3 reasons to launch a mentoring program during COVID-19

Your professional life has been turned upside down by COVID-19. Everything changed overnight. Suddenly, new government safety measures require you to start managing your teams remotely. Unquestionably, it’s a challenge, especially when you consider that forced telecommuting may continue for weeks or even months!

And none of these challenges even account for the stresses brought on by progressive deconfinement, already announced in several regions. According to a survey by the Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines du Québec, 79% of HR professionals say they’re worried about reopening. “In the workplace, challenges related to quarantine recovery will undoubtedly have a significant impact on human resources management.”

Amid all this maddening reorganization, how are you supposed to support the development of your employees? As a leader, it’s essential to adapt your coaching methods and work with tools that foster teambuilding during times of social distancing.

Today, a virtual mentoring program is undoubtedly a smart investment. It lets your organization manage its talent remotely while engaging and motivating your employees.

While everything feels like it’s on hiatus right now, your employees are still going about their routines and facing daily challenges. That’s why it’s so important to continue providing support for new recruits and those recently promoted.

Since the pandemic started, every one of your employees has experienced increasingly unique situations that require equally unique support. A virtual mentoring program gives employees the guidance they need to develop and thrive within your organization. Mentoring apps like Elo empower mentees by letting them choose their mentor based on their professional development needs. 

Thanks to an algorithm that helps match every participant with someone willing to teach or learn, Elo makes finding a mentor easier than ever before.

With these features, virtual mentoring lets employees benefit from continuous, tailor-made support when they need it. It’s something that’s being advocated by many of today’s HR leaders, including Tammy Perkins, Chief People Officer of Project Management Institute Worldwide. Recently, Tammy posted an article in Fast Company, discussing how virtual leadership development produces measurable results: “We should continue learning from each other, regardless of the distance.”

Simply put, mentoring helps your team emerge from this challenge stronger than ever before.

Because of all the telecommuting during this crisis, employees are mostly apart from one another. It follows that some might start to feel alienated from your organization. It’s a feeling that affects your active employees as much as those who have been temporarily laid off.

Moreover, performing a new or complicated task can be doubly frustrating when they don’t have the immediate support of your managers and peers. Such is the case for many remote workers who no longer have the same resources as before. These frustrations can directly impact the motivation of your entire staff.

A virtual mentoring program lets your employees create and maintain meaningful human connections with other professionals during a time of crisis. Your employees can now touch base and chat freely with mentors who understand their day-to-day realities.

Lastly, a virtual mentoring program is a great way to engage employees who have been temporarily laid off. By joining your community, they can develop their skills and pass on their knowledge. The Elo mentoring app lets anyone be a mentor and mentee—after all, everybody has something to learn and share.

Deconfinement is yet another reality your employees must adapt to. Once again, it’s integral you support them during the challenging post-crisis period.

A virtual mentoring program can assist you by:

• Helping employees adapt to their new professional routine (one in which many of their colleagues have been laid off)
• Supporting employees and fostering skills related to your organization’s digital shift
• Supporting new employees (many of which were hired to replace those who found a new job during their temporary layoff)
• Supporting employees returning after several months of absence due to COVID-19
• Promoting knowledge sharing during the crisis

Armed with the Elo mentoring app, your organization can create an engaging, measurable, and rewarding mentoring program for everyone. The turnkey mentoring platform makes it easy to strengthen bonds among colleagues and peers.

With more than 20 years of experience in the world of mentoring, our experts are here to guide you through each step of your mentoring program’s setup. Moreover, we provide program coordinators, mentors, and mentees with personalized assistance, helping establish a rich culture of support during these difficult times.

Discover our new turnkey mentoring program—it’s eligible for the government’s PACME subsidy. Launched quickly and efficiently, it helps your organization face the many challenges brought about by COVID-19.

With this offer, you’ll receive ongoing support, targeted mentoring training, and unlimited Elo access for all participants. And the best part is, PACME fully reimburses it.

By creating an agile, sustainable learning culture that fosters the skills of your employees, the Elo Mentoring App helps you transform challenges into opportunities. 

Chat with an Elo mentoring expert now.