HSE Women in Leadership Mentoring Programme A Guide for Mentees
TABLE OF CONTENTS Part I: Preparing for mentoring... 4 What is a mentor?... 4 The benefits of a mentoring relationship... 4 Mentoring for Women in Leadership... 4 How this programme works... 5 Differentiating between a mentor and a line manager... 5 The role of a mentor, in the context of this programme... 5 Programme evaluation... 5 Before you meet your mentor... 6 Questions to ask yourself... 6 Areas to consider... 6 Trust... 6 Confidentiality... 6 Boundaries... 6 A checklist for your first meeting... 8 Part II: Making the most of your mentoring relationship... 9 Commitment... 9 Communication... 9 Drafting a mentoring plan... 9 Goal-setting tools... 10 Outcomes... 10 Reflection... 10 2
Introduction We are delighted that you wish to participate in the Women In Leadership Mentoring Programme. This guide is intended to help you prepare for the Programme. Part I, Preparing for Mentoring will help you to think about the mentoring relationship before you begin the process. Part II, Making the most of your mentoring relationship will give you some guidelines to help ensure that the relationship is a productive and enjoyable one for both you and your mentor. 3
PART I: PREPARING FOR MENTORING What is a mentor? A mentor provides support, wisdom and guidance, during a transitional, often challenging period. The benefits of a mentoring relationship Through this mutually-beneficial relationship, mentees can: gain an increased organisational awareness and a clearer understanding of corporate culture and goals receive support with the reality shock of entering an industry or practice experience a safe environment in which to ask questions and practice skills develop or build on their self-confidence and independence develop their learning, analytical and reflective skills gain experience of working in a collaborative relationship expand their network within the organization Mentors can: gain the personal satisfaction of helping others develop their communication skills, as well as build on their ability to analyse, challenge and reflect develop their own organisational and professional knowledge develop new opportunities for networking and raise their profile in the organisation gain new perspectives from fresh viewpoints influence the development of colleagues who have the potential to become future leaders of the organisation Mentoring for Women in Leadership Broadly, women experience the workplace differently from men. Women are often highly confident and extremely well-skilled when starting out at the first level of their career. Yet once they reach the higher levels of a business or organisation, many female peers have left the workplace due to family reasons, or the pursuit of alternative careers. This has an impact on the amount of women available to take on the more senior roles, but just as importantly, it can mean that the workplace can be a lonely place for those women who do hold roles at those higher levels. As a mentor for Women In Leadership, your mentor will have an awareness of what it can be like to be female in this landscape. The mentoring relationship can offer you a supportive and trustworthy environment in which you can ask questions, and test out possible strategies and behaviours. 4
How this programme works Women in senior roles will be assigned mentees who have expressed an interest in having a mentor. The mentoring relationship will last for six months. Mentors will be asked to spend one half-day per month in this mentoring role; this time could be broken up into two or more shorter meetings / phone calls. Following completion of the six-month relationship, the process will be reviewed, and mentors and mentees invited to give feedback on the initiative. Differentiating between a mentor and a line manager Some of the features of a line manager / staff member relationship are similar to that of a mentor/mentee relationship. Both are collaborative relationships set in place to support a colleague. However a line manager will directly manage their relationships with those who report to them, especially in areas such as performance management and communication. The mentor, however, is there to support their mentee through sharing their own experiences. The mentoring relationship provides a safe place in which to ask questions and express concerns. Generally, a mentor will spend a greater amount of time listening and understanding, and less time being directive. A mentor provides support, wisdom and guidance Your mentors can help you by sharing these three things: What they know Their professional knowledge, insights into specific career paths and organisational culture What they did Applications and interviews for roles; CPD and skills development; building a professional profile Who they know Their connections and networks Remember, a mentor is facilitator, not a fixer. They are there to support and guide you so that ultimately you will generate your own solutions and strategies for the challenges you might be facing. Programme evaluation At the end of the six month mentoring relationship, we will gather feedback from mentees and mentors, in order to evaluate the programme. Not all mentoring relationships are 100% successful. Dissatisfaction and problems are common to every relationship, including mentoring relationships. Please let the programme organisers know if you have any concerns at any stage of the programme. 5
Before you meet your mentor Questions to ask yourself What is my motivation for requesting a mentor? Am I committed to this process? What are my strengths? How can I utilize them in this relationship? What are my weaknesses or limits? Am I good at receiving feedback? Have I any previous experience of mentoring relationships? What was it about the mentor s approach that worked or didn t work? What do I already know about my mentor s professional background and experience? Can I find out more prior to meeting her? Am I prepared to be the one doing most of the talking, especially during the first meetings? Areas to consider Trust A mentoring relationship will not succeed without trust. As a mentee, you will need to feel trust in your mentor that they will be patient and will take the necessary time to understand your perspective. You will need to trust that they will do their best to give you helpful advice. Your mentors will need to trust that you will take the process seriously. Both of you are trusting that you won t repeat information imparted in confidence. Confidentiality It is very important