Youth Mentoring Programs Help Businesses Cultivate Leadership & Achieve Business Results
A mentor is a person who through support, counsel, friendship, reinforcement and constructive example helps another person, usually a young person, reach his or her work and life goals. Mentoring relationships provide valuable support to young people, especially those with disabilities, by offering not only academic and career guidance, but also effective role models for leadership, interpersonal and problem-solving skills.
In recent years, increasing numbers of employers have implemented mentoring programs for one simple reason - mentoring produces positive results, both immediate and for years to come. Research indicates that mentoring is especially effective in helping youth with disabilities transition into the workplace and adulthood. Employers reap the benefits as well. Mentoring programs can be:
- An effective employee recruitment and retention tool
- A key to improved supervisory skills, work habits, productivity and increased employee job satisfaction
- A way to promote professional development within an organization
- An opportunity to create positive attitudinal changes in an organization's culture
- An inexpensive and easy way to positively impact the community
- An opportunity to help shape the workforce of tomorrow
The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) has funded pilot projects to promote mentoring programs for youth with disabilities through intermediary organizations. For more information, or to explore a mentoring program for your company, visit www.dmd-aapd.org, or the Education section of www.DisabilityInfo.gov.
