Mentorship: The personal path to building a better workforce
Mentorship programs can benefit dealerships, but a few guidelines can help avoid pitfalls.
Anyone successful in any line of business can point to at least one person (and more likely several) who helped guide them in the early stages of their career and ride out the rocky moments: a mentor. Mentorship can be powerful. After all, who doesn’t benefit by learning from someone with experience and knowledge?
Backing up the last point above is a recent study showing that the median profits for Fortune 500 companies with mentoring programs were more than twice as high as those without such programs.2
Yet, many mentorship programs within businesses fail or yield minimal results at best. So, what makes a mentorship program successful? There’s no single set of answers to that question, but Zurich’s Direct Markets team has benefitted from the development and growth of its F.A.S.T. mentorship program (see sidebar) and some of the basic tenets of the program are universal and can certainly be applied to a dealership’s business operations.
Mandatory participation may be one strike against a budding mentorship program. Buffy Graham, Senior Organizational Strategist with Direct Markets, who is the F.A.S.T. Coordinator, noted that Zurich’s program is entirely voluntary and not overly regimented. There is a committee approach to pairings, considering the goals of prospective mentors and associates (or mentees). And, perhaps most importantly, the program is never used in job evaluations.
“No one is giving information for performance reviews,” explained Graham. “We want a trusting relationship for constructive career development.”
While mentors can be managers or supervisors, often the best are not tasked with training or managing the “newbie.” They are simply veteran colleagues who take an interest in seeing a fellow professional reach the full capacity of their abilities.
As Zurich North America CEO Kristof Terryn put it during a leadership panel discussion on mentorship, “Getting advice from somebody who is not your direct boss, but somebody who can actually look at your career and sometimes push you in a direction that you may not immediately see … that is a really good investment in terms of how you build out your own skills set.”
A productive mentorship program also focuses on the day-to-day duties of employees. It provides practical and detailed guidance.
“Successful mentors are there when needed to offer advice on different situations we experience in the field,” said Rob Reddish, National Account Executive and a current Co-Chair of Zurich’s F.A.S.T. program. Reddish remembered how that kind of advice led to an early career highlight for him.
“One of these conversations helped me overcome an objection before a proposal that helped me acquire a $300,000 account. Hearing that different point of view comes in handy all the time.”
Mentorship in a successful program is not a one-way street, either. Graham said in a successful program, “The mentors get as much out of the relationship as the associates. They learn as well. And a lot of them become lifelong friends.”
That dual-value relationship can be a powerful, personal way to build a strong business team, as any good team ultimately depends on the performance of each individual.
“The only thing that separates our company from our competition is our people,” said Richard J. Garber, President of Garber Automotive Group, during a guest speaker appearance at an event for Zurich’s F.A.S.T. program. “In order for us to win, we have to have the best people.”
Garber added that while good mentorship is always amicable, it needs to be deeper than just an affirmative pat on the back.
“I think the key to mentoring, the key to developing people is honesty,” he said. “Be honest with them about what your true assessment of their talent is. It can’t be all negative, but don’t sugarcoat things.”
In an era when workers are more selective than ever about where they work, mentorship can make a real difference in attracting and retaining the best and the brightest.
“Dealerships, like any business, want to keep their talented employees,” said Phil Rosu, Head of Sales for Direct Markets, who has also been involved with F.A.S.T. during his time with Zurich. “To that end, I think any dealer — and especially large dealership groups — should seriously consider having a mentorship program led by someone who’s passionate about its potential. If mentorship can help make employees better at their jobs faster and then, because of the success they enjoy, encourage them to stay with your team, what’s the downside?”
- Reeves, Matthew. “6 Benefits Of Mentoring In The 2023 Workplace.” Forbes. 6 October 2023.
- Cook, Sam. “40+ Definitive Mentorship Statistics and Research for 2024.” MentorcliQ. 2 February 2024.
Taking the F.A.S.T. lane to excellence
Zurich’s mentorship program benefits participants and the dealers they work with.
Founded in 2012, F.A.S.T. (Field Accelerated Success Track) was developed to promote a culture of excellence in Direct Markets. The program’s mission statement is “To foster a culture of connection, communication and collaboration,” and ultimately that leads to stronger professionals in the field working with our customers.
F.A.S.T. was launched recognizing that it can take a lot of experience for employees in sales roles to become proficient, but that by partnering newer team members with veteran, successful sales professionals, they could reach their potential sooner.
F.A.S.T. started modestly but over the years has proven to be a game-changer for Zurich. Since it launched more than 12 years ago, the program has seen participation and enthusiasm grow, marking 354 mentor/associate pairings and 731 years of combined tenure among participants. Dozens of F.A.S.T. associates have achieved promotions.
While F.A.S.T. is a huge asset in internal career growth at Zurich, Rob Reddish emphasized the value flows out to customer relationships.
“What we learn internally will innately make it to our customers,” he said. “And corporate culture does come up as customers consider us as a business partner, and to be able to share how Zurich and the F.A.S.T. members can give back is always very well received.”
Reddish’s fellow F.A.S.T. Co-Chair, Regional Finance Executive Tony DiGregory, spoke about the benefits he has seen during his involvement with the program.
