Preparing your team for 2021

In the wake of COVID-19, many businesses have had to take difficult measures in order to survive. From implementing new and remote working environments all the way to mass layoffs, these measures have caused considerable strain to many organizations.

Approximately 72% of companies reported reduced spending on recruitment in 2020 and 43% froze hiring altogether. Due to this, research has shown that for 2021, many businesses are opting to put hiring on hold and instead, focus more on mobilizing internal teams.

Leveraging On Internal Talents

There’s been a trending disparity in the workforce between in demand skills and the currently available manpower. This has been amplified further as we move deeper into a digital age. 

Skills such as data analysis, cloud computing and artificial intelligence have increased in demand as many companies shifted their businesses online. These organizations were surely faced with the question of how they could possibly leverage on the skill readily available within to stay afloat.

Employees themselves are faced with skill gaps that come with the strain on talent hires. In this time, more value is placed on employees who are readily educated to do more than what they first joined the organization for. 

Employees who are able to develop a depth of knowledge as well as the breadth of it showcases that they are both conclusive in their specific skills as well as great team players and innovators.

According to motivational psychologist and author of the HBR Single Nine Things Successful People Do Differently, Heidi Grant Halvorson, “In a fast-moving, competitive world, being able to learn new skills is one of the keys to success. It’s not enough to be smart — you need to always be getting smarter”.

Mentally Preparing Your Team

The big question for leaders has become, how can you prepare your employees to make this stretch in their career? What does it take to mentally prepare individuals for such a change? 

The answer lies in mentorship. With it, leaders have the opportunity to tap into the full potential of each talent within the organization.

But analytically, what has research shown about mentoring?

Source: guider-ai.com

Case studies have shown that mentoring contributes to the enhancement of the long-term health of an organization. 

By investing in human capital, you provide employees with renewed interest and a more holistic means of contributing their skills to the team. Boosting employee morale via mentorship leads to an increase in productivity and retention that results in a stronger organizational culture. 

Value-wise, this provides members with a common basis of what is expected of them and what they can expect from you as an organization.

What Mentorship Means For Your Organization

With all that said, mentorship is more than simply identifying mentors and mentees. Let’s be real here, how can you really be sure that mentorship produces the results you expect for your company? 

The reality is that proper engagement and tracking is key to determine mentorship’s true impact.

Well, what does that look like today with COVID-19 standing in the way of physical mentorship? You’re spot on if you said digital mentorship. 

To keep up with the times and lack of physical interaction, mentorships are at best performed via video calls or through live chats and digital reports where mentees can now more directly approach mentors to arrange and carry out sessions at their convenience.

Like any relationship, mentorship requires two-way communication where ideally, both parties find these sessions to be highly rewarding. Aside from session interactions, progress also needs to be tracked and communicated to ensure that the sessions align with the desired results of the mentorship program. 

Determining milestones and goals pre-session gives some reference to ensure adherence to the mentorship process. 

On top of that, having trackers through surveys and engaging with mentors and mentees separately can aid in helping you observe if things are in line with organizational outcomes. From then, you can determine what actionable steps need to be taken if they are not.

An article on “Measuring the Effectiveness of a Training Program” by The Training Industry touches on the measurable points of a mentoring program. 

From emphasizing the importance of gathering feedback data, it is also mentioned that, “Analytical tools can help organizations understand trends in impact and effectiveness across regions and employee hierarchies.”, which is this scenario, extends to the impact mentorship has on stakeholder perspectives.

What’s The Takeaway?

At this point in time, only 37% of professionals have a mentor, despite the many different sources that have expressed its benefits.

From a researched organizational point of view, mentorship and tracking its progress would serve to be a valuable resource for building up resilient and versatile talents within the team. Ultimately, investments in mentorship for employees will end up saving you so much more in the long run.

As a leader, what is your next step to prepare your team for the future of work?

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About FutureLab

FutureLab is an online mentorship platform that connects students, working professionals, jobseekers and entrepreneurs with expert industry mentors across the region.

Our services include curated learning experiences and end-to-end solutions via our online mentoring software to businesses and organizations that are aimed to help manage, track and grow mentoring relationships.

We conduct mentoring programs for different communities across Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia to help upskill and reskill mentees in the areas of Career Preparation & Development, Youth Employability, Women Empowerment, Entrepreneurship Skills, Educational Opportunities, Mental Health and more.

If you’re interested to know more about how we could help you tackle mentorship for your organization, we would be more than happy to have a chat about what we can do for you!

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Sources:

Companies in Malaysia focus on employee support despite Covid-19-induced cost pressure — survey, Yasmin Syazwina https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/companies-malaysia-focus-employee-support-despite-covid19induced-cost-pressure-%E2%80%94-survey

The Top Skills Companies Need Most in 2020—And How to Learn Them, Deanna (Lazzaroni) Pate https://www.dhirubhai.net/business/learning/blog/top-skills-and-courses/the-skills-companies-need-most-in-2020and-how-to-learn-them

15 skills LinkedIn say will help you get hired in 2020 - and where to learn them, Mara Leighton https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/09/linkedin-online-elearning-skills-jobs-hiring/

Degrees Are Not Enough: Specific Knowledge And Specialist Skills Will Prevail, Laura Colombo https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2021/12/30/degrees-are-not-enough-specific-knowledge-and-specialist-skills-will-prevail/?sh=2e7a2219d4bd

COVID-19 Workforce Challenges & Tips - Using this time to upskill your people, pwc.com https://www.pwc.com/mt/en/publications/humanresources/covid-19-workforce-challenges/covid-19-workforce-challenges-and-tips-using-this-time-to-upskill-your-people.html

Influences of Mentoring Functions on Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment of Graduate Employee, Morena William Nkomo et. al https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318161716_Influences_of_Mentoring_Functions_on_Job_Satisfaction_and_Organizational_Commitment_of_Graduate_Employees

The True Cost of Not Providing Employee Training, SHIFT https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/the-true-cost-of-not-providing-employee-training

Measuring the Effectiveness of a Mentoring Program, Pritika Padhi https://trainingindustry.com/articles/measurement-and-analytics/measuring-the-effectiveness-of-a-mentoring-program/ 

What does it take to learn a New Skill?, Statesmen News Service https://www.thestatesman.com/features/take-learn-new-skill-1502946260.html