Please Don’t Go! Mentoring for Keeps

...They say knowledge is coming to know what you have known. I think there comes a point in our lives when we realize we did not get to where we are without a nudge, word of encouragement or push along the way. We acknowledge that we did not do it alone. Who were those special people who provided the right words at the right time? A grandmother, coach, teacher or boss?
...We have years of research that reveals few people are successful without having a few mentors in their career. This variable becomes even more pivotal and crucial for women and people of color. Catalyst studies reveal that “having a mentor is the crucial key to success at work, and it’s the single advantage men usually have-and women don’t.” In my experience as a consultant and advocate for women in the workplace, the single most important reason that among the equally talented and bright-men tend to rise higher than women do is that most men have mentors and women do not. If you are a woman of color, you experience the double whammy. The problem of finding a mentor is doubly difficult. According to Catalyst, of the 2.9 million women holding managerial and administrative jobs in the private sector, only 14% are women of color. In Catalyst’s survey Women of Color in Corporate Management, “women stress the critical importance of mentors to a career and report lack of mentoring as a serious barrier to advancement.”
...Today more than ever women need direction and advice from a trusted mentor. Statistics speak for themselves. In almost any organization, the higher the position, the fewer the women. The glass ceiling cannot be penetrated without a helping hand from someone who has been around the block and knows the roadblocks! Catalyst has interviewed thousands of women since its founding in 1962-ranging from pioneers to Generation Z and these women have clearly said they need to know what to do to get to where they want to go!
...How does mentoring benefit the organization?
Here are a few ways mentoring serves the organization:

• Reduces turnover
• Encourages retention
• Enhances professional development
• Links employees to valuable information
• Breaks down the “silo” structure and allows cooperation among different departments
• Employs own employees as internal experts rather than hire outside consultants