Where Have All the Mentors Gone?

Fewer companies are assigning mentors to new staff, a new Accountemps survey shows. In fields such as accounting and finance, for example, the survey shows that new employees are left to fend for themselves in the critical early days.

More than 1,400 chief financial officers at companies with 20 or more employees took part in the recent survey.

The CFOs were asked, “How common is it for you to assign mentors, either formally or informally, to entry-level employees within your accounting and finance departments?”

The survey shows that 58% of CFOs think it is “not at all common” for new hires to be matched with mentors. Only 13% think it is “very common” for new employees to be matched with a mentor.

Accountemps says a mentor can help to explain aspects of an organization that are sometimes not obvious to a newcomer.

In addition, Accountemps recommends appointing mentors as a way to provide insight into the prevailing culture of a company, including the preferred modes of communication and other often-unspoken rules.