Mentoring in the Best of Times and the Worst of Times

No matter what shape the economy is in, how the industry is forecasted, or what is on the horizon for market demands, when it comes to identifying a just-in-time, time-efficient and cost effective way to develop people...it's mentoring.
If your organization is going through changes right now including a major downsizing due to the economic environment, now is the time to initiate a Mentoring Process.
Why now? Many organizations feel like the timing has to be just right before they can initiate projects. Sometimes that can be true - but mentoring is an initiative that is different. If the organization is downsizing, many things can happen to your knowledge capital:

1. Valued experience and skills/competencies can be walking out the door Within some organizations, "downsizing" may mean early retirement or buy-out packages that are offered to employees. But with this, valued experience is walking out the door. Before that happens, make sure that you have a way to capture it! Mentoring initiatives allow for a knowledge transfer before an individual leaves the organization and even afterward through an organized Mentoring Learning Plan. Many times, individuals retiring or taking early retirement are interested in taking on this role of Mentor. In addition more and more organizations are using these retirees as Mentors after they have left the organization. It indicates to an individual that they indeed were a valuable part of the organization. Forward-thinking organizations are employing mentoring technology solutions to assist in capturing the knowledge that needs to be transferred from specific individuals.'
2. Your best employees with the highest skill/competency expertise may seek other employment (possibly with your competition) if they are concerned about having a job in the near future. Historically, when an organization announces a downsizing initiative, the best talent starts looking for a more secure situation and the less-than-best talent sticks around to see what happens! Between today's employment market and having a large generation of employees that no longer feel extreme loyalty to the organization, retaining high performing, productive individuals can be a challenge for the organization. Research does indicate though that individuals do feel more loyalty to an organization when they feel they have helped to shape others or have contributed to the growth of others (as in the case of a Mentor to a Mentee); or when they feel that the organization really cares about them individually (as in the case of the Mentee who is receiving individualized attention from a Mentor).
3. Individuals that are not considered to have the highest level of skill/competency expertise may not leave through a voluntary basis and may need to be terminated. If that needed skill/competency expertise has already left the organization, new talent must be hired and trained. If you have to hire new individuals to bring in the skills/competencies needed to either replace talent that has left or to meet new business initiatives - this costs the organization dollars in learning curves. Even if the new individual has a background in the specific skills/competencies used in the job, he/she still needs to learn how your organization works and how things are done within your environment. This takes time and costs money. Mentoring initiatives reduce that timeline and are more effective than just an "Orientation Program". In addition, new employees are not left hanging trying to figure things out on their own without proper guidance. New employees can feel lost when they first join an organization and they may ask advice from individuals who do not have the correct information. A mentoring strategy will bring new employees up-to-speed faster and give them a higher level of comfort and instruction.