Mentoring, Talent Shortages and Employee Engagement

Organizations continue today to be challenged to attract and retain talent in time to meet the exit of employees of the Baby Boomer era.

In addition to this dilemma is the ever increasing need to create an organizational culture that engages, empowers and holds employee accountable. That organizational culture is what fuels employee engagement and creates an environment of continuous learning and development.

Also read: Succession Management, Leadership and Mentoring

Imagine working in an environment where the expectation was that each and every day you would learn something new. Imagine going to work knowing that you will help a colleague learn and grow. It is organizations like this that are able to meet the challenges of employee engagement head on and are able to think outside the box creating a work environment that attracts and retains key talent. I have always said that it is the good employees that leave, because they can.

Talent shortages are imminent when you have part of your work force leaving due to retirement, part of your workforce leaving because you have not created a work environment that engages them and your leadership talent pool is weak at best.

Employee engagement suffers as the work environment is one of turmoil. There may well be internal fighting which consumes far too much energy so of which is taking place within your leadership pool. Employees become disengaged when they observe this behaviour as their role models are behaving in a less than desirable fashion.

Also read: The Cost of Not Focusing on Employee Engagement is Higher Than Ever

Today’s work force want to be engaged and empowered. The organization that values their employees and provides them with that positive work environment that fosters continuous learning and development will reap the benefits of that type of investment. The organization will have low turnover rates and will actually become an organization where people want to come to work. As part of that continuous learning environment organizations will leverage the “gift of mentoring” to take their learning and development work environment to the next level. Whether it be a mentor program or a mentor culture employees will learn and grow through the mentoring process on a continuous basis.

You decide! Do you want to take control of how the talent shortage impacts your organization and productivity or do you want to stand idly by as your competition acquires your key resources right out from under you. Do you want to create that work environment that is engaging and challenging to your employees on a continuous basis. As companies build the organization of the future, continuous learning is critical for business success. It is a decision that you need to make now – after all, “can you afford not to?”

Download our eBook on Learning and Development Trends and find out how technology enables continuous learning in organizations.

References:

  1. https://www.eremedia.com/tlnt/ceos-focused-on-talent-shortages-but-the-key-is-engagement-retention/
  2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2016/08/15/11-strategies-companies-can-use-to-overcome-the-talent-shortage/#4e9d7a8e5ca7
  3. https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/human-capital/articles/introduction-human-capital-trends.html
  4. https://www.garyefox.com/employee-engagement-statistics/

Image licensed from Depositphotos.com