IPWEA’s new Mentor Match program offers mentors and mentees the chance to rapidly expand their skills base and networks.
IPWEA will launch its new Mentor Match program in May 2015. The program will help members find their own Mr Miyagi by pairing individuals on the basis of their answers to a series of questions.
IPWEA members are invited to sign up today to be a mentor or mentee. As The Karate Kid proved, the benefits for both sides can be huge (see box on right).
Research from Clutterbuck Associates reveals that training both mentors and mentees, and educating line managers, about the program can push the success rate of a mentorship above 90 per cent, with both sides reporting substantial gains.
With this in mind, once assigned a partner, mentors and mentees will be given an induction and training on how to get the most from the relationship. Pairs are encouraged to meet at least once a month over the course of the seven-month program.
Mentors will also be given a chance to meet with organisers and other mentors halfway through the program, and again at the end, to give feedback and share experiences.
Mentees, meanwhile, gain access to people who can help them develop professionally. As the movie’s power song theme tune says, mentoring can help mentors and mentees be ‘the best ... around’.
What’s in it for me?
Mentoring can benefit the mentor as much as the mentee. PWPRo finds out what benefits individuals can reap on both sides of the mentoring relationship.
Why become a mentee?
• Explore issues and concerns in a confidential and supportive relationship.
• Learn from the real-life experiences of others.
• Exposure to new, and often more senior, members of your industry.
• Explore your career development plans, with guidance to make appropriate choices.
• Learn about effective networking.
• Become more comfortable dealing with people of different backgrounds, experience and authority.
• Gain guidance in managing difficult relationships and interpreting feedback from others.
• Develop greater confidence, personally and within your profession.
Why become a mentor?
• Gain personal satisfaction by making a difference to someone else.
• Increase your profile and your professional networks.
• Learn and develop mentoring skills and enhance your leadership and interpersonal skills.
• Find fresh intellectual challenges by working on issues outside of your day-to-day experience.
• Find reflective space in a hectic daily schedule.
• Sharpen your listening skills.
• Discover fresh perspectives that may assist with your own work.
Want to find out more?
Register your interest to become a mentor or mentee with emily.rankin@ipwea.org