Mentoring – training and workshops. Where to get knowledge about mentoring?

Mentoring has been gaining a lot of popularity in Europe in recent years. More and more companies are implementing this form of development, more open mentoring programs are appearing, and at many universities mentoring is almost standard. Not surprisingly, more and more people are also looking for mentoring training opportunities.  

In this article I will present the topic of mentoring training and workshops from three different perspectives – organizers, Mentors and Mentees. I invite you. 

Training in the organization of mentoring programs 

Since mentoring is gaining popularity, the result is that there is beginning to be pressure or a desire on the part of HR team representatives to organize mentoring programs in their companies and organizations. However, mentoring is a fairly new trend in Europe and we have not yet built up sufficient competence and experience. A small percentage of HR professionals have participated in mentoring, and even fewer of them have run mentoring programs. 

A survey we conducted on a group of 150 HR representatives shows that as many as 44% of HR professionals would like to implement mentoring, but on the other hand, as many as 45% have never participated in a mentoring program – neither as a Mentor nor as a Mentee. So there is a lot of willingness to organize mentoring, but little knowledge and experience.  

One solution to implementing a mentoring program without training on the subject is to use the services of consulting firms certified in not only mentoring, but also in, for example, intervision and supervision – i.e. guiding Mentors consciously through the process. Interestingly, the aforementioned study shows that as many as 80% of companies implementing mentoring in-house use such services. 

A second option or supplement for an outside company is to get trained and perhaps earn certification/accreditation related to mentoring. One of the more recognizable accreditation systems is the one offered by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) allowing for certification both at the professional Mentor level, as well as for supervising or running mentoring programs. 

Nowadays, even by simply using Google, you can find a wide variety of courses and training to prepare for these accreditations.

Mentoring Training for Mentors 

Mentoring, among other things, differs from coaching in that the Mentor does not at all need to have experience or knowledge of mentoring. Yes, such experience helps, but it is not required. More important is the knowledge related to the subject of mentoring and general soft aptitude – active listening, openness, willingness to help others. For more on the competencies of Mentors, see this article. 

The vast majority of participants in mentoring programs usually do not have any accreditations or certifications. In many cases, a short training – an introduction to mentoring at the beginning of the program is enough so that both parties – Mentors and Mentees know what mentoring is about, what they can expect, what they should and should not do. 

However, if a Mentor wants to develop a career around mentoring, and not just help others on an ad hoc basis, attending training courses and certifying their knowledge and experience with a certificate is advisable. Here, as in the previous section on organizing mentoring programs, also one of the most recognized accreditations is the one offered by EMCC. 

See also 6 mentoring program standards (ISMCP).

Besides, an important element certifying the Mentor’s skills is also the number of mentoring processes carried out, and the very important conscious drawing of conclusions from these processes – in the form of self-reflection and notes. What’s more, the aforementioned accreditation requires documentation of experience in this regard – precisely in the form of prepared reports after completed mentoring processes. So it is worthwhile to record your conclusions and reflections on an ongoing basis.

Training for Mentees 

For Mentees, experience or specific knowledge of mentoring is definitely no longer required. Yes – it is worthwhile for Mentees to understand what mentoring is all about, and above all, to be aware that the most important thing is their own commitment, openness and awareness that the Mentor is not from advising, but rather from accompanying in their own development. In this article you can read more about what mentoring is and what it is not. 

Typically, novice Mentees are offered training at the beginning of a mentoring program and these are completely sufficient to understand what mentoring is all about.  

Mentoring knowledge provided at Mentiway 

Finally, it is worth mentioning that when designing the Mentiway application, we placed great emphasis on guiding participants – Mentors and Mentees through the entire mentoring process from start to finish.

To this end, we have introduced a number of functionalities and dozens of training materials tailored to the stage of the process and engaging users to deepen their knowledge. These include: 

• Functionalities that build good mentoring habits: 
  • contracting, 
  • Mentee goal setting, 
  • Meeting agendas highlighting key issues to be addressed during sessions at various stages of the mentoring process, 
  • Self-reflections with optional questions to help you reflect on the session, 
  • Mechanisms for evaluating goals and summarizing the process, 
• knowledge pills and tips provided at each stage of the process and to help prepare for the session, 
• A knowledge base of dozens of tools and techniques to use during mentoring meetings, 
• Mentiway Mentoring Academy – video materials introducing participants to the world of mentoring. 

We have built the Mentiway application in such a way that it allows anyone, even with no prior experience, to successfully complete the mentoring process. So no training is required if you want to take part in mentoring with Mentiway. We welcome you 😊