When looking at how companies become successful, one trait which stands above many others is that successful companies have excellent leaders and with excellent leaders come excellent employees. This is why WrightCFO has launched a Finance Mentoring Programme, whereby an experienced WrightCFO Finance Director meets once a month with your finance employee (usually a finance manager within your business) and helps them grow into the FD they aspire to become.
Mentoring programs are becoming increasingly popular within the workplace as they can increase employee education and learning, develop leadership and management skills and overall help employees adjust to new positions as well as become prepared to move up the company. Your finance department is no exception.
Mentoring relationships are a shared opportunity for learning and growth. Many mentors say that the rewards they gain are as substantial as those for their mentees and that mentoring has enabled them to achieve personal growth and learn more about themselves. Thus improving self esteem, gain a better understanding of others and develop a greater appreciation for diversity, feel more productive and have a better attitude at work. What an amazing benefit for the company.
As mentor and mentee develop their own relationship, they help create and perpetuate a positive company culture that combines the best qualities of the individuals, regardless of their age, job positions etc. Maybe an older worker has a terrific work ethic and arrives early every day to accomplish tasks in a timely manner. What a great role model. But the younger worker may bring passion and enthusiasm to the workplace. What a great reminder to love what you do.
Above all a good mentor is willing to take the time to get to know their mentee, to learn new things that are important to them and even to be changed by their relationship.
By introducing mentoring programs, businesses can ensure that their employees are able to complete their work with knowledge of the field and their position. Mentors will transfer knowledge therefore shortening the learning curve in the workplace meaning that companies can have more productive employees in a shorter period of time. Mentors can also reduce the formal training necessary for new employees by providing new employees with a project based mentor they can learn on the job with rather than in a training room. Managers and bosses will then spend more time working on more meaningful tasks making mentoring a win-win for the employees and the company.
Less measurable but still important is how having a reliable sounding board in the office can reduce job anxiety and stress. We all make mistakes and we don’t always meet our own goals. When that happens in work, it can be extremely worrying. After all your job is your livelihood. But having a mentor can help you to discuss the problem and see the bigger picture and perhaps help understand that a single mistake isn’t going to cost you your career and can help to improve how these problems are dealt with so they become less and less.
Mentoring can be a win-win for all parties involved, the mentor, mentee and the company but it has to be imbedded into the core values of the company. Recognising that this is a business necessity also speaks wonders to your team and potential employees and could make your business a desirable workplace.
As the motivational posters say, Together Everyone Achieves More.
WrightCFO Ltd is a consultancy of outsourced, part-time Finance Directors. If you’d like to know more about our newly launched mentoring service, or if you need a part-time FD, call 07817 784 603 or email support@wrightcfo.co.uk.
