The demand for competent IT and digital specialists is only increasing, and companies are reaching a point where they find the need to take matters into their own hands by training employees to the desired proficiency level. This task can be tackled through various strategies: sending employees to courses, engaging consultants and external experts, developing an internal training program infused with effective instructional design principles, or setting up a mentoring system. In this article, we will delve into the nuances of the latter approach.

Why you need a mentor

To help the newcomer adapt

During the probationary period, a mentor is instrumental in helping the newcomer integrate into the team, understand the company structure, and commence task execution. New employees can approach their mentor with any questions: often, these queries encompass not just the work tasks themselves, but also intricacies concerning interaction with colleagues, clients, and the manager.

A 2019 survey by the Association for Talent Development (ATD) revealed that 83% of organizations reported improved productivity and work quality when a mentoring system was in place, highlighting its critical impact.

In some companies, this role is assumed by a buddy—an employee who is well-versed in the company’s ethos, having worked there for a considerable time and possessing in-depth knowledge about the processes and people in the company. This buddy isn’t just a guidepost for operational queries, pointing out functional necessities like where the coffee machine is, but they also advise on relational dynamics, indicating who to approach for specific concerns, what questions are prudent to ask, and even socialize with the newcomer, providing encouragement when needed. They embody loyalty to the company, uphold its values, and can seamlessly transmit that corporate ethos to new hires.

Such organic incorporation of experienced employees in the onboarding process not only fosters a supportive work environment but, as statistics from the Society for Human Resource Management indicate, enhances employee retention rates by 50%. The buddy system, therefore, serves as a linchpin in not only sustaining the ingrained corporate culture but also in optimizing operational efficacy.

Help with work tasks

Ideally, a mentor should be competent not only in training, but also in the tasks that the newcomer will have to perform. In our company, mentors are different people, each in their own department. I am responsible for adaptation and training in general, but I only act as a mentor in the team of project managers, because I used to work in this position myself. And I train other mentors who manage the process in their teams. 

A mentor tells a newcomer about the nuances of work, shows how to perform tasks, helps to deal with difficult situations. 

Help to make an objective decision about passing the probationary period

It happens that if there is no mentor in the team, the manager in the first months does not have time to work closely and interact with the newcomer. And when the time comes, it can be more difficult to objectively decide whether a person is suitable or not - there is not enough feedback from the team leader and the team. Most often in this case, the probationary period is extended or closed because the time has come. 

In this case it is stressful for the newcomer, he does not understand what is happening and why. And for the company - a threat of outflow, which means additional costs for recruitment and adaptation.

A mentor, his involvement in the onboarding of the new employee, feedback and opinion allows you to make a more objective decision about the probationary period.

How to be a good mentor 

Separate areas of responsibility

It's good to have different people playing the roles of mentor and supervisor. Here's why:

• The newcomer gets to know more people and gets better acquainted with the team.
• The supervisor spends less time onboarding.
• An additional opinion emerges when deciding whether the newcomer should go on probation.

It is worth talking through the answers to basic questions with the new employee's supervisor in advance:

• who to contact for organizational issues: sick leave, vacations, time off, distribution of tasks and projects in the team;
• what is the role of the mentor in the newcomer's work tasks;
• frequency of meetings with the newcomer, regularity of meetings between the supervisor and the mentor;
• who decides on the probationary period.

The newcomer should clearly understand who is responsible for what, from whom, in what form and how often feedback will be received, who to come to with what questions.

As a result, the new employee will have fewer worries and more familiarity with the company, and he or she knows he or she can ask for help. My experience has been that calm people work better. 

Provide feedback

It's crucial to provide regular, honest, and specific feedback. The mentor, having a comprehensive view of the mentee’s successes and mishaps, is positioned to document these experiences and discuss them thoroughly. This practice significantly minimizes subjectivity when assessing performance during the probationary period.

To ensure decisions are grounded in concrete evidence rather than vague feelings and emotions, we amalgamate a list of expected personal attributes and professional competencies into a 'Skillset.' This compilation includes both soft and hard skills anticipated to be demonstrated by a new recruit by the conclusion of their probationary period.

According to a study published by the Harvard Business Review (HBR), structured skill assessment leads to a 50% higher accuracy in performance evaluation, underlining the effectiveness of this approach.

