Early Career Development Programme Mentoring

Early Career Development Programme Mentoring

Early Career Development Programme Mentoring 1. Context 2. General Principles 3. The Mentoring Scheme CONTENTS 3.1 Selection of Mentors 3.2 Matching Mentees to Mentors 3.3 Duration of Mentoring 3.4 Roles & Responsibilities 4. Support Mechanisms 4.1 Training 4.2 Monitoring & Evaluation 5. Equality & Diversity

EARLY CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME MENTORING 1. Context The University is fully committed to enabling and supporting staff in achieving career success through professional development. The ECDP provides the opportunity for the development of early career academics through a professional development framework that includes a range of learning opportunities. The Programme aims to attract and retain early career academics with the potential to excel through a structured professional development framework with the support of senior academic colleagues. As one element of ECDP, mentoring will provide a structured support mechanism to guide staff towards achieving their career-path aims and objectives. It will help accelerate early academic career development by fostering the transfer and exchange of knowledge between academic staff who have experience and a track record of success, and early career academics who could benefit from the support of a partnership approach to professional development. As such, it will allow early career development staff to maximise their use of ECDP development activities available within the Programme with the aim of them achieving a Grade 9 post within 5 years from initial appointment at Grade 8 or 8 years from initial appointment at Grade 7. There are other uses of mentoring within the organisation, for example the female mentoring partnership in place in the Colleges of Arts and Social Sciences. This paper describes the specific use of mentoring within ECDP. 2. General Principles Mentoring is specifically designed to enable early career academic staff (the mentees) to meet the professional expectations and performance objectives within their agreed career track. Mentoring support will help guide the mentee though their ECDP development activities, offer advice and help identify on-the-job learning opportunities within the College. The mentoring partnership focuses on both advice and facilitation and also career development. Activities here might include (where appropriate) joint grant applications with the mentee at CI, joint publications, networking, and other forms of active support. Research suggest that active and advisory support from Mentors are both necessary to maintain gender equality in career development. The partnership is one which is based upon trust and operates out with the formal line management structure.

The aim is to meet career track expectations by informing, supporting and actively promoting the career of the ECDP participant. As such, the Mentor should be a role model in academic achievement across the criteria used in the promotion process. Mentoring is based upon a number of key principles including: mentoring within the ECDP is positioned as a positive support mechanism to assist early career academics to take ownership of their own career development; as such, it is not considered optional; both mentees and mentors are willing to invest their effort and time to positively contribute to an effective mentoring partnership; there is an effective working relationship based upon mutual respect and trust with a focus on an open, honest and constructive dialogue around development; mentees take responsibility to drive forward their professional development plan which includes setting the direction for mentoring discussions through to planning mentoring logistics such as setting meeting dates/times; mentors have a focus on the mentee which is driven by areas for continued professional development and a view to overcoming any challenges in achieving performance objectives; although there is a mentor, other opportunities for advice in areas of specialism/expertise should be pursued and should form part of an overall professional development plan as appropriate; these other opportunities may be identified by the mentor, mentee or line manager. 3. The Mentoring Scheme 3.1 Selection of Mentors The VP/Head of College will identify a pool of suitable mentors across the Schools/Institutes who, as senior academics (preferably Grade 10, however, at least Grade 9), could act as role models to new entrants. The mentor must be fully engaged with the objectives of the University/College and be a role model in academic achievement across the criteria used in the promotion process. The mentor, throughout the course of the programme, will also be able to direct the mentee to a range of other colleagues who may provide support and guidance in relation to specific learning objectives (e.g. grant applications, research, teaching, etc.). 3.2 Matching Mentees to Mentors Matching mentees to mentors will be conducted by the Head of School/Director of Research Institute (in conjunction with the VP/Head of College).

