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BETTER BUSINESS

time when you’re driving; it’s great it’s possible to “get 50, 100 or 200 to
use of time.” Even so, it’s important one.” This form of mentoring works
to understand the difference well in front of a university audience
between informal and formal men- or at an event and it works for him:
toring. The former is, as Daly
explains, “almost like a friendship “Quite often I’ve had people come
back to me that I’ve never met, and
where such people are turned to for
advice or to challenge thinking.” In they’ve said ‘what you said 10 years
contrast, formal mentoring is organ- ago really resonated with me’.” It’s a
ised and matches mentees with men- slow burn but such people subse-
tors to help them towards a goal or quently seek him out with something
target and tends to be run through of interest. He says that the same can
structured programmes. Daly out- apply to video and podcast mentor-
lines that there are essentially four ing which can see “tens, hundreds,
main types which can take place in thousands of views. You can make a
person or virtually. difference at scale.”
The first is One-on-One
Mentoring, which is more tradi- The value of mentoring to a busi-
tional, in which a mentor agrees to ness
help a mentee develop, improve, and
achieve their goals. Here Daly tells Mentoring shouldn’t be thought of
that “the mentor has more experi- as only of use where someone needs
ence in an area that the mentee is to learn about the technicalities of
interested in and so can act as an print. Rather, mentoring can be
advisor and guide. While the focus is applied to any part of the world of
primarily on the mentee, the mentor print, including the management
also benefits as they develop leader- skills that can give an individual the
ship skills and may learn from their ability and confidence to start-up or
mentee”. Next is Peer Mentoring. run a business. Biltcliffe is keen on
Similar to the first, peer mentoring is this, especially in start-ups as “busi-
when two people come together in a ness is a multifaceted beast. You can’t
mentorship but both parties are from be an expert on every aspect of it.
guider-ai.com recorded that 25% of employees who enrolled in a mentoring a similar job level or age range. “The And I think it critical that you’re
programme saw a salary-grade change, compared with only 5% of workers aim,” says Daly, “is to share experi- opening up a network where some-
who did not participate; that mentees were promoted five times more often ences and expertise, learn together one may not be able to help you, but
than those without mentors; and mentors themselves were six times more and hold each other accountable”.
likely to be promoted. Further, 89% of those with mentors believed their The third that Daly mentions is they’ll know somebody who can”.
colleagues valued their work, compared with 75% who do not have men- Group Mentoring which involves a But for all of this to happen, Daly
tors; and 87% of mentors and mentees felt empowered by their mentoring mentor working with several men- says that it’s important to identify the
relationships and had developed greater confidence. tees in a group. She explains: “The right mentor that meets an individu-
But irrespective of these findings, for Biltcliffe, mentoring is relevant mentor will lead the sessions with al’s needs at that point in time. She
regardless of role. As he says, “it doesn’t matter what you do. It doesn’t mat- the group of mentees all bringing in gives an example: a candidate that
ter what age you are. We all need to get buy-in and selling is always about the their own range of knowledge and
other person”. experience.” has been operating as a board mem-
He continues: “It’s never about what you want, so it helps you to be empa- ber but wants to take the next step to
thetic, be reflective, measured in what you do, and understand value and Lastly, there’s Reverse Mentoring, MD/CEO. “They,” she says, “may
how people’s perception is moulded around concepts, ideas, innovation.” where, almost perversely, a more feel that they are weak in certain
And then, of course, he sees the key to it all: continual professional develop- junior person mentors a more senior areas, such as finance. They under-
ment and continual process development. person in an organisation. “This,” stand a simple P&L but may get lost
Fundamentally, Biltcliffe believes that mentoring is an inexpensive way says Daly, “recognises that there are in some of the intricacies of the
to learn quickly, and is “a great way to give back if you’re a more experienced skill gaps and learning opportunities
person”. on both sides of a mentoring relation- financial reporting and review.” In
ship.” this regard, she sees a mentor as
How mentoring works But to this list Biltcliffe adds alter- someone who is experienced in
As to how mentoring works, Biltcliffe describes it as an ongoing and “iter- native ways of mentoring. He’s spe- finance or has already worked as an
ative” process and “it can be anything that you want. It can be on email, it cifically thinking of mentoring via MD/CEO as guiding learning and
can be a voice note, it can be live, it can be on video, or it could be filling your speeches and presentations where building confidence in this area.

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