Gradient AI’s Eric Benny among seven mentors from culture-focused tech companies who share their advice on what makes a great mentor
The relationship between managers and the people who report to them is a cornerstone of every organization. One clever way businesses enhance these hierarchies is through mentorship programs, which often provide additional avenues for stronger connection, career development, productivity and company culture.
Mentorship is valuable, regardless of whether the relationship is organic the result of a company initiative. In a recent survey from Oliviet Nazarene University, 76 percent of respondents said that mentors are important, but only 37 percent currently had a mentor.
Additionally, the survey concluded that professionals who had mentors at their current jobs were happier than those who didn’t. Regardless of who an employee’s mentor is — their direct manager, a senior colleague or an external mentor — a mentorship relationship provides resources and support a mentee may not normally have access to in their current role.
Built In had the chance to speak with seven different mentors from culture-focused tech companies to hear their advice on what makes a great mentor. One common piece of advice: Connect early, often and in person when you can with your mentee. Read more advice from the mentors below for some great ideas to make mentorship a rewarding experience for everyone involved.
Eric Benny
Staff Software Engineer • Gradient AI
Gradient AI brings state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and machine learning SaaS solutions to the insurance industry.
How do you ensure your mentee is getting the support they need from a professional standpoint, whether that’s through weekly check-ins, collaboration tools, etc.?
Weekly check-ins can be helpful if both people find the structure useful. Keeping an open line of communication is critical. This can be less formal check-ins, or side-sharing questions and new information. Whenever I learn something new or find an interesting article, I try to share that with the people that I think could also benefit from it.
Having good documentation and examples for processes and patterns used within the team allows mentees to learn and familiarize themselves with these topics before jumping into work. It’s also useful for these documents to contain references to provide additional opportunities to gain context and knowledge. This documentation can allow new team members to contribute more quickly and confidently. For software engineers, code reviews are a great way to collaborate on a task and give direct feedback.
How do you look for opportunities to get your mentee involved in the company culture?
Encouraging folks to present their work to others is a good way to gain visibility throughout the company and solicit feedback in a group setting. We hold monthly chapter meetings for the different engineering disciplines which are a great opportunity to learn what others are working on and to present on topics that interest you.
I try to generally encourage people to reach out to me or others whenever they have questions. One thing I really enjoy about Gradient AI is that everyone is willing to help and lend their time regardless of the team or topic. It’s something I’ve benefitted from when learning from others, and I try to make myself as available as possible to anyone that I may be able to help.
Relying too heavily on scheduled meetings will often lead to delays, so feeling comfortable reaching out is something that’s very important in a remote environment and helps facilitate the types of conversations you might expect to have in an office setting.
“At Gradient AI, I really enjoy that everyone is willing to help and lend their time regardless of the team or topic.”
What advice do you have for other mentors who want to strengthen their approach to remote mentorship?
The remote workplace can make mentorship a bit more difficult without the opportunity to see people daily — which is why maintaining and encouraging an open line of communication is key. The scheduled meetings can be useful for more formal check-ins, but I think building a level of trust and comfort so that both people feel comfortable reaching out at any time helps ensure that everyone gets the most out of the relationship.
This article first appeared on BuiltIn.
