Mentoring Program Empowers New Employees
Network Health began a mentoring program in April of 2017 to ease new employees into their roles and empower them to succeed. It’s called Culture Colleagues.
“We launched this program to welcome new employees and introduce them to Network Health’s culture and values,” Learning and Development Specialist Cheryl Klein says. “It’s also a way encourage creativity and collaboration.”
Sharing the skills and knowledge of successful and experienced employees with new employees fosters open communication and honest dialogue.
Upon hire, new employees are paired with a ‘Culture Colleague’ who works outside of their department. The colleague welcomes new employees, answers their questions and gets them acclimated to the culture at Network Health. The pair meets regularly and follows a guide that provides detailed tasks for them to accomplish together.
Tasks include –
- Discussing internal groups and internal events
- Locating conference rooms
- Answering questions on day-to-day tasks like ordering food, making coffee, etc.
- Discussing Network Health culture and employee recognition programs
- Looking at individual top five strengths and how they can be used on the job
Network Health has seen a lot of success with this program. The connections formed between the Culture Colleague and new employee tend to last beyond the typical three-month onboarding period.
“Starting a new job can be both exciting and scary. We received so much positive feedback on the Culture Colleague program.” Klein says. “Having a good mentoring program like Culture Colleagues shows how invested we are in our employees right out of the gate.”
