New producers enjoy the energy and enthusiasm of meeting people and trying things they haven’t encountered before. But they also face daunting challenges, from building professional relationships with clients, prospects, and colleagues, to learning the social and technical aspects of describing and advocating for how they can support their client’s business.
More experienced producers can help jumpstart this process by mentoring new producers in a variety of ways. From making introductions to discussing the sales and relationship-building processes, this mentoring program will make new producers effective more quickly, benefiting the agency as a whole. But it can take the mentors time and effort to accomplish this when they could be working to increase their commissions. So it’s imperative to make the mentorship program work for everyone. This might entail bonuses or extra vacation time or other incentives for mentors.
Producer mentorship, like any workplace program, needs attention to thrive. Regular check-ins with both mentor and mentee are essential to evaluating the effectiveness of the mentor, the quality of the bond and the working relationship, the teamwork potential of the mentee, and more. This not only serves to enhance and support the mentorship program, but really the workplace as a whole, helping to acquire insight into team dynamics and potential challenges.
How does your agency pass on institutional knowledge and expertise? How do you reward and celebrate the contributions of senior team members while creating space and opportunity for newer producers to thrive? Competition in the workplace can be healthy and effective, but it must be met with a strong sense of teamwork and solidarity, not cutthroat behavior. Every producer must feel that their individual actions matter, while also understanding that the agency succeeds or fails as a team. From producer mentorship programs to teambuilding exercises and beyond, building a healthy workplace improves everyone’s experience.