What is mentoring?

A pairing of a skilled and experienced member (the mentor) with another member (the mentee) with the goal of the development of the mentee.

Mentoring is the long term provision of support, guidance and advice. In the workplace it usually describes a relationship in which a more experienced colleague uses their greater knowledge and understanding of the working environment to assist in the development of the potential of a more junior or inexperienced member of staff. So, for example, it can apply between peers, when, say one is new to an industry, departmental or functional role. Mentoring is different to coaching, where guidance is given to improve performance in a specific activity or role.

The IRO continuing professional development programme is focused on the professional and personal development for the mentee and valuable experience for the mentor so that both may benefit.

Mentoring relationships can be informal or structured, simple or procedure-based, however at the basis of it all is not the structure of the relationship that counts but the learning that occurs.

How Mentoring benefits you

For the mentor:

• Gain valuable experience of other affinity groups within the sector
• Develop your interpersonal skills
• Nurture your network
• Have the satisfaction of enabling someone to develop
• Learn the art of reflective dialogue
• Achieve clearer goals and objectives
• Experience reflective learning at first hand

For the mentee

• Develop reflective learning
• Develop wider network influence
• Introduction to new ideas
• Increased confidence and self awareness which helps build performance and contribution
• Increase creativity and innovation
• Have clearer goals and objectives
• Realising your professional aspirations

What is the process

Today’s mentoring differs from the past. In the traditional style, mentoring was a one-way transfer of knowledge and information, the mentee was a passive recipient, and the meeting would only occur face to face.

Today mentoring has evolved to become more focused on learning. This type of mentoring is dynamic and two-way and involves full participation of both parties. The Mentor has come to mean an ‘experienced and trusted adviser’ and mentoring the art of facilitating the performance, the learning and the development of another. It usually works medium to long term and focuses on the development capabilities of the individuals.

The IRO Mentoring Initiative offers formal mentoring. This mentoring has a beginning and an end. It is based on a mentoring agreement and has a formal matching process. It also has one or more checkpoints such as mid-term review to examine or reset goals and a final review to measure results.

Members interested in the mentoring initiative complete a short application form which provides details of the areas they require mentoring for. They are then paired with an experienced professional from within the industry.

A simple three stage model

The IRO mentoring initiative is based on a simple three stage model:

• exploration – to explore issues which are identified by the mentee
• new knowledge & understanding
• action planning

In each stage there are responsibilities for both the mentor and the ‘mentee’. Members can have more than one mentor, especially where they might provide guidance in different specialised areas of business (or even in their personal life interests).

How can the IRO help me with mentoring?

Mentoring can help you in the following areas:

• Starting in a new job/position when you are expected to hit the ground running.
• Taking on a new role or responsibility, or starting in a new industry where you have little experience, but need to gain the skills and experience quickly.
• When needing a personal assessment to determine your strengths and weaknesses, and consider what you should be doing in order to maximize your potential.
• When striving for promotion or a new position.
• When needing to talk through your thought processes, strategies, and plans in order to move forward.
• When struggling with certain skills and performance areas and you wish to improve.
• When feeling you have reached a plateau in your career and want to explore options.

Sign up as a member to take part in the IRO mentoring scheme