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Your workforce wants more than just a paycheck. They want flexible hours, remote work options, and a positive, inclusive environment where everyone feels valued. Increasingly, they also want to build new skills. According to SHRM, 66% of workers aged 18-24 prioritize skill development when considering job offers, ranking it right after health and disability benefits.
Fortunately, you have options when it comes to learning and development (L&D)—from in-house workshops and education stipends to conferences and mentoring programs. Among these, job shadowing stands out as one of the most efficient and cost-effective.
Read on to discover five ways job shadowing benefits your people and your brand.
What is job shadowing?
But first, a quick definition. Job shadowing is a training method where an employee (the shadower) observes another colleague (the host employee or mentor) as they work. The host employee is often a more senior employee or someone from a different area of the business. Typically, shadowing at work might span over several hours or a few days.
A few job shadowing examples might include:
- Sitting in on client meetings as a silent observer
- Assisting another employee with a specific task or projects
- Informational interviews between senior and junior employees
- Observing a coworker as they perform a specific workflow
- Touring the premises of another location, department, or branch
- Getting a brief demo of another team’s tech stack or internal portal
- Using a screen-share or other digital platform to facilitate virtual job shadowing
- Collaborating with key performers in the organization
The purpose of job shadowing is to help employees go beyond random job descriptions and gain first hand insight into a role: the required skills, day-to-day processes, and interactions with customers or colleagues.
It's a great way to offer on-the-job training and ongoing development. Plus, employees can explore potential career paths without having to commit.
Not sure whether job shadowing is worth the effort? Need to build a business case for the c-suite? We’ve got you covered. Here are five top benefits of shadowing.
1. Increase employee engagement and satisfaction
Job shadowing has the power to boost employee engagement and morale. By observing different roles, employees gain a clearer understanding of how the company functions and how their own work contributes to larger goals. This connection to the big picture leads to a deeper commitment to the company’s mission.
Research by Jones/NCTI found that 70% of employees say training and development opportunities influence their decision to stay with a company. When employees see options for growth, they feel more valued and invested in the organization—leading to higher satisfaction and loyalty.
A job shadow experience also breaks up daily routines, giving workers a refreshing change of pace. Experiencing new roles, even briefly, can spark fresh ideas, and employees return to their own work re-energized. With a renewed sense of purpose and a bit of variety, employees often feel more fulfilled and engaged.
2. Encourage innovation and problem-solving
Job shadowing exposes employees to new approaches and problem-solving techniques they may not encounter in their regular roles.
For example, a training leader might pick up engaging presentation techniques from a marketing coordinator, while a project manager could share prioritization strategies with sales reps. By applying these cross-functional insights, employees enhance their own projects, which in turn drives innovation and improves team performance.
Not only that, job shadowing often reveals process improvements that might otherwise go unnoticed. A fresh set of eyes on another role can spot inefficiencies—like extra steps or outdated workflows—that could be streamlined or automated.
Hands-on experience encourages critical thinking, as the shadower asks why things are done a certain way and whether they could be done better another way. This curiosity fuels innovation by pushing employees to experiment with new ideas and find more effective ways to accomplish goals.
3. Enrich employee skill sets
Job shadowing is a powerful tool for skill development. By observing top performers as they work, the shadower can:
- Gain practical skills, hands-on techniques, and best practices. For example, a marketing assistant learning to write job descriptions by shadowing an HR manager, or junior IT technicians picking up advanced troubleshooting from senior staff.
- Identify essential hard and soft skills. Customer service representatives shadowing sales managers could learn effective communication and negotiation skills.
- Learn how to solve problems and tackle challenges. Suppose a junior project manager shadows a senior project manager—they could learn how to manage complex projects and resolve conflicts.
- Improve adaptability. A new employee shadowing a seasoned employee will quickly learn how to navigate a new company culture and work environment.
- Develop leadership skills. Team leads serving as mentors or host employees can teach more junior employees how to motivate and inspire others.
- Build relationships and create valuable connections. Shadowing provides an opportunity to meet new colleagues and learn from their experiences.
To maximize the benefits of job shadowing, consider using a questionnaire to guide the experience and encourage meaningful learning. Check out these example questions:
4. Break down silos and expand the collective knowledge base
82% of HR leaders are concerned about losing institutional knowledge as workers retire. Job shadowing combats this by offering a practical way to retain and share expertise. From daily tasks and tools to hurdles and challenges, job shadowing reveals what really happens on the other side of the cubicle wall.
But it’s not just about switching roles; it’s about building bridges across departments and expanding collective knowledge. By stepping into another team’s world—even just for a day—your teams learn valuable processes and practices that might otherwise disappear as experienced workers leave.
5. Support succession planning and leadership development
Job shadowing, especially at the executive level, is highly useful for leadership succession planning. Here’s how:
- Identify future leaders and role fit. By seeing how people handle different tasks, you can spot employees who have leadership potential and see what roles they'd excel in.
- Prepare employees for advancement. Watching experienced leaders reduces training time and eases the transition into leadership.
- Bridge skill gaps. Used strategically, job shadowing helps you close skill gaps and prepare ahead of time for upcoming needs.
- Support seamless transitions. Help employees get ready for new positions, so they can step into leadership roles without missing a beat.
Use job shadowing in combination with career mapping to let employees visualize their trajectory with your company.
Best practices for job shadowing
By now, we hope you're on board with why job shadowing is important for your people, and your brand. If you’re ready to start building a successful job shadowing program, our guide has you covered.
In the meantime, a few best practices will help you get the most out of your work shadowing program.
Select participants thoughtfully
Choose mentors and mentees based on their interests, growth potential, and relevance to their career paths. Aim for a diverse and balanced mix of departments, genders, experience levels, backgrounds, and work styles.
Make it specific to your organization
A one-size-fits-all approach rarely yields the best results. Tailor the program to align with your organization's unique needs, including skill gaps, expansion plans, business goals, and geographic factors.
Encourage social connection
To build trust and rapport, promote interactions between participants beyond work-related conversations. Consider organizing informal coffee chats, networking happy hours, or a program kickoff party.
Provide preparation and support
Offer materials to make sure participants fully understand what’s expected of them. Provide them with tips for success. If needed, hold training sessions for both mentors and job shadowers to clarify their responsibilities and maximize the program's outcomes.
Use technology to your advantage
The right tech can lighten your load by helping with mentor matching, providing supporting materials, and tracking progress.
Encourage active participation
Encourage job shadowers to take notes and ask questions (like the example questions we provided above), and make sure the mentor or host employee is willing to actively guide the job shadower.
Collect feedback from participants
Gather feedback to identify areas for improvement and assess the program's impact on employee development and organizational goals. Use this data to refine the program over time.
Include a post-shadow debriefing
Organize follow-up discussions and reflection sessions for participants to share their learnings and plan how to apply insights to their own roles.
Maximize employee growth with job shadowing
When integrated into your company's L&D strategy, job shadowing becomes a key driver for building a more connected, versatile, and future-ready workforce. Together's mentoring platform simplifies the process by connecting mentors and mentees, supporting customized development programs, and tracking progress—all in one place.
Create a win-win development experience for individuals and the company—book a demo to learn more.
Author bio: Jon Morgan
Jon is the founder of two successful e-commerce and SaaS businesses. He's passionate about sharing what he has learned from working with business owners through Venture Smarter.
