Roughly 84% of U.S. Fortune 500 companies have a peer mentoring program in place.1 This statistic is not surprising considering the benefits that peer mentoring can bring to organizations, their employees, and ultimately, their customers.
A recent article from Indeed states some of these benefits2 include:
- Strengthening team bonds
- Boosting morale
- Enhancing engagement
- Optimizing employee potential
- Saving costs
- Improving communication
- Creating a comfortable work environment
- Facilitating knowledge transfer
Peer mentoring is often more specialized than other forms of training. The transfer of knowledge often comes from the mentor’s own role-specific experiences. When implemented in our contact center environment, we’ve found that peer mentoring has a direct and indirect positive effect on the experience of our clients’ customers.*
IMPROVING THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE
“Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your clients.”
– Richard Branson, Virgin
The link between employee satisfaction and a positive customer experience can best be explained by the service-profit chain theory. Harvard University-developed service-profit chain is a business model that illustrates the link between employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and business success.
A 2019 CNBC/SurveyMonkey study shows that 90% of employees who have a mentor are happy at work. Further, they are more likely to be satisfied with their job than those who don’t, regardless of their income level. The cost of peer mentoring is minimal, but it can make workers feel as if they’ve gotten a raise in terms of workplace happiness. 3
HOW DOES MENTORING HAVE A POSITIVE EFFECT ON THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE?
Skill development: Beyond sharpening the specific skills acquired in training, peer mentoring
facilitates the development of critical soft skills such as communication, empathy and active listening – all vital skills for building successful relationships and collaborations, especially in contact centers.
Bolstering collaboration: The sharing of knowledge at the heart of peer mentor programs can foster a sense of support and camaraderie. When executed correctly, mentees find comfort in knowing that they have a trusted confidant who provides guidance and encouragement. An effective mentor serves as a reliable sounding board, offering a safe space for mentees to discuss their questions, concerns and goals.
Job fulfillment: Peer mentoring programs don’t just have a positive effect on the mentees. Mentors also experience a sense of fulfillment by making a meaningful impact on someone else’s development and success. Moreover, mentors benefit from their role in this exchange by reinforcing their own knowledge and expertise through teaching and guiding others.4
Increasing employee retention: High employee retention rates can boost morale, improve corporate culture, improve the employee experience, reduce recruitment costs and enhance the customer experience.5
When compared to those who don’t participate in mentorship programs,
retention rates are significantly higher:
MORLEY EXPERIENCE:
Much like the service-profit chain theory, we believe an exceptional customer experience begins with our associates. Morley’s leadership approach is based on the servant leadership mentality, which means we put our associates first and help them grow. Instead of managing struggling associates out, we manage them in.
When an agent struggles to meet specific key performance metrics, we take a service-first approach. The peer mentoring program offers a high level of support and collaboration, for both mentee and mentor. Our program pairs high-performing agents with a desired behavior with agents performing low in the same behavior.
For mentees, successful mentoring can lead to better schedule options, increased autonomy, higher wages, leadership development, morale boosts, wage increases and career advancement. Successful mentees who have the desire to “pay it forward” have the option to go from mentee to mentor, thus perpetuating the cycle of servant leadership.
Improvements in key contact center metrics supports peer mentoring as a contributor in delivering
exceptional experiences.*
"I love & enjoy peer-to-peer mentoring. I think it’s less nerve-wracking without team leads and quality agents involved. I appreciate how it helps us to trade ideas on how to handle our calls as well".
– Summer, Morley Universal Phone Agent
"We both, mentee & mentor, learned how to improve metrics while helping customers. All sessions have been very positive & the mentee has been receptive to being coached in the sessions. As the mentor, I felt like I was helping them achieve better results for themselves and their customers, and it felt very rewarding to be able to help them be more successful".
– Christy, Morley Universal Phone Agent
Insight #1: By having peer mentors, employees have a better workplace experience, which translates into a higher quality of customer service.
USING AI TO IMPROVE PEER MENTORING PROGRAMS
Previously, we’ve shared how using Voice of the Customer (VOC) and Automated Quality Management (AQM) provides objective customer data for real-time agent development. Both VOC and AQM provide the automated collection and analysis of CX intelligence with the purpose of enhancing the customer experience.
Using automated programs to measure the customer experience allows contact center leaders to:
- Identify low score triggers in real time and offer swift resolutions.
- Pair low performers within the desired behavior with high performing mentors within the selected desired behavior.
- Measure the effectiveness of the peer mentoring program on the customer experience.
MORLEY EXPERIENCE:
Using VOC and AQM programs, Morley quality teams monitor customer interactions and identify areas for agent growth and improvement. It enables leaders to promptly identify peer teams for mentoring and monitor performance improvement throughout the course of the peer mentoring process.
As a result of peer mentoring, Morley data has shown improved performance levels within desired targeted behaviors, including increased performance in other metrics such as CSAT, AQM and Assurance of Availability and Help scores.*
Insight #2: Pairing peer mentoring programs with AI-provided customer data can have a dynamic, near immediate impact on the customer experience.
Moving Forward
Peer mentor programs offer a multitude of benefits to both mentees and mentors. From knowledge sharing and personal growth to support and networking opportunities, these programs have a transformative impact on individuals and organizations alike. By harnessing the power of peer-to-peer relationships, mentor programs create a nurturing and empowering environment that enhances professional development, increases employee longevity and fosters sustained increases in customer satisfaction.
Sources:
1 Forbes: Does Mentoring Still Matter For Fortune 500 Companies?
2 Indeed: What Is Peer-to-Peer Learning? (And How To Use It at Work)
3 CNBC: Nine in 10 Workers Who Have a Career Mentor Say They Are Happy in Their Jobs
4 Together: What Is the Purpose of Mentoring Programs?
5 Netsuite: 10 Benefits of Employee Retention for Businesses
6 Together: Statistics on Mentorship: The Latest Research on Employee Development
*Morley proprietary data.
