A Good Mentor is Hard to Find: Mentorship for Women in the Workplace
While the movement toward advancing women in business continues to progress, women remain underrepresented in leadership. According to Gallup research, 45% of women aspire to a CEO or senior management role, but only account for 23% of senior leadership roles. As a result, women participate less in mentorship programs, as 71% of executives choose to mentor someone of the same gender.
“A mentor can almost feel like a career magician, shaping a path forward in an instant. They boost your confidence, share their expertise, and offer that essential encouragement when you need it most.”
Mentorship is invaluable to future leaders. Among businesswomen who had a mentor, 71% reported that their mentor was influential in their career advancement. Women with mentors are promoted five times more often than women without mentors, and mentorship programs increase promotions and retention between 15 and 38%.
Providing everyone in your organization with equal access to opportunities and cultivating a supportive network through a robust mentorship program paves the way for the women in your organization to thrive in their roles and progress in their careers. Ultimately, this results in increased engagement, collaboration, and innovation.
A robust mentorship program begins with setting clear objectives and goals and identifying the purpose of the mentorship program. This will help in developing a framework, creating a matching process to facilitate strong relationships, and identifying training and resources for the participants.
Of course, mentorship programs need good mentors, those who recognize their mentee’s potential, illustrate the path to leadership, provide emotional support, and share experiences from triumphs to failures. Heidi Hernandez, Facilitator of Learning at PuzzleHR, knows this better than anyone. Her understanding of how powerful a mentor-mentee relationship can be drove the creation of our internal mentorship program, designed to forge strong bonds and create better leaders.
Hernandez says, “Watching our internal Mentor program at PuzzleHR move from an idea into a game-changing program has been an incredible journey. A mentor can almost feel like a career magician, shaping a path forward in an instant. They boost your confidence, share their expertise, and offer that essential encouragement when you need it most.”
“It’s someone standing beside you when you’re at your most insecure moment saying, ‘You got this, I wouldn’t have done it any differently,’” says Hernandez. “It’s wonderful to have such encouragement and wisdom along your professional journey.” Mentors guide their mentees, helping them navigate the complexities of professional growth and development, offering wisdom, empathy, and insight.
According to Hernandez, mentorship programs have as much benefit for mentors as their mentees. “Collaborating closely with someone who generously shares their time and talents has such an impact in the eyes of a mentee. For a mentor, there’s no greater joy than dedicating their time and skills to guide others towards success.”
Mentorship programs guide newer employees to fulfill their potential while giving mentors a chance to pass down their knowledge. Interested in developing a mentor program for your organization? Contact PuzzleHR to learn how we can help!
