IF YOU could REDUCE your average employee turnover rate from 27.6 percent to 2 percent, would you put a Mentorship Program into place in your organization?
One of the very impressive examples mentioned by Professor David Clutterbuck at a conference on the merits of having a mentorship program came from the results of a program conducted at GlaxoSmithKline.
Before merging with Glaxo, SmithKline Beecham established a mentoring program within a number of their European, American and Indian operations. The Finance division in Europe saw a need to help employees increase their visible within the organization. While highly competent, it seemed that many of the employees were not advancing in their careers as opportunities opened for promotion. A mentorship program was introduced with a series of lunch sessions. This provided a broad base of employees with a better understand of what mentoring involved and how they could participate. Following the introduction, over 200 employees attended a half-day training session at which more details were discussed.
Fast-Forward to the review of the program - and the results were impressive. In their assessment, it was found that the majority of employees had established a self-development plan that included activities to increase their profile. In addition, a quarter of them were actively networking. The survey indicated that 95 percent of the mentors believed they had grown as a result of having been a mentor, and that the experience they gained could be applied within their normal roles. Many of the employees achieved a promotion within the following two-year period.
Another interesting outcome, and the one we wish to highlight in this post, was the very positive and significant impact that mentorship had on retention levels. In the first year of the program, the average turnover among the company’s finance employees in Europe was 27.6 percent. However, for those who had participated in the mentoring program, whether they had been Mentors or Mentees, it was just 2 percent. In the year afterward, the figures were 35 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively.
Professor Clutterbuck further remarked that it was not necessarily those who were committed to the company that joined the mentoring program. Rather, it appeared to be those who thought that mentorship would give them an advantage in future career placements that joined. They felt that mentorship skills would help them find future positions (elsewhere) in their career development!
About Professor David Clutterbuck - David Clutterbuck PartnershipProfessor David Clutterbuck was one of the very early pioneers of mentoring and coaching. Author of 55 books, a third of them on coaching and mentoring themes, he is visiting professor at both Sheffield Hallam and Oxford Brookes Universities. David co-founded the European Mentoring and Coaching Council and chairs the International Standards for Mentoring Programs in Employment.Website: davidclutterbuck.wordpress.com
What are your comments regarding the value that a Mentorship Program can provide to organizations?
