HR professionals tend to speak highly of mentorship’s role in career development. In 2024, one chief transformation officer interviewed by HR Dive went so far as to say that having a mentor is a “priceless” component of learning and achieving future goals.
At the same time, it’s not always necessary for mentorships to be highly structured programs, said Michelle Kilroy, chief people and communications officer at The Weather Co. The organization offers both formal and informal programs, but it’s often the latter that allow employees to take advantage of opportunities to meet with other employees who pique their curiosity or who are doing interesting work.
“I personally think the most impactful ones are the organic, informal mentoring opportunities,” Kilroy said. “We foster a lot of opportunities for people to meet individuals like that, whether it is organically in their own departments or leaders across the organization.”
Additionally, informal mentorships provide flexibility that allows each relationship to meet different employees’ needs, she continued. That said, putting structure in place around the time frame of the relationship can help to bolster accountability and commitment to keep the arrangement from fizzling out.
It also may help for mentors to have certain qualities that are conducive to building trust with mentees. Looking back on her own career, Kilroy highlighted vulnerability as a key trait, particularly when her mentors relayed their experiences with impostor syndrome or situations in which they had reservations about a decision or mistake they had made.
“Vulnerability is a huge requirement in order to be considered authentic, and I think authenticity is what leads to trust,” Kilroy said. “Authenticity is really required for that trust building. You can’t have a good mentoring relationship without that trust.”
In order for mentorships to be beneficial, they need to be relevant and actionable, she noted. Both parties in a mentor relationship also have to agree on what the goal of the partnership is, whether that is advancement or the development of certain skills. The programs are especially valued for upskilling, according to a 2023 survey of hiring managers and job seekers by Express Employment Professionals.
Regardless of the goal, HR teams should keep employee experience front of mind when developing mentorship programs, according to Kilroy. That means having conversations about the kinds of experiences employees want and need to receive from both formal and informal programs rather than solely working backwards from the end goal of the mentorship.
“We might just jump straight to the results or outcomes, and I think we need to look at experience as being a foundation for whatever that desired outcome or result is,” Kilroy said.
