Why the need for a mentoring programme?

We’ve listened to lots of in-house lawyers talk about how they don’t have the same support they had in a law firm. Combined with the need to pick up a whole new set of skills it can be very isolating. In-house lawyers have told us how they have really benefited from being part of a mentoring scheme and we thought that it would be great if we could give more in-house lawyers the opportunity to have this experience. Learning from more experienced colleagues is one of the best ways to develop skills and careers. The mentor also benefits from improving their leadership and management skills. There are no fees involved, it’s a nice opportunity for us to help.

What is mentoring?

Mentoring is the relationship where a mentee is paired up with a mentor to help them develop and achieve their goals. Mentoring is about mutual trust and respect. It is a two-way relationship – you both get the chance to learn new things. Every mentoring relationship is different, but each will present the opportunity for both mentor and mentee to learn from each other.

Will I get anything from it?

We have over 100 people in the scheme and both mentors and mentees say how useful they find it. Here’s what our participants had to say:

• ‘opportunity to chat through challenges and issues with someone who has experience and is unconnected to your business’
• ‘it gives me an insight into the challenges my own team may be facing’
• ‘networking, introductions and friendships’
• ‘it gives me a greater awareness of my own strengths and weaknesses’