The UHR Mentoring scheme is open to all UHR members and aims to pair mentors with mentees to develop specific areas of expertise related to human resources. A key objective of the scheme is to support members and help them to develop and achieve specific goals which they set for themselves. In the majority of matches, it is envisaged that mentors and mentees will be from different institutions. This also helps to encourage cross-sector networking and engagement, another key objective of the scheme.
The UHR Mentoring scheme will be launching in January 2024.
Start by checking these essential resources.
Anyone can be a mentor if they have skills to pass on, with the only requirements being to have the time and commitment to participate. Mentees can be any UHR member who would find it useful to have a neutral mentor who can help them achieve specific objectives that they set for themselves. It is also completely possible to sign up as both a mentor and a mentee, offering support and guidance on areas of expertise that you possess, and seeking the same from others on areas you wish to develop.
The scheme is centrally managed and administered by UHR via a software platform called SUMAC. Users sign up by completing a sign-up form on our in-house developed SUMAC site. The system uses an algorithm to match partners, based on their preferences. Mentees are then contacted about potential matches and can accept or decline. If they accept, the mentor is contacted and informed that a match has been made. The onus is on the mentee to make the first contact.
A UHR Mentoring Handbook and Code of Conduct are now available and we will ask both mentors and mentees to read these in full to ensure they understand the scheme and what is expected of them and their partner.
The resources listed above will help you get started. UHR will keep an open mind as to whether more guidance is needed for participants once we see how the scheme works in practice and gain initial feedback on the systems we have developed.
Our free mentoring masterclasses have booked up incredibly quickly and we have been running a waiting list. We will be scheduling more masterclasses to make as many places as possible available to members. If you cannot attend one, there will be more training resources available (see above).
We will be using the SUMAC software platform, which automatically matches mentors with mentees. You will be able to provide a range of information about what you are looking for in a mentor and you will be matched on this basis.
If, as a mentee, you are not happy with a match, you do have the option to decline this and be reassigned another mentor. Finding a second mentor may take a little longer but the choice is in the hands of the mentee.
The length of time depends on the partnership and what you want to get out of it, but we expect that partnerships would typically last for 6-8 mentoring meetings across 8-10 months. Partnerships can and do run for a little shorter or longer than this.
We are asking all participants to complete a Mentoring Contract and a Confidentiality agreement at the start of the partnership.
We will not be asking you to record your meetings, though it is good practice to keep a record of when they occur, and you are welcome to take your own notes. UHR will not be keeping centralised records of when meetings take place due to the expected size of the scheme.
After the mentoring relationship has ended, you are welcome to submit yourself back into the scheme to be mentored again or become a mentor. We’d also love to hear from you about your experiences!
