The Value of a Mentor at Workplace

According to mentoring literature studies (e.g. Baugh & Fageson – Eland, 2007), having mentors at a workplace can be an effective tool in successful onboarding of new employees. It provides new employees a much needed support, advice and relevance. Every new recruit hankers for a healthy training and tutoring in industrial experience, and having a mentor can stimulate their development in a positive way. Earlier, onboarding simply required new hires to cope with the existing tasks themselves, occasionally being provided with work buddies. However, a work buddy can sometimes undermine the other person’s ability to deliver the desired advancement in their fields. The reason why most onboarding programs fail in their execution is because they are either not designed effectively or fail to address the problems associated with new hires’ mindset. Having a mentor seems like the most apparent cure for this work related issue because a mentor has the ability to design a theoretical framework of the programs at work, and is adept at guiding the newcomer into the social and corporate situations of the company. As a result, an employee can work faster towards self-efficacy, and reach the desired results on time. This technique can also help reduce the time it would otherwise take for the new employee to get adjusted to the company’s style of working. An informal mentoring program also becomes necessary during the onboarding process, for it can establish a trustworthy relationship between the new comers and fellow employees, thus making the new comer feel more accepted and welcomed. Most importantly, it provides a virtuous system of support for the new hires who will ultimately work and achieve to the best of their abilities. Although, socialization may be considered as a process that occurs over time, mentoring can most definitely be used as a contrivance to improve social as well as corporate engagement.