Being a mentor is a mutually beneficial relationship, based around sharing professional knowledge, skills, experiences with a mentee and expanding your network for support and guidance, either at a point in time or throughout your career. This can help the mentor to identify and reach your goals and can give a new meaning to your career as you can pass on your technical or soft skills to a new generation.
The CIPFA Regions Mentoring Programme is open to all members looking to give something back, and to those who are looking for support as they progress their career. This video, filmed in 2020 in the early days of the programme, explains more.
A good mentoring relationship will motivate and empower the mentee to progress their professional aspirations, develop their skills and knowledge, and achieve their full potential. To be effective, mentors need to encourage their mentee to come up with their own solutions and, if needed, seek advice from their line manager or colleagues. Mentors cannot have, and are not expected to have, all the answers.
Being a mentor
Would you like to inspire, guide and support a fellow CIPFA member to reach their potential?
Would you like to pass on some of your knowledge, experience and leave a legacy that benefits others beyond your own career?
Would you be able to spare a few hours on a regular basis to help someone?
Find out more by reading our mentor induction pack.
Having a mentor
Would some independent guidance help you to identify and achieve your career goals?
Could regular support from someone outside your organisation give you a different perspective and enhance your personal and professional development?
Do you have a specific skill you’d like to develop and need some guidance?
Find out more by reading our mentee induction pack.
What next?
Step 1
Email regionsmentoring@cipfa.org with your answers to these three questions:
For those looking to become a mentor:
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What are your key skills and experience?
- Do you consider yourself more strategic or technical?
- Have you mentored before and if so for how long? (first-time mentors welcome!)
For those looking for a mentor:
- Why would you like a mentor? For example, to help you get to the next step in your career, support you with a specific piece of work/project, or to help you implement a particular aspect of your personal development plan?
- Would you prefer/do you think a strategic or technical mentor would be most appropriate for you?
- Have you had a mentor before, and if so, is there anything you learned or realised from that experience that you want us to take into account when matching you with a mentor?
Step 2
We will match all mentor requests with mentee requests.
We will then be in touch to let you know who we have matched you with so that you can have an introductory first meeting and, if appropriate, arrange your first session.
For a successful mentoring relationship, we suggest meeting a minimum of every two months to build the relationship and maintain momentum on progress with any agreed objectives.
Step 3
Every three months we will ask for some anonymous feedback.
If you meet all of the objectives set during your mentoring relationship, a final review meeting can take place to give feedback on the process and, hopefully, celebrate successes.
Interested in helping with the programme?
If you’re interested in helping the Regions Mentoring programme to operate, help us find more participants and assist with the matching process, please contact regionsmentoring@cipfa.org.