Mentoring is the systematic passing on of experience from a more experienced colleague to a less experienced one. Unlike a one-off induction, it is a longer-term relationship with a set frequency of meetings and agreed goals. For companies it solves two problems at once: it shortens the time it takes a new person to become independent, and it reduces the risk that, when an experienced employee leaves, knowledge that was never written down anywhere disappears with them. To work, the mentor must have dedicated time set aside for this task, and it should be rewarded – without that, mentoring gets pushed aside by regular work. It has proven effective to identify specific areas in which the newcomer should progress, and periodically go through together what they can already handle independently. The same approach also works when introducing new tools.
See also: Employee development plan, Employee onboarding, Internal AI ambassador.
