4 Actions Supporting Business Growth

Your new business have begun to find it's feet and flourish - bravo! You know that to support your business's growth you will need to encourage the growth of your employees. Your employees personal wellness and growth will have a positive impacts on your business' growth. To encourage the success of others a great solution is to create a mentoring program. Remember, mentoring isn't always about climbing the corporate ladder but providing a much needed experience to the next generation of workers.

Knowing the advantages of such a program helps in identifying which actions you may need to take. The following are your three main advantages:
Reduced Learning Curve ... When an employee is transferred or promoted to a new division having a adviser supports a less stressful work environment. Familiarity allows for a positive transitioned which leads to an increase in loyalty and supports a lower employee turnover rate.
Lower Attrition Rates ... When employee satisfaction in their positions increase, their loyalty increases your employees are less apt to leave their place of employment. When loyalty increases, the expenses associated with new hires is reduced.
Improved Skills ... With a positive interaction with a mentor, the employee sees an improvement in their confidence and self-esteem levels. This confidence and self-importance carries over into their own regular duty which again improves their performance and effectiveness.
As your small business implements a mentoring program with young individuals, your business is viewed in your local community as a supportive one; and as a result your business will be looked upon with greater admiration and in turn your community members are more apt to support your business.

Small businesses working with the future workforce also appreciate a rise in effectiveness in their normal job duties as the appreciation articulated by the younger generation supports the mentor’s moral and ethic decision making competence. Businesses once more achieve good will within the community and are viewed as a leader.

Here are four steps as a business you can take to support a mentoring program and encouraging success in your community:

Step 1: Outline an Advancement Opportunities

It is most often thought that succession planning is only for those business considered to either mid-size or large-size but in actuality small businesses need to keep in mind how their business will survive past the owner's retirement. Mentoring programs improve the senior management and business owner's view of which employees may be the best talent to be groomed for advancement or to actually step into the role of being the main decision maker. In effect it helps the business retain the best talent while also allowing the employees to grow in their careers. Taking the step to create and implement a succession plan will allow for the company to strategically grow and remain competitive.

Step 2: Create an Open Communication Style

As a business leader or owner, encouraging an open communication environment reinforces the concept that you support of the ‘whole’ employee when they work for you; not just the element that directly applies to completing their tasks successfully. As a small business owner you are able to offer the same type of open communication with the student mentees you work with. This open communication will support their ongoing accomplishment in school and their future careers.Taking the step of creating and nurturing an open communication style of management reduces the amount of office tension and community stress level. Open communication empowers your employees to reach for success instead of shying away from it.

Step 3: Call for Collaboration

A mentorship program encourages collaboration and allows each person to concentrate on what he does best. Often workers get stumped when they are faced with tasks that go further than their skill levels. A good mentorship program can take care of that by providing employees with regular feedback and guidance, thus ensuring that they are capable to do to their potential.

When working with a student mentor program, teaching and encouraging team work reinforces the understanding needed to be successful in whichever profession they are looking for to work within. Taking the step to call for and support collaboration is an ability set that will not be undervalued and is always transferrable from one environment to another which furthers the success of your employees.

Step 4: Sharing the Power of Wisdom

In the majority of businesses when a person of influence leaves they potentially take the information and wisdom they possess with them. This results in a loss of knowledge. Encouraging your employees to share their wisdom by becoming a mentor, you reduce the chances of their knowledge and wisdom leaving with them as it is passed down to the mentee.

Additionally, high school mentees may not be taking your small business owners ‘knowledge’ to directly support the business but the practice for you as the business owner to share your knowledge yet again reinforces the important information that is required for your business to continue to run without you as well as how to plan for unforeseen events.

Knowledge is power but the strength of your knowledge is limited and reduced when it is not freely shared with others. This doesn’t mean give away your trade secrets but it does mean that by supporting others and empowering them to be successful at any profession they may applying themselves to can and will support your overall business success. Mentoring others is something that I sincerely enjoy as it allows me to empower others to step into their full confidence and truly hear their inner wisdom allowing them to follow their hearts and genuine purpose in life.

Until next time, embrace your inner wisdom.

To your success!
Coach Karen K