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Mentoring Will Build Loyalty Among Millennials

Millennials now comprise the lion’s share of the workforce. That means that it’s a more youthful workplace — and one that’s less loyal. A global survey of 7,700 millennials employed full-time at companies with 100 employees or more was conducted by Deloitte last year and found that one in four would leave their current employer now, if given the opportunity, and two in three millennials plan to be working elsewhere by 2020.

What drives this lack of loyalty in the workplace?

Millennials feel they’re being underutilized and believe that they’re not being developed as leaders.

There is a remedy for this situation, and it is one in which all participants win.

I oversee a mentoring program for the University of Redlands School of Business, which has a campus in San Diego and six more across Southern California. Many students are working professionals studying part time, and I have seen how mutually beneficial mentoring is for them, their mentors and ultimately their employers.

Younger employees benefit from a sounding board on career advancement and office politics, as well as the networking and introductions a mentor can provide. With so many employers, particularly high-tech companies, targeting improved diversity, mentoring can also help women and racial minorities navigate the workplace culture.

Even when an employee has a mentor from outside of his or her organization, the employer still benefits from the employee’s improved ability to rise to work challenges.

For the mentor, sharing what he or she knows with a student or a junior employee eager to advance replenishes the spirit. I know mentors who say that it has helped reignite their own passion for their career.

Many Unintended Benefits

I have also worked with people that I refer to as “master mentors.” They go above and beyond to nurture, guide and help advance the careers of the next generation because they get such a charge from helping others.

Jim Patricola is exhibit A for this phenomenon. He’s a successful San Diego federal division director who began his career in the military.

He mentors a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton who is completing his MBA and seeking to transition to a civilian career. Patricola also volunteers to mentor three employees at his workplace in Coronado, as well as seven other mentors — people just like him who are accomplished, working professionals volunteering to help students reach their dreams. That puts his mentee count at 11.

Understanding the Workforce

Another master mentor, Carla Carlini, says her mentoring work has helped stoke her passion for business, while also connecting her to the next generation of business leaders. Carlini is the president and general manager of LA36, a Los Angeles-based educational television station. After graduating with bachelor’s degree and MBA, Carlini began mentoring.

She is currently mentoring a young woman completing her MBA and looking to move up with her current employer, an Orange County financial services firm. Like Patricola, Carlini mentors other mentors, too. While she enjoys the experience of helping others, she also believes her connection with the students helps her better understand and lead younger employees.

Mentoring does require a time commitment, of course. A good mentoring program will typically require an hour of face time each month with some additional events or meetings.

While you don’t have to pursue mentoring as enthusiastically as Patricola and Carlini, if your goal is to develop and retain your young talent, offering employees the opportunity to become a mentor or to have the experience of being mentored makes excellent sense for businesses looking to successfully manage and grow their millennial workforce.

Christine Taitano is Director of Student Services, School of Business, University of Redlands.

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