared for the challenges they face on the job.

5 – 60% of executives fail within 18 months of being promoted.

How Mentoring Can Help

84% of Fortune 500 companies have mentoring programs. There is a reason. Mentoring programs leverage an asset that companies have an abundance of in their midst – talented executives and willing employees. Most employees are eager to learn and improve. Most executives and supervisors want to train future leaders and pass on their knowledge.

Through mentoring, employees are matched up with mentors and given direct guidance on career development. Mentoring can also be tailored to boost retention rates and facilitate succession planning. Succession planning can be painless with mentoring. 

Mentoring builds a pipeline of future leaders ready to take on higher roles.

Mentoring Boosts Retention Rates in Critical Succssion Risk Areas

One of the most critical factors in retaining employees is providing opportunities for career development. No one wants to work a dead-end job with no future. When an organization invests in a formal mentoring program, it sends a message to employees that it cares about their development and there is a future for them at the company.

As part of succession planning, organizations should focus on two points. The first is retention rates. With mentoring and career development programs, retention rates receive a nice boost. The second point is targeting potential future leaders and assigning them mentors. These mentors could be senior executives who are expected to depart the company due to retirement or other factors. If every senior executive or CEO engaged in mentoring future leaders, there would be a talent pool to pick from when they departed.

Mentoring Builds a Culture of Learning and Development

Building a culture of learning and development is one of the best things a company can do to combat sinking retention rates and employee burnout. Mentoring connects people who would otherwise never rub elbows. These cross-connections promote knowledge transfer and an engaging environment where employees are constantly exposed to fresh and unique viewpoints. 

The biggest issue with succession planning is insufficient qualified candidates to step into higher roles. When mentoring drives company culture, there is a vast talent pool of eligible candidates for promotion at any time.

Mentoring Networks Isolated Business Areas

Organizations tend to become siloed. Departments, separate regions, different product lines or otherwise often never interact. How often do you see people from Accounting spending time with employees in Marketing? They may cross paths occasionally on a professional level, but their personal interaction is limited. This can create challenges in succession planning, making it difficult for employees to transfer from one section of a business to another. Employees who are too siloed lose touch and reality with what goes on elsewhere, limiting their utility. Mentoring can create relationships that cross-network employees and mentors from vastly different organization sectors. 

Mentoring Bridges the Gap Between Generations

People tend to gravitate towards people their own age. This is a natural trend. However, there are considerable benefits to having employees from younger generations receive mentoring from veteran employees. 

Currently, some workplaces span five different generations: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z. Each of these generations is unique. These differences can be polarizing, and employees may hesitate to develop relationships outside their generation. Mentoring breaks down these walls and opens possibilities. Mentoring allows employees from different generations to learn from one another, and when it comes to succession planning, mentoring is part of the tool kit to create future leaders and retain invaluable knowledge.

Mentoring Provides Real-world Experience

No amount of reading or formal classroom study will ever fully prepare students for the real world. Sometimes, the only way to learn is to break a few eggs in real life. Companies often invest copious amounts of money into employee development and formal training. The hope is these efforts will produce more valuable employees. It doesn’t always work.

A mentor can provide real-world experience. Proper mentoring can save mentees years of heartbreak by showing them the pitfalls of hard-won successful actions. Regarding succession planning, mentoring can directly train employees to take over when talented executives retire or move on from the company.

Wisdom Share Mentoring Software

Our powerful software seamlessly integrates mentoring into any organization. It can be tailored to handle any unique challenge. It offers a range of key features and benefits designed to drive measurable results. 

1. Customizable Matching Algorithms: Wisdom Share employs cutting-edge matching algorithms that efficiently pair mentors and mentees based on shared goals, interests, and expertise. This ensures optimal mentor-mentee matches, facilitating productive and impactful relationships right from the start. 
   
   
2. Seamless Communication and Collaboration: Our software provides user-friendly communication tools, including chat, video conferencing, and virtual meeting spaces, enabling mentees and mentors to connect and collaborate effortlessly. This seamless communication fosters a sense of belonging and support, facilitating valuable knowledge transfer and growth. 
   
   
3. Goal Tracking and Progress Measurement: With Wisdom Share, mentees can set clear objectives, track their progress, and receive feedback from their mentors. This feature enhances accountability, motivates mentees to strive for their goals, and enables mentors to provide valuable guidance and support along the way. 
   
   
4. Resource Library and Knowledge Sharing: Our software offers a comprehensive resource library, housing a vast array of valuable materials, articles, and best practices. Mentees can access this centralized repository to expand their knowledge, gain insights, and continuously develop their skills, promoting ongoing learning and growth. 
   
   
5. Data-driven Insights and Analytics: Wisdom Share provides data-driven insights and analytics that offer a deep understanding of mentoring relationships, program effectiveness, and the impact on key metrics. These actionable insights empower organizations to make informed decisions, optimize their mentoring programs, and measure the tangible benefits they bring to employee engagement, retention, and overall company performance. 

Mentor Resources can help any company or government agency to leverage technology to create tailored career development programs that are cost-effective. Our mentoring software - Wisdom Share is a cloud-based program that is simple and comes with guided workflows. Included are tools for administrators to attract, enroll, connect, and guide participants. We also provide analytics to ensure you can monitor your employee development program and easily see ROI metrics.

Reach out to us today for a Free Demonstration of our software.