Be My Mentor
You don’t have to have a formal HR department,
a gaggle of employees, or even an
MBA-type business plan to reap the benefits
of mentoring. Small companies can see
rewards simply by putting people together
either formally or on an organic basis to
nurture professional development and cultivate
a general feel-good atmosphere.
Small-business owners, unfortunately, tend
to overlook this important aspect of giving back
to employees. Either they say they lack the time
and resources or they’re concerned that they
don’t have enough people in their companies to
really benefit and exploit a mentoring program.
There’s also a common fear that encouraging
too much growth might set unrealistic expectations.
“In some mom-and-pop shops,
they’re afraid of raising expectations,”
says Judith Lindenberger, winner of the
Athena award for recognition in excellence
in mentoring and the principal at
The Lindenberger Group (www.lindenbergergroup.
com), a human resources
consulting firm in Titusville, NJ. “Mom
and pop are always going to be in
charge, and the thinking is if you mentor
someone, they’ll either want a more
important role or else you’ll lose them
and what you mentored them for.”
In reality, Lindenberger contends,
without some sort of mentoring
program or using some elements of mentoring,
companies are in more danger of losing
valuable employees, who might get bored or
attracted to larger firms that do invest in
such programs. “Smart, talented people
want to grow, and even if they don’t aspire to
be mom and pop, they aspire to be more,”
Lindenberger says. “Through mentoring, you
raise the level of loyalty to your company
among employees and you have a better
advantage in hiring people. Those are
absolutely things that can add value to any
organization.”
Lindenberger offers some advice for companies
looking to infuse some mentoring principles
into their culture or for those who want
to take on a full-blown mentoring program:
- Have a business case. Don’t try to put
together a formal mentoring program without
knowing exactly why it is you’re doing so.
Maybe you’re approaching mentoring because
you want to increase loyalty, maybe it’s to foster
knowledge transfer among employees, or
perhaps it’s to address a pressing need for new
management
if the owner is going to retire. By knowing what
it is you want to accomplish, you can put
together a program that resonates with all
involved and has a better chance of success,
Lindenberger says.
- Partner up. If you don’t feel like you have
enough resources or people to truly benefit
from full-fledged mentoring, consider joining
forces with another local business. That way,
you both can enjoy some cross-pollination of
ideas and an exchange of skills. The idea is
to make smart partner choices. “If you’re an
ice-cream shop, I’d be leery of partnering
with another ice-cream shop, but you might
consider partnering with a bagel place or
local grocery store,” she explains.
- Mentor yourself. Even the boss needs
some mentoring help now and then. Consider
joining local organizations or a peer networking
group to exchange ideas and have a
sounding board. “When you’re the president
of a small organization, you can’t go to subordinates
to talk about anything confidential—
this kind of setup is like having your own
board of directors,” Lindenberger says. BA
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