| What if someone told you that doing one thing – at no cost – would increase your company’s revenue by 83%? It might sound too good to be true but that’s what micromentor.org found in its 2014 Business Outcomes Survey. Whether you’re a mentee in need of a mentor or a company grooming mentees to build your business, there is great value in mentorship. Luis Velasquez is a leadership coach, employee engagement expert, and management trainer. He says in his mentorcloud.com blog post “7 Trends In Employee Engagement and What Role Mentoring Plays” that employers must mentor their workforce to be competitive in today’s marketplace. The benefits include higher job satisfaction, increased retention and improved productivity. He writes: “Acquiring knowledge through mentoring and applying that knowledge to their current job will not only increase employee output, but will also increase their level of discretionary effort.” Creating maximum efficiency among your workers means that you’ll need fewer employees to get the job done as your company grows. You’ll avoid the reoccurring expense of searching for and replacing employees. Experts at ZaneBenefits estimate losing a salaried employee can cost as much as two times their annual salary, especially to replace a higher level executive. Not only will mentoring increase productivity, it will allow you to expand your business without adding more employees. This, of course, leaves you more money for growing your business via strategic planning, marketing analytics, technology, acquisition, or structural/office space, etc. As an owner of an expanding business you too can tap into the value of mentors. Perhaps you want to grow sales in a new market. A mentor with experience in that arena can shed light on what strategies would be effective and who the “players” are in the industry. There are many useful resources ready to pair mentors with mentees and visa versa. One helpful organization that matches those in need of mentorship with mentors is SCORE. Its volunteer mentors bring real-world business experience. They are working and retired business owners, executives and managers who have been through the same challenges and decisions that many entrepreneurs face. In addition, SCORE business mentors offer valuable expertise in specific industries. Engaging pays off. SCORE reports more than 100,000 businesses increased their revenue in 2014 thanks to its mentoring efforts. Those businesspeople with three-plus hours of mentoring not only achieved higher revenue; they experienced an increase in business growth. |
