Seventy-one percent of Fortune 500 companies offer mentor programs to their employees. If you don’t have a mentor program in your dealership, what’s stopping you from implementing a Mentor/Mentee program in your department and dealership?

A mentoring program is not just directing a new employee to ask seasoned employees questions, it is a relationship between a less-experienced employee and his or her mentor who is seen as a role model—someone to learn from and to look for advice when needed.

Benefits for the Dealership: Mentoring reduces employee turnover, improves workforce productivity, extends the careers of older employees, and grooms future leaders. A mentoring program encourages your experienced staff to spread their knowledge and best practices to new employees.

Benefits for the Mentee: The new employee will feel less isolated—less like the new kid. A formal mentor/mentee agreement gives the new employee “permission” to ask questions instead of muddling through a problem for fear of looking ignorant. Fewer mistakes will be made and the learning curve is shortened. This is a win-win for the dealership and the employee.

Benefits for the Mentor: Peter Drucker (developer of the management by objectives concept) said: “No one learns as much about a subject as one who is forced to teach it.” As a mentor you have a new appreciation of your skills, and you learn from your mentee. You become even more of an asset to your Dealership as you fine-tune your leadership skills.
Does it take a special person to be a mentor? Anyone who can answer yes to the following questions could be a good mentor:
• Do you enjoy working with people?
• Do you respect your colleagues?
• Do you recognize when others need help?
• Are you patient and tolerant when teaching someone?
• Do you enjoy your work and want to share that excitement with others?
• Do you have sufficient self-confidence to help someone move ahead without feeling threatened?
• Do you see mentoring as an opportunity for personal growth?
• Do you find helping others personally rewarding?

If you had a mentor that helped you, contact your mentor to say thank you; express your gratitude on social media or make a financial contribution to a local mentoring program in your mentor’s honor. Best yet, pass on what you received by becoming a mentor to a person in your dealership.