“Everyone wants to be there, wants you to be successful, wants to provide you with all the assistance they can to aid in your success. F.A.S.T. is the gift that keeps on giving.”
And ultimately that gift also benefits the dealers we work with.
Backing up the last point above is a recent study showing that the median profits for Fortune 500 companies with mentoring programs were more than twice as high as those without such programs.2
Yet, many mentorship programs within businesses fail or yield minimal results at best. So, what makes a mentorship program successful? There’s no single set of answers to that question, but Zurich’s Direct Markets team has benefitted from the development and growth of its F.A.S.T. mentorship program (see sidebar) and some of the basic tenets of the program are universal and can certainly be applied to a dealership’s business operations.
Mandatory participation may be one strike against a budding mentorship program. Buffy Graham, Senior Organizational Strategist with Direct Markets, who is the F.A.S.T. Coordinator, noted that Zurich’s program is entirely voluntary and not overly regimented. There is a committee approach to pairings, considering the goals of prospective mentors and associates (or mentees). And, perhaps most importantly, the program is never used in job evaluations.
“No one is giving information for performance reviews,” explained Graham. “We want a trusting relationship for constructive career development.”
While mentors can be managers or supervisors, often the best are not tasked with training or managing the “newbie.” They are simply veteran colleagues who take an interest in seeing a fellow professional reach the full capacity of their abilities.
As Zurich North America CEO Kristof Terryn put it during a leadership panel discussion on mentorship, “Getting advice from somebody who is not your direct boss, but somebody who can actually look at your career and sometimes push you in a direction that you may not immediately see … that is a really good investment in terms of how you build out your own skills set.”
A productive mentorship program also focuses on the day-to-day duties of employees. It provides practical and detailed guidance.
“Successful mentors are there when needed to offer advice on different situations we experience in the field,” said Rob Reddish, National Account Executive and a current Co-Chair of Zurich’s F.A.S.T. program. Reddish remembered how that kind of advice led to an early career highlight for him.
“One of these conversations helped me overcome an objection before a proposal that helped me acquire a $300,000 account. Hearing that different point of view comes in handy all the time.”
Mentorship in a successful program is not a one-way street, either. Graham said in a successful program, “The mentors get as much out of the relationship as the associates. They learn as well. And a lot of them become lifelong friends.”
That dual-value relationship can be a powerful, personal way to build a strong business team, as any good team ultimately depends on the performance of each individual.
“The only thing that separates our company from our competition is our people,” said Richard J. Garber, President of Garber Automotive Group, during a guest speaker appearance at an event for Zurich’s F.A.S.T. program. “In order for us to win, we have to have the best people.”
Garber added that while good mentorship is always amicable, it needs to be deeper than just an affirmative pat on the back.
“I think the key to mentoring, the key to developing people is honesty,” he said. “Be honest with them about what your true assessment of their talent is. It can’t be all negative, but don’t sugarcoat things.”
In an era when workers are more selective than ever about where they work, mentorship can make a real difference in attracting and retaining the best and the brightest.
“Dealerships, like any business, want to keep their talented employees,” said Phil Rosu, Head of Sales for Direct Markets, who has also been involved with F.A.S.T. during his time with Zurich. “To that end, I think any dealer — and especially large dealership groups — should seriously consider having a mentorship program led by someone who’s passionate about its potential. If mentorship can help make employees better at their jobs faster and then, because of the success they enjoy, encourage them to stay with your team, what’s the downside?”
- Reeves, Matthew. “6 Benefits Of Mentoring In The 2023 Workplace.” Forbes. 6 October 2023.
- Cook, Sam. “40+ Definitive Mentorship Statistics and Research for 2024.” MentorcliQ. 2 February 2024.
Taking the F.A.S.T. lane to excellence
Zurich’s mentorship program benefits participants and the dealers they work with.
Founded in 2012, F.A.S.T. (Field Accelerated Success Track) was developed to promote a culture of excellence in Direct Markets. The program’s mission statement is “To foster a culture of connection, communication and collaboration,” and ultimately that leads to stronger professionals in the field working with our customers.
F.A.S.T. was launched recognizing that it can take a lot of experience for employees in sales roles to become proficient, but that by partnering newer team members with veteran, successful sales professionals, they could reach their potential sooner.
F.A.S.T. started modestly but over the years has proven to be a game-changer for Zurich. Since it launched more than 12 years ago, the program has seen participation and enthusiasm grow, marking 354 mentor/associate pairings and 731 years of combined tenure among participants. Dozens of F.A.S.T. associates have achieved promotions.
While F.A.S.T. is a huge asset in internal career growth at Zurich, Rob Reddish emphasized the value flows out to customer relationships.
“What we learn internally will innately make it to our customers,” he said. “And corporate culture does come up as customers consider us as a business partner, and to be able to share how Zurich and the F.A.S.T. members can give back is always very well received.”
Reddish’s fellow F.A.S.T. Co-Chair, Regional Finance Executive Tony DiGregory, spoke about the benefits he has seen during his involvement with the program.
“Everyone wants to be there, wants you to be successful, wants to provide you with all the assistance they can to aid in your success. F.A.S.T. is the gift that keeps on giving.”
And ultimately that gift also benefits the dealers we work with.
Mentors and organizers at a recent F.A.S.T. Summit.