Why You Should Have (and Be!) a Mentor

The numbers are staggering. Recent Gallup poll results, which also included managers, found:

“Employee engagement in the U.S. fell to its lowest level in a decade in 2024, with only 31% of employees engaged. This matches the figure last seen in 2014. The percentage of actively disengaged employees, at 17%, also reflects 2014 levels.

“The percentage of engaged employees has declined by two percentage points since 2023, highlighting a growing trend of employee detachment from organizations, particularly among workers younger than 35.”

At the risk of sounding basic, being happy and engaged at work is a good thing. Unhappy workers look for a new situation—or maybe even worse, stop caring about the work they are doing.

According to a BBC.com article, “Attrition has been a major issue for companies in the past few years, as the Great Resignation has reshaped the labour market and reshuffled workers into different jobs and even industries. Low engagement in the workplace is one of the reasons Gallup research shows one in five U.S. millennials changed jobs in the past year.”

Long gone (or at least they should be) are the days of the senior manager, possibly on the edge of retirement or looking to move up the company ladder, showing a newbie exactly how to do their job.

The relatively new and up-and-coming workforce—powered by Gen Z and Gen Alpha—want and need guidance from established professionals who collaborate and are authentic in sharing how they got their career-advancing skills.

“Current workplaces have the widest generational spread of employees,” writes Ali Francis at BBC.com. “As Gen Zers begin to enter the workforce, four generations are now working together—a phenomenon we haven't seen before this decade.”

Enter mentorship, a tried-and-true method to build trust in your organization’s mission and increase employee engagement. Here are just three of the many reasons why.

1. 🔮 Mentoring Broadens Perspectives

In a 2024 annual report blog from Mentorcliq, it was found that 98 percent of all U.S. Fortune 500 companies have some type of mentoring program.

Mentorship is not new, of course. It’s an offshoot of the most basic relationship at work, that of manager and employee. In today’s leaner company structures, however, bosses often don’t have time to directly develop their employees’ skills or nurture their career aspirations. And that’s where mentorship holds more value than ever.

A multi-generational mentorship program provides perspectives shaped by decades of experience and different economic, social and technological eras. It can offer strategies for leadership, problem-solving and communication, as well as invaluable understanding on how to approach challenges and seize opportunities, such as with reverse mentorship. This tactic pairs staff across generational divides, encouraging a bottom-up flow of information, alongside the traditional top-down approach.
 

Why This Works for Gen Z

• Expects a collaborative, interconnected dynamic built on mutual respect rather than just having a mentor who happens to be a superior or is older in age
• Often tech-savvy even before getting a job and may have the latest insights into digital trends, social media and new platforms
• More open to—and even expect—the opportunity to mentor older colleagues in areas they know well

It is not only the younger workers seeking new knowledge and skills, but also older generations benefit from cross-generational learning so they can grow in their own professional journeys.

Certificate Program in Business Administration graduate Mark Freeman notes that in his non-traditional career arc in tech, group work and mentorship was centered at Catalyte:

“We have an aptitude test that uses machine learning to predict whether someone will be a good developer—or in a number of other roles, now—and train them. We then place them on teams, pair them with more senior developers or sometimes place them directly with clients. My initial position had me leading a team of almost entirely junior engineers to build a vacation-rentals platform for a major hospitality company. It was eye-opening and such a great experience.”

In my own professional experience, my career has spanned working with multi-generational colleagues. As a Gen Xer, I used to be the one who needed perspective on the ways of the working world. Now, I can provide a historical background to those joining my teams.

2. 💡 Mentoring Diversifies Knowledge and Skills

Mentoring is a two-way street. Gen Z and Gen Alpha workers not only gain wisdom from a more experienced professional, but the younger mentees also can offer ideas on:

• emerging technologies
• modern work culture
• new methodologies

This mutual exchange of knowledge is not only beneficial for the mentor's development, but also strengthens younger employees’ own skills in leadership and communication. Working closely with someone from a different generation can build mutual respect and significantly increase your self-confidence, knowing that your ideas and perspective are valued.

And with direct and honest feedback, younger coworkers learn to understand the "why" behind business decisions that older or longer-employed workers make. Open and transparent conversations are important to be knowledgeable from all sides.

Certificate Program in Leadership and Management graduate Almog Goldstein says he has learned that to be a good mentor is to be a good listener. “Listening is the best thing that I can do as a leader because it helps me to learn more about the person, to understand their goals and ambitions. It all comes down to empathy and listening and helping them to achieve their goals. The best I can do is to support them.”

Listening to your coworkers goes hand-in-hand with providing a flexible mentor program that is also structured in its expectations. A program with defined career paths that still enable flexibility in how mentees achieve their career goals can be highly effective.

In times when everybody needs to pitch in where their skills make sense, having a diversified knowledgebase among your workers leads to engagement.

3. 📈 Mentoring Provides Practical, Real-World Guidance

An experienced mentor can offer advice on navigating work life, office politics and career progression with an understanding of long-term career trajectories. They might teach you how to handle difficult workplace situations or tell you what they do to maintain a life balance. They also guide you by showcasing the possibilities.

Take Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS) Preparatory Program graduate Jasmin Martinez’s experience in finding her career. Jasmin credits Joey Núñez—her blood bank trainer and teacher at the University of California San Francisco—with introducing her to this exciting work. “The real-life techniques he taught during my training translate very well into my day-to-day now as a licensed CLS. Joey’s enthusiasm over the topic positively impacted me, moving me to pursue a career in blood banking.”

By leading with emotional intelligence, mentors can help mentees develop crucial soft skills—as long as it comes from a place that is real and authentic. Mentees are drawn to those who are willing to share their own career challenges, mistakes and personal stories, preferring practical advice from someone who has navigated a realistic path, rather than a flawless role model.

Transparent and honest feedback can have lasting impacts on any endeavor. Take Poetry Workshop student Edith Friedman’s experience with instructor Caroline Goodwin:

“Caroline taught us to critique each other’s work from a place of care and curiosity. Along with Caroline’s skilled and compassionate modeling, the intimate setting helped us build trust in each other to share sometimes very personal material. Her feedback in class and in written comments, from her perspective as an experienced poet and writing teacher, helped me see the strengths and weaknesses in my draft poems.”

Mentoring and guidance goes beyond workplace relationships, often extending into personal development, well-being and life goals. Mentors often have extensive professional networks built over many years. Through your mentor, you can gain access to new connections and networking opportunities that might not be available to you otherwise. This can lead to job opportunities, professional referrals and a stronger sense of community within your industry.

Outside of work, the need for mentoring also exists. I’ve sat on committees and boards for my child’s Parent Teacher Association (PTAs), which have guidelines on how long members can serve as elected or appointed officers. PTAs and other community organizations rely on informal mentoring programs to pass on the necessary information to the next round of leadership. The skills you learn in your world outside of work shouldn’t be held at your workplace door.

Today’s mentoring programs, big and small, need to commit to moving away from a traditional dynamic to a more equitable partnership and sharing of skills and experiences. It's an opportunity for both mentor and mentee to learn and grow, fostering a culture of mutual respect, transparency and purpose. Offering a mentoring program that encompasses

• clarity of expectations
• empathy and compassion for workers as people on and off the job
• encouragement of professional and personal development

helps both mentors and mentees’ careers and your organization.

Remember those stats from Mentorcliq about that 98 percent of Fortune 500 companies already have mentoring programs? That’s not 100 percent. Is your organization at risk of becoming part of that last two percent? Maybe you can ask your Gen Z workers.