A not-for-profit organisation
The European Mentoring Centre aims to promote mentoring in business, education and the community at large. It brings together practitioners, researchers and institutions internationally to explore and foster best practice.
What is the European Mentoring Centre?
The EMC is a company limited by guarantee, with an international board of directors, drawn from business schools, consultancy and employers. Established as a loose network of people interested in mentoring, it now operates an extensive library, publishes an annotated bibliography and holds the annual European Mentoring Conference.
The EMC has taken part in and promoted a number of research projects, particularly in the area of mentoring scheme management. It acts as an advisory body on mentoring to companies and to governments. It currently has three standing committees: for the annual conference, for research projects, and for standards. The standards committee is working towards the development of an NVQ (National Vocational Qualification) in mentoring.
What are the benefits of membership?
Membership of the EMC is individual and costs £85 for the 1999 calendar year.
Members benefit from:
® a discount to the annual European Mentoring Conference
® access to the library. Members can visit the library at no cost. A photocopying service is available at nominal cost
® an annually updated copy of the bibliography
® a quarterly newsletter
® an opportunity to join and contribute to Internet interest groups on specific
aspects of mentoring (for example, several members have expressed an interest in mentoring by e-mail)
® an opportunity to take part in (and/or sponsor) research projects in mentoring
The EMC library and bibliography
The EMC attempts to gather as wide as possible a spectrum of articles, books, manuals and other materials on mentoring and related processes, such as coaching and networking. It also collaborates with publishers – print, electronic and multi-media – in developing new products on mentoring. A team of volunteers identifies new publications in specific subject areas and submits entries for the bibliography. The originals are held within the EMC library.
Research students, undertaking a degree course at a recognised academic institution may access the library without joining the EMC. However, they must undertake to provide a copy of their dissertation or thesis to the library in due course.
What is mentoring?
The EMC’s official definition of mentoring is "off-line help by one person to another in making significant transitions in knowledge, work or thinking". In practice, there are a variety of equally valid definitions, depending on the relationship purpose, and the EMC attempts to represent these, too. However, the emphasis of the EMC’s activities is on mentoring as a means of achieving development and personal growth; this is in contrast to much traditional mentoring in North America, which is focused on career sponsorship. The EMC also emphasises the duality of the mentoring role – the mentor should also learn from the relationship.
Mentoring at work has expanded in recent years from an activity largely aimed at high-flying young graduate entrants to almost anyone, who can benefit from tapping into the wisdom of a more experienced person. EMC members are involved in schemes that provide mentors for people returning to work (e.g. after maternity leave), for people disadvantaged by race or gender, for people transferred overseas or into challenging new assignments, and for new directors. It is now increasingly common for chief executives, in all sectors, to have personal mentors.
The benefits of mentoring
Among the most common benefits identified by employers from mentoring are:
® improved recruitment and retention of employees
® more rapid integration of new employees (particularly at management level)
® better management of stress
® improved performance
® better planning and achievement of learning
® improved communication between layers and across the organisation.
Within community schemes, mentoring has brought about increased self-confidence in disadvantaged young people and job seekers; remarkably low levels of recidivism among young offenders; and greater community awareness within participating employers.
Research activities
The EMC has a current research project, investigating the dynamics of the behaviour between mentors and mentees in employment. Part of this research involves an examination of the development climate of the organisation. Members are encouraged to take part in such projects.
During 1999, the EMC will make joint bids with other institutions for research funding, particularly for pan-European projects.
European Mentoring Centre Ltd, Burnham House, High Street, Burnham, SL1 7JZ, UK
Tel 01628 661667 Fax 01628 604882 E-mail: emc@item.co.uk
Publications available from the EMC
® Proceedings of the European Mentoring Conference, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998.
£25 each or £100 for a set of five.
® Everyone needs a mentor, David Clutterbuck, Institute of Personnel and Development, £10.95
® Mentoring in Action, David Megginson and David Clutterbuck, Kogan Page, £12.99
® Mentoring executives and directors, David Clutterbuck and David Megginson, Butterworth Heinemann, (forthcoming)
® The Mentoring Dimension (video), £35
® The Mentoring Diagnostic Part 1: Scheme co-ordinator’s manual and Part 2: Mentor and mentee manual. (£195 including disk)
