What is Mentoring?
Mentoring is a developmental relationship in which one person (the Mentor) – usually someone more knowledgeable (though ‘peer’ mentoring can be as successful) helps another (the Mentee) to discover more about themselves, and develop their potential capability.
This is achieved through a professional friendship designed to support career progression, widen an individual’s networks, develop leadership capability and improve performance.
These improvements can lead to increased job satisfaction, while they also help to support the link between an individual’s role and their impact on patient care, benefiting the organisation and the NHS as a whole.
Mentors may use coaching skills in their conversations, but usually the mentor role is wider than that of a coach and may include opening doors, making connections and sharing experiences.
The relationship is often long term with a long term development focus, unlike coaching which is primarily focused on assisting people with their current performance or immediate potential.
What happens during a mentoring session?
A skilled mentor will use a combination of questioning, listening, observation and feedback to create a conversation that is rich in insight and learning. Your mentor will listen to you to find out how you think, how you learn and what your current situation is. They will encourage you to overcome obstacles and take action to move you forward, help you to learn new ways of approaching things.
Mentoring relationship will typically long term with sessions lasting between 45-60 minutes each. These formal arrangements will be contracted between the mentor and the mentee at the beginning of the relationship.
Why access Mentoring?
Mentoring can support an individual by encouraging independence and self- development whilst helping to identify opportunities for future development.
Mentoring…
- Can assist you in setting goals to achieve professional and personal success
- Helps prompt thought about career development and develop solutions to career issues.
- Can provide guidance on areas you are unfamiliar with.
- Helps increase motivation and confidence.
- Can provide a welcome point of stability during a time of change.
Who can access Mentoring?
We offer an inclusive approach to mentoring. It is available to all professions within the NHS and social care, irrespective of pay grade, clinical and non-clinical roles.
NHS Leadership Coaching and Mentoring Register
We’ve established a professional community of experienced mentors from across the NHS and the private sector who have had some formal training in holding and guiding the mentoring relationship.
Our mentoring standards are in line with the guidelines set by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) and our mentors adhere to the EMCC Code of Ethics.
To ensure you receive a high quality, professional experience, we provide ongoing development and supervision to our mentors.
To register for mentoring on the NHS Leadership Academy Coaching and Mentoring Hub please click here
Once registered, you can search for suitable mentors by selecting your criteria. You will be presented with a number of coach profiles which you can contact for a chemistry meeting to establish best fit. It important that both you and your mentor feel comfortable with each other.
You do not need to continue the relationship past the chemistry meeting if you do not wish to.
To find out more about Mentoring or if you have any queries please email [email protected]