What is mentoring ? Helping and supporting mentees to develop their career, skills, knowledge and abilities Improving the mentee’s self awareness of their own strengths to build on But also development needs and suggesting methods of addressing them Support and encouragement with constructive challenge where necessary Setting and reviewing goals for development

Mentoring is: –Off line: Someone from outside your reporting hierarchy at work. –Confidential: Issues between mentor and mentee are confidential. –Mentee driven: The mentee must take the initiative. The final responsibility for actions taken, as a result of mentoring, lies with the mentee. –Person focused

Role of the mentor Using mentor’s own knowledge and experience to offer guidance and give practical support Fast tracking mentee’s professional development through suggesting opportunities for learning and experience including networks Helping the mentee overcome obstacles Offering constructive feedback and challenge Improving the confidence and self esteem of mentee

Mentoring styles No prescription: core aspects are trust, empathy, confidentiality and good knowledge of the sector Using a coaching style would suggest: –Encouraging mentee to take responsibility for their own learning and development –Balancing practical advice/suggestions with encouraging mentee to think through options and possibilities for themselves –The importance of setting clear goals at outset, following up each session and reviewing periodically –Active listening and reflecting back/summarising –Constructive challenge e.g. of self-limiting thinking

The practicalities to agree at the outset Establishing rapport: getting to know each other; trust; confidentiality issues Agree on meetings: frequency; face to face or telephone; Establish boundaries: personal development issues as well as purely professional development? Define what will success look like for both of you at the end of the programme- and keep under review Share data: skills audit, ongoing feedback etc

Mentoring during the recession Succession planning - Need to accelerate the knowledge/skills and development of retained staff Organisational capacity - Less public money for regeneration means being able to use new models for investment and development and working differently across professional boundaries Sharing resources across boroughs Creating a strong professional regeneration sector

How to get the most from mentoring Part of the jigsaw, not the entire jigsaw Not for everyone Promotes independent thinking and personal initiative Dump the baggage Create the space Learning things you can’t write down

Any questions ?