5 Responses

1. Mentor database at http://www.coachingnetwork.org.uk
   The Coaching & Mentoring Network is a free and independent information resource with a database of coaches and mentors. Other options may also exist for inter-company mentoring too. http://www.coachingnetwork.org.uk

2. register of mentors – vol or paid?
   Karen askes if any registors of mentors exist – well It depends how you define mentors. Many of the professions declare all members to be mentors for those rising in the profession and as part of their CPD expect them to mentor newer people to the industry i.e.graduates.

   On the other hand you may be talking about what the wider community now calls executive coaches. If this is the case then yes there are a number of organisations that keep lists of people that have passed their training.

   If you are in the social economy or not-for profit sectors there are other SE organisations that provide free coaching. Otherwise this is a commercial offer.

   Happy to talk through your options – mike@rapidbi.com

3. Scotland
   Karen:

   I don’t know where you are based but if Scotland, then the Scottish Leadership Foundation (http://www.slf-scotland.co.uk/) has a cross-sector scheme for top managers which follows the good practice guidelines set up by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council.

   I run a similar scheme internally across the Scottish Executive which has involved over 160 top and middle managers, as well as other high-priority groups, over the last two years – it has been described as one of only two ‘systemic’ schemes (ie, seeking to become pervasive, at its own pace) found in the UK by Megginson and Clutterbuck and chronicled in their recent Making Coaching Work (CIPD 2005).

   Benefits have been clear for both parties – this is not ‘sacrifice’ but ‘mutual benefit’ volunteering, hence more sustainable. A mentor quote:

   This approach has been used a cross a wide variety of SE departments. In my case I have learnt considerably from my mentee, especially about the culture in other departments. The work I put into, and the support I obtained from, the mentoring programme I then translated into managing my own direct reports and indeed into some meeting situations with stakeholders. I have found the experience practical and insightful. I also followed up with reading and research around the topic of “coaching” which I was able to apply to develop the mentoring relationship. Finally, I did use the time for reflection that this process reinforced to think about my own and my team’s development needs.

   As well as the participant benefits quoted above, the organisation gets benefits which contribute to long-term strategic change: knowledge management (developing links across Departments, generations, specialisms); leadership development (enabling senior staff to demonstrate and to develop leadership); complexity management (promoting informal learning, widening free exchange of expertise); capacity building (a growing pool of trained, experienced mentors for use across the organisation); ‘good corporate citizenship’ (a chance to model this … while getting many benefits in return).

   Get back to me if you need more info –

   Kind regards

   Nick McBain FCIPD
   http://www.nickmcb.co.uk

4. Mentors?
   Karen – if you really mean ‘mentors’, and not ‘coaches’, ‘counsellors’, ‘trainers’ and the rest, all of whom perform quite different functions – may I warmly recommend you still look within your own organisation and its wider stakeholders for such support?

   If mentoring demand truly outstrips supply, and this would be quite unusual in my experience, do drop me a line with your field of endeavour, the range of posts involved and your location, for some further suggestions with no hidden interest?

   Best wishes

   Jeremy

5. Register of mentors
   You can search on http://www.trainerbase.co.uk for mentors. There are a fair few registered in various parts of the country with differeing skill sets.

   Regards

   Heather