that both mentee and mentor understand the confidentiality of personal information that may be shared with them during meetings and that information may not be shared among mentors and/or Line Managers or other colleagues about individuals. In certain circumstances for example if a mentee has expressed an intent to harm themselves or others -- mentors will be unable to keep matters confidential. Mentees should be encouraged to contact the Confidential Staffcare Freephone No. 1800409388 or their General Practitioner. Mentors are there to provide an additional level of support for their colleagues. It is a professional relationship in which mentors are not expected to be confidantes or counsellors. Your mentors are there to support you within the boundaries of the professional mentoring relationship, but that it s a possibility that some issues will arise that may be more appropriate for you to take directly to your Line Manager or to HR. An example of this may be where you would like to report a case of workplace 6
bullying, you should be directed to: https://www.hse.ie/eng/staff/resources/hrppg/dignity-at-workpolicy.html Remember to be mindful of the time your mentor is taking to participate in this programme. 7
A checklist for your first meeting At your first meeting you will begin to explore with your mentor your motivation for taking part in the Women in Leadership mentoring programme. From that discussion you will move on to establishing some overall goals for the process. However this explorative phase of the relationship is likely to span more than one meeting. Much of the first meeting may be taken up with practical matters around the process. At your first meeting you should aim to touch on all of the following: At your first meeting Introduce yourselves Your professional background and experience Some information about yourself Some information about your mentor Talk about motivation What motivated you to request a mentor? What motivated your mentor to be involved in this Look at the mentoring programme structure Determine how you will communicate programme? Length of programme Frequency and duration of meetings Developing a mentoring plan (if appropriate) Meeting reports (if any) Who will take notes (this should be your role) How meetings will be arranged Where you will meet Clarify expectations Your expectations and your mentor s Boundaries and confidentiality Feedback (giving and receiving) Set your next meeting date Or decide how and when you will arrange this 8
PART II: MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR MENTORING RELATIONSHIP Mentoring is a two-way process, a collaborative relationship, with both parties having much to gain from the experience. The ideal mentee is one who is self-aware and honest, and takes initiative and responsibility in the process. Commitment Ensure that you are committed to this process; your mentors are giving up their valuable time, as are you. As a mentee, try to take ownership of the relationship. Manage the work of the relationship by planning for the meetings, asking questions, listening, being receptive to receiving and giving feedback. Be prepared for each meeting and make sure to use the time efficiently. Communication Be aware of your own communication style, and reflect during the mentoring sessions. Ask yourself: Am I really listening to what my mentor is saying? Am I being too laid back and reactive rather than proactive? How am I ensuring that I leave this session with a plan of action? Try not to let your mentor do too much of the talking. You should be the one doing most of the talking at your first meetings. Ask lots of questions. Your mentor will be happy to impart lots of information which they believe will be helpful. This relationship is primarily for your benefit though, so think about the questions that you d like answers to. Be honest with your mentor. Drafting a mentoring plan After you have spent time exploring with your mentor your motivation for participating in this programme and pinpointing the areas in which they can support you, you will be ready to create a mentoring plan. Although creating a plan is a collaborative process, you should take the first step in putting together a draft plan in your own time. Your mentor can then take time to review this plan by themselves, before meeting again to discuss it further and give you their feedback and input. A mentoring plan can outline areas for development and list objectives for these areas. It can also highlight methods that may be used in meeting the objectives, and outline specific areas in which the mentor has offered to help. The plan should cover short, medium and long-term goals, and should aim to cover the length of the mentoring relationship in this case, six months. Essentially, it will outline a shared vision about what this mentoring relationship ultimately aims to achieve. A mentoring plan underscores the idea that this is a 9
professional relationship. It will provide a useful resource from which meeting agendas can be set, as well as a tool for reflection at the end of the process. Goal-setting tools Setting goals can provide a framework for a mentoring plan. The following models are available (among others) to help with identifying and achieving goals: SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based) GROW (Goal, Reality, Options (or obstacles), Will (or way forward) Ulrich s Four Threes When? What? 3 hours What specific thing will you do in the next 3 hours? 3 days What will you do in the next 3 days to demonstrate sustained commitment? 3 weeks What will you put in your diary where you demonstrate the new behaviour and get feedback on it? 3 months What will it look like when the change is embedded? Ulrich, D (2008) Coaching for results Business Strategy Series 9(3):104-14 Outcomes Be responsible for your own decisions - regardless of your mentor s advice. If your mentor arranges a networking or similar opportunity for you, ensure that you follow up. Share with your mentor any successes you have throughout the process. Reflection Give feedback to your mentor. This is another way of ensuring that you, as a mentee, get the most out of the relationship. Reflect on your interactions with your mentor, and the mentoring process overall. Further Information: Further information available from Sibeal Carolan at sibeal.carolan@hse.ie, Mentoring Programme Co-ordinator. Acknowledgements: Sincere thank you to Katharine Slattery, Peer Mentoring and Team in Diversity Equality & Inclusion for their involvement and progression to date. 10