Mentoring Program

Balloonman1

Hoping for some help, input. We have in evaluating some of the employee challenges in in training, and indoctrination issues we have determined that we need to do a better job with our new folks. We are moving toward a mentoring program, my thoughts are to have a outline of training information needed to be obtained/learned and pairing the new hire up with select individuals for this.
Questions, does anyone have a mentoring program they are currently using? Your thoughts on the good the bad and how effective it has been for you?
Any input is greatly appreciated.
My $0.02 worth,
DJ The Balloonman

POPEYE

We don't have a written ABC..123.. program as such, but we do utilize mentors for our new-hires. We have identified through trial and error who/whom is a good trainer. The best machine operator/ packer or data entry employee is not necessarily the best trainer. We identified those individuals who have the gift to be able to explain how, why and when they are doing something to a new-hire. It has worked very well for us

Tish

I was part of a mentoring program and really benefitted from it. What I liked about the company's mentor program was what they built into it, not only the basic job knowledge needed but also stressed the company's philosphies, safety, etc I got all aspects of the company from my mentor

sohappytobe

Mentoring is an effective way of easing the new ee into his/her position. The mentoring is only as effective as the mentor is, however. I've found it to be very effective in a hospital setting.

HRQ

We are a childcare company and created a teacher mentoring program about two years ago. We have 7 mentor teachers whose responsibilities include running their own classroom, conducting quarterly company wide training, providing consultations to teachers who are having problems in their classrooms, and training new hires.

The program has been very successful in the quarterly training sessions and providing consults to other teachers. Consults are normally assigned when a supervisor sees there are areas for improvement, and sometimes requested by a struggling teacher.

The least successful aspect is the training of new hires, which was the REASON for creating the program in the first place. The problem is we don't have a mentor teacher at every location. (17 preschools, 7 mentors) The Preschool Directors are responsible for coordinating time with the Mentors, and this is where the program fell through.

We hope to grow the Mentor team to at least one at every location to improve new hires' experience. Our highest employee turnover is in the first 90 days. Sometimes they are just bad hires, and often they just weren't given the training and welcoming we know we should provide.

So, to answer your question, be sure you have ENOUGH mentors, and be sure the people who will coordinate the effort have bought into the program.

I should also note, we've had zero employee turnover within the Mentor program in two years. We promoted people who've already proven themselves to be competent and demonstrate company loyalty and spirit. During interviews, we asked questions about ability/willingness to train adults (since they've always worked with children), ability/willingness to deal with resistance from those who don't want to be trained, ability/willingness to work outside the normal schedule, etc.

LONG answer to your question. Hope it helps!