The mentor will normally be a senior academic colleague (preferably Grade 10, however, at least Grade 9) and they will be out with the mentee s current direct line management structure. Typically, the mentor will be within the same School/RI given the focus of early career mentoring. 3.3 Duration of Mentoring All early career development staff entering the ECDP should be provided with a mentor upon entering the Programme. Initial mentoring relationships will normally be in place for a period of two years. It is expected that a mentor would meet face to face with a mentee 6-8 times per year to provide support and guidance, and to monitor progress. If for any reason the initial mentoring arrangement does not work satisfactorily, the line manager and VP/Head of College can decide to allocate a new mentor in consultation with the mentee. Beyond the initial mentoring period (normally 2 years), the mentee should have the option to continue this arrangement or discuss the selection of an alternative mentor with their line manager, with endorsement of selected mentor by Head of School / Director of Research Institute (in conjunction with the VP/Head of College).It is the responsibility of the line manager to ensure that the mentee has continuity of mentoring support for the duration of the Programme. A discussion should take place at the end of Year 2 as to mentoring arrangements. 3.4 Roles & Responsibilities Role of the Mentor The mentor s primary focus is on the professional development of their mentee; as the mentor/mentee discussions take place out with the line management relationship, they should be handled in confidence to enable the appropriate level of trust and support. Mentors can help inform the developmental aspects, however they should not normally be involved in contributing feedback on performance or formally addressing performance issues. The mentor will assist with a range of tasks and developmental activities; these include, but are not limited to, ensuring the mentee is aware of the research and teaching objectives within the School/Research Institute and University, interpreting and discussing any feedback and/or evaluation of teaching (e.g. student feedback) commenting upon draft publications and critiquing & commenting on grant proposals. The mentor is not in a line management relationship with the mentee and is accountable to the Head of School/Director of Research Institute for their performance as a mentor, account of which will be acknowledged through the College workload model. Their contribution to mentoring early career staff can be used as evidence of collegiality, leadership and management in the assessment of their own overall performance.

Role of the Mentee The mentee will work in partnership with their mentor to gain advice and support on their progression through the ECDP and on their wider career development. They also have a responsibility to identify and initiate additional learning opportunities as appropriate. The mentee will work directly with their line manager to ensure that their workload is appropriate and agreed performance objectives are met and regular dialogue occurs. Role of the Line Manager The line manager will continue to take the lead in managing the mentee on a daily basis along with all related line management responsibilities such as: effective objective setting; monitoring performance; providing constructive feedback and managing performance along with supporting early career development planning. The line manager will support the mentee in reviewing progress in the achievement of agreed targets/milestones, performance objectives and their professional development plan on a regular basis. The line manager should remain open to any ideas from the mentor that will assist in the continued development of the mentee, but should not ask for any direct feedback on performance. 4. Support Mechanisms 4.1 Training Prior to beginning mentoring, all mentors and mentees should attend a mentoring briefing session which is included in the ECDP Induction event organised by Employee and Organisational Development. The briefing sessions aim to ensure a thorough understanding of ECDP mentoring with a focus on the key aspects to developing successful mentoring partnerships. For mentors, the intention of the briefing session is to build on the good practice that is currently being exemplified locally and to ensure all mentors are operating at that same level. Mentors will also be provided with opportunities for continued development and support focusing on effective mentoring practices including maximising success, dealing with challenges and building their confidence to perform the role.

4.2 Monitoring & Evaluation Each College will be expected to keep a record of the matches between mentors and mentees to ensure this is managed effectively at the local level, ensuring that initial pairings and any subsequent changes are notified to Performance, Pay and Reward/Employee and Organisational Development accordingly. The Heads of School/Directors of Research Institute are responsible for monitoring the mentoring arrangements, with VP/Head of College and CMG sign-off, to ensure each mentoring partnership is engaged in effective learning. Performance, Pay and Reward/Employee and Organisational Development will keep a central record of completion for the Mentoring Briefing sessions and the mentor/mentee matches across the four Colleges. A formal evaluation of ECDP, including mentoring, will be undertaken as agreed to identify programme improvements and amend accordingly. This will involve an evaluation of the mentor/mentee support to ensure it is addressing the needs of participants. 5.0 Equality & Diversity The University of Glasgow is committed to utilising fully the creativity, innovation and talents of all staff and promotes equality of opportunity in all its activities. It aims to provide a work, learning, research and teaching environment free from discrimination and unfair treatment. Procedures within the programme are intended to be fair, transparent and consistent with the University s Equality & Diversity Policy.