The value of mentoring

In her exploration of mentor processes in education and the workplace, Sue Birchall emphasizes the personal, financial and developmental advantages of mentoring

It is believed that the origins of mentoring date back to Homer’s The Odessey’ where Odysseus entrusts the care of his son to Mentor for what proves to be decades away from home. Mentor nurtures and cares for the boy, thus displaying the characteristics of what is termed mentoring today as a guide and instructor.

In the education environment, mentoring is used to pair young people and adults with an individual who can advise and support, acting as a role model. In terms of people management within the work place it is often paired with coaching although it is different in its purpose and actions. Mentoring’ as a standalone model often forms part of induction, appraisal and cpd offering a bespoke model for the individual.

Mentoring vs coaching

Mentoring requires many of the same approaches associated with coaching such as listening, questioning and re-framing but it is more like a partnership which is designed to support career development and improve skills. Mentors are often chosen because of their own experience which can support others in their workplace, acting as a role model.

The benefits of a mentoring programme are widely celebrated for both the mentor and mentee. The process when done well builds self-awareness, confidence and loyalty on both parts and can be a successful tool for cpd and induction. Of course, as a SBP, I would also point out that it offers a financial opportunity for very good value cpd, offering time for mentoring creates excellent outcomes when done well, sometimes more than formal training and costs less.

Many schools and academies will already have informal mentoring in place but there are risks to not introducing it as a formal programme. By the very nature of mentoring, mentors tend to be chosen because of experience and we would be tempted to always use people from the same departments. This can introduce a bias and lack of diversity missing the opportunity to share across the school, relationships that are built through this process are often longstanding and as I have said benefit both parties. A formal programme ensures that it is available to all who want it and ensures that it benefits the whole organisation.

Mentoring as a process

In my school it is a process that is offered to all teaching staff as part of their cpd programme. They are often mentored by others whom they would not otherwise have worked directly with, leading to sharing of best practise and increased consistency as well as cross curricular links across the school. We also offer it to new staff as part of induction where it has proved to be very successful. It allows us to quickly integrate our new recruits into the ways of our school whilst offering support which is non-judgemental and accessible in those sometimes-difficult moment when you are transitioning into a new workplace.

It has value as a support tool alongside our coaching offer for all staff. Often coaching will identify an opportunity for mentoring to run alongside the coaching sessions. Coaching is usually a time related process with specific goals whereas mentoring is designed to be long serving, changing with the development of the relationship. The mentoring is also ‘driven’ by the mentee as they identify the areas that they wish to develop throughout the mentoring process. The outcomes are not measured as the needs will change as the skills of the mentee grow. It is good practise for the mentee not to be a direct line manager.

There are many benefits to mentoring, not least for the business. It offers knowledge sharing, employee engagement, employee development and a strong culture, all the things that are imperative to improving recruitment and retention, worth the investment.