Mentorship Supports Employees and Organizations amid Uncertainty

The uncertainty of today’s economy is a daily reality for employees facing budget cuts, hiring freezes, and increased pressure to perform. For a new hire entering the workforce during layoffs, or a midlevel manager navigating stalled career growth, an absence of guidance can quickly turn into disengagement.

Mentorship can offer workers a sense of stability. More than half of workers (54%) feel strongly motivated to persevere through career adversity when they have a mentor or sponsor, according to a forthcoming SHRM report, The Price of Success: Navigating the Tradeoffs That Shape Career Growth.  

For CHROs, this presents a timely opportunity: Embed mentorship into learning and development strategies to support employee well-being, leadership growth, and organizational resilience.

Mentorship Protects Mental Health and Retains Talent 

Economic instability introduces stressors that deeply impact employee well-being and organizational cohesion. In an April SHRM survey, nearly half (49%) of U.S. workers said the current state of the economy has negatively impacted their mental health, putting both personal well-being and employee retention at risk. Transparency and corporate initiatives supporting mental health can alleviate some distress, but fostering leadership development through mentorship programs is a powerful, proactive strategy that provides enduring benefits.

What accounts for the power of mentorship? In part, mentors can act as mirrors, reflecting their institutional knowledge, skills, and industry expertise back onto mentees who in turn can use what they need to move forward in their career. For a 24-year-old who managed to snag a job in the toughest market for new grads since 2021, connecting with a mentor who experienced joining the workforce during the Great Recession from late 2007 to mid-2009 and made it through can provide affirmation and encouragement.  

Similarly, senior leaders are not immune to workplace struggles, with the upcoming SHRM report revealing that 1 in 5 employees at the director level and above reported difficulties in finding trusted allies to confide in, while 19% reported experiencing “a lack of guidance and support for their career.”

The demand for leadership development is clear. A majority of HR executives (54%) rank coaching and mentoring as the top area for skills improvement among people managers. Forward-thinking organizations are seizing this moment to design tailored mentorship programs that not only meet the needs of their workforce but also bolster organizational resilience. 

Exploring Mentorship Models

Building effective mentorship programs starts with understanding the types of mentoring frameworks available. Each model offers distinct advantages, allowing CHROs to select the best fit for their organization’s needs and culture.

Senior-to-Junior Mentoring

The traditional approach pairs a senior mentor with a junior mentee, fostering deep, personalized connections. Through individualized guidance, mentees gain insights into organizational dynamics and career pathways. This model serves as a foundation for employee growth, helping mentees chart their unique career trajectories and make adjustments as they go along.

Limitation: This model can be resource-intensive, and access is limited by the bandwidth of senior leadership.

Peer-to-Peer Mentoring

Unlike one-on-one mentoring, peer-to-peer mentoring takes a horizontal approach, offering multilevel collaboration where colleagues share knowledge and experiences across roles and departments. This model addresses the problem of limited senior mentors while cultivating a culture of learning and shared growth. It doesn’t require “anyone beyond just people who want to learn and grow,” explained Mary Kitson, SHRM-CP, founder and director of Mentor HR and senior program manager at MITRE, in an episode of SHRM’s All Things Work podcast. Kitson advised that when designing your program, “you want to understand up front what problem you are trying to solve and what audience you are serving.”

Limitation: Depending on the participation levels, there may not always be a perfect match in terms of experience, insight, and even interest. While there’s always something to learn from engaging with someone with a different experience, some participants may desire a mentor who is further ahead in their journey.

Mentoring Circles

Mentoring circles are another efficient solution for organizations with stretched leadership resources. Facilitated by a leader and involving one or more mentors alongside several mentees, these circles create a collaborative space for shared learning. Participants, often grouped based on aligned goals or experiences, benefit from networking and diverse perspectives.

Limitation: This model can address other models’ deficiencies by ensuring participants have access to a variety of other experiences. However, building groups based on aligned goals and experiences may be difficult if participation is low.

Designing Impactful Mentorship Programs 

Implementing a successful mentorship program requires thoughtful planning and alignment with organizational goals. Consider the following strategies:

1. Define Goals.

Determine the primary goals of your mentorship initiative. Are you aiming to develop leadership skills, improve morale, or enhance skill-building across roles? Clear goals will guide the design process and measurement of success.

2. Tailor Programs to Employee Needs.

Assess the preferences and pain points of your workforce. Understanding what employees seek from mentorship will help you create a program that resonates and delivers tangible results.

3. Expand Access Across Organizational Levels.

Offer a mix of mentorship models to cater to varied employee groups, from entry-level hires to directors. This inclusivity enhances the program’s impact and demonstrates organizational commitment to employee growth.

4. Measure and Iterate.

Regularly evaluate the effectiveness of your mentorship program by gathering feedback from participants and analyzing outcomes. Use these insights to refine the program for continuous improvement.

SHRM Member-Only Content: How to Build a Successful Mentorship Program How-To Guide

Building Organizational Resilience with Mentorship

Mentorship programs serve a dual purpose: They accelerate individual career growth and they strengthen organizational agility during periods of disruption. For CHROs, investing in mentorship isn’t just a retention tactic — it’s a long-term strategy to future-proof talent pipelines, foster resilient leadership, and build a culture of trust that can weather uncertainty and change.

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