At SRM-group, we leverage a system of stipulated deadlines and associated tasks, each of which must be completed within those specific time frames. Practical assignments or comprehensive responses to theoretical inquiries serve as tangible proof of skill acquisition. This method is not only about meeting deadlines but also about substantiating that the individual has indeed internalized and can demonstrate the necessary skills. Such a systematic approach to skill evaluation and feedback, supported by data-driven insights, ensures a fair and objective resolution upon the probation period's culmination.

What questionnaires we use during the probationary period

To make everything transparent, we collect feedback from the newcomer and the team members with whom he or she has worked - after one month, two months and two weeks before the end of the probation period.

The team and the newcomer receive the same questionnaire, which assesses:

interaction with the team in terms of personal qualities and work tasks; 

• conflict tolerance;
• the person's demanding attitude towards the quality of his or her own and others' work; 
• speed of immersion in new tasks;
• soft skills.

The questionnaire changes depending on the term: the further along you are, the deeper the questions become. In the first month, it's a superficial assessment, it's difficult for the team to assess the person - you should take this into account when developing questions. In the second month, it is more about quality, demanding of oneself and others, and conflicts, if any. The third month is more about speed, process, initiative and alignment with our values.

Use of training programs 

It is important that the mentor has a training program or a rough training plan for the newcomer. We use Skillset training - a list of hard and soft skills that a new employee must master.

At the first introductory meeting, we talk about what soft-skills we value in a person and on the basis of which we decide on the probationary period. 

Every company values its soft-skills, in our company these are: 

• good verbal skills;
• competent written speech;
• stress resistance;
• independence;
• ability to work with information;
• diligence;
• a habit of checking oneself
• interest in the result;
• responsibility;
• attention to detail;
• discipline.

This list is approved by the team leader: it is he who decides what qualities a person in his team should possess.

In the course of mastering skills, there are many secondary tasks: preparation of instructions, checklists, standards, workspace. To teach a person to be good at internal processes, those internal processes must be practiced. Most likely, the mentor will have to initiate this work and do it - you have to be prepared for that.

I most often use a meeting format in my training. Initially, meetings last 45 minutes. During them, we work through questions, the newcomer shares his or her impressions, and I help or give feedback. The second half of the meeting is usually dedicated to the program.

At first it's 3 meetings a week, then less. Work tasks that require more time appear and the learning becomes more independent.

The format of the meetings can vary - they can be mixed.

1. lecture format

Lectures are great for theory. You can find a lot of information on the Internet, but no one will tell you about the specifics of working in a particular company better than its employees. 

When a mentor tells interesting stories and understands the material himself, he energizes the newcomer. Don't be shy - the mentor's personality motivates and makes you want to do the same, and the newcomer sees that he or she has something to aspire to. You can also get the newbie involved by assigning one of the interns as a speaker in group meetings. If these are 1:1 meetings, ask open-ended questions, ask to talk about the material as if the person you are talking to knows nothing about it.

2. Practical assignments

Here everything is the same as with the test assignments when hiring: it is important that they include tasks that the newcomer will encounter in real work. In essence, the training and adaptation process is a "sandbox" for him, a comfortable environment where he can try and make mistakes. After passing the probation period, he will be immersed in complex work tasks and communication with the client, and this is always associated with stress. This stress needs to be dosed during the adaptation period to accustom the newcomer to what awaits him next.

3. Figma Practice Assignment

It is important to ask the newcomer to justify their point of view. For example, once a week we hold a "Letter Parsing" meeting. Newcomers bring examples of successful or unsuccessful letters on a chosen topic. And we analyze in detail what can be improved, what can be learned. And if the letter is not very successful, we redo it for the next meeting and compare the results: the author tells us why he did it this way or that way.

Some of these meetings I invite one of my former students to lead. Communicating with a colleague who has recently passed his probation period and completed his training always energizes the newcomers, and their sincere interest, questions, and respect energizes the older colleague.

There are tasks where you need to prepare a mini-audit, analyze mailings for compliance with the brandbook and red-policy, draw up the TOR for the technical configuration of the domain - you will have to face this in your work.

If you have all the necessary training materials, a list of skills, articles, and tasks to check, it's not difficult to become a good mentor: just follow the steps like a checklist.