Informal mentoring relationships are a crucial element in many workers’ career success. It’s important for leaders to understand what informal mentoring entails as well as its pros and cons when deciding whether to create formal mentorship programs within their organizations.

What Is Informal Mentoring?

Informal mentoring occurs outside of organized programs when people come together for a mentor-mentee relationship. These relationships may form within the workplace or outside of it, and they can develop spontaneously or more deliberately, such as when a new hire specifically seeks out a senior coworker to help guide them.

Often, people involved in informal mentoring may not even call it a mentorship. Some examples of informal mentoring include:

• A more experienced colleague taking an interest in a junior employee’s work and offering direction and opportunities for growth

• A peer providing advice, support, or coaching to a colleague

• A senior leader encouraging, guiding, and advocating on behalf of an employee

• An informal group of coworkers providing a sounding board and helping each other solve workplace problems and pursue growth opportunities

Benefits and Obstacles of Informal Mentoring

Informal mentoring happens more organically than formal mentoring because informal mentorships develop naturally between people who have an affinity for one another. The mentorship’s purpose, rules of engagement, and timeline often aren’t strictly defined. This allows each party to give and receive exactly what they want and to easily change the mentorship as needed. Because of this, informal mentorships tend to last longer, occur with greater frequency, and produce broader interactions between mentors and mentees.

While there are many benefits to informal mentoring, it also has its downsides. When compared to formal mentorship programs, informal mentoring can lack inclusivity, standardized reporting functionalities, and structured oversight.

Informal Mentoring and Inclusion

Formal mentoring programs provide a gateway for many more people to participate than informal arrangements. Formal mentorships widen the field of both mentors and mentees by spreading awareness about the benefits, recruiting a diverse group of participants, and offering more opportunities to take part. Without a formal program, employees are limited to people they already know—something that can be especially limiting for employees of various racial and ethnic backgrounds and women. While mentoring has a long history of helping certain people, it has not always been used inclusively. Often, mentors have been drawn to people who are like them, leaving many out. A formal program offers access on a more equitable basis.

Formal programs also connect mentors and mentees in ways that wouldn’t happen otherwise across locations, time zones, and even languages. This is especially important given the rise of hybrid work, which can make connecting with potential mentors and mentees even more difficult or cumbersome.

Informal Mentoring and Reporting

While informal mentorships may offer flexibility, they can lack transparency. When mentorships remain informal, it’s impossible for an organization to track their effectiveness. Without proper reporting structures, organizations can’t see the real impact on retention, advancement, or satisfaction. And as we know, if you can’t see it, it isn’t happening. Companies that want to harness the full power of mentoring need to be able to shape mentorships, collect data on how they are doing, and use the results to constantly improve.

Informal Mentoring and Structured Guidance

Informal mentorships certainly can benefit individuals, but creating mentorship structure and oversight ensures that the entire organization benefits. When companies can guide mentorship tasks and goals, they can be sure those goals tie into organizational interests and objectives. Providing organizational guidance on how mentorships should be conducted can also ensure that all participants have a high-quality experience, and that participants are fully prepared to make the most of it. Proper training and resources are an important part of creating consistent experiences—things that are rarely present in informal mentorships.

The Best of Both Worlds

No matter how you slice it, mentoring provides proven benefits for mentees, mentors, and organizations. While informal mentorships are valuable, companies shouldn’t rely solely on them. Creating a formal mentoring program widens the net and provides exponentially greater opportunities for employees to take advantage of the many benefits.