How to set up a Mentoring Programme
Setting up a successful mentoring programme that delivers the results you are looking to achieve can be complicated. If the organisational culture is at odds with the philosophy of mentoring, or the senior management are paying lip service to the programme’s introduction, you will have your work cut out. Follow these 8 key steps for design success! Continue reading

In the last two decades, many employers have shown enthusiastic commitment to gender diversity. Women have made enormous strides in being able to compete on the same playing field as men at work. This is where initiatives such as mentoring and sponsor programmes have been really successful in helping erode this gender imbalance and create more gender equity. Gender equity means fairness of treatment for women and men, according to their respective needs. All the research strongly confirms this as being an important factor in developing more women leaders. So let us consider:
As long ago as 2005, Brewster et al defined talent management as occurring on a global basis. It is a far broader concept than a series of international assignments for young potential. They describe a picture of being able to retain and attract the best talent anywhere in the world. Global brands like Diageo, Shell and Rolls Royce attach great importance to developing a positive brand for potential recruits.
Organisations are keen to ensure that their mentoring programme will be the best. They want it to run smoothly, with everyone getting a great deal out of it!
In Japan, Ikigai is a popular concept that makes millions of people want to get out of bed in the morning. It is translates simply as the ‘reason for being’. The term ikigai is composed of two Japanese words: ‘iki’ referring to life, and ‘kai’, which roughly means “the realisation of what one expects and hopes for”.
The launch of the AOMP mentoring pilot was in April 2016 with eleven mentoring pairs across several countries and six Humanitarian and Development Organisations. After that a further programme has been delivered in 2017, with planning for the 2018 cohort ongoing for an October launch.
With summer just around the corner, it is a good time to health check your mentoring programme to ensure it’s in tip-top condition to keep it going over the holiday months and into the autumn. Effective formal mentoring needs nurturing and energising to deliver the best outcomes. So, whether you are an external consultant or an internal co-ordinator, freshen up your mentoring programme before people drift off on their holiday.
The more self-aware a mentor can be about their behaviour and the degree to which they listen to their mentees around what the mentee is looking for from them, the better the relationship can be.
With the rise of internal and external