Mentoring
Tim offers direct one-to-one professional mentoring to individuals at important times in their careers. To help them ‘track’ their own development needs and to get clarity around their futures and the decisions they make to realise their potential and aspirations.
To learn more about mentoring, please visit our Mentoring FAQs.
Customers
Employers / Organisations
The customers or clients of TrACK Mentoring services are those organisations (employers) who want to invest in the personal development of their colleagues and sponsor them. The mentees are the consumers of the service.
It is fully recognised that many organisations (but not all) will have in-house mentoring programmes, which are highly creditable. We are not looking to compete here, but rather to supplement and support them by providing additional capacity or an alternative. At times we understand that there are rarely enough senior in-house mentors who step forward. Sometimes people find it difficult to find the right matches. It can be a drain for some senior leaders to dedicate the right amount of time over the long-term. Also, TrACK is completely independent and can offer confidentiality to any mentees that get assigned. This can be important to some who are nervous about discussing certain issues with a senior colleague from their own organisation for fear of judgement or creating unforeseen problems. Cost is largely a myth because senior people used internally might not get charged out in $, but there is a real cost to their time.
“Sons and Daughters, Nieces and Nephews”
Mentoring is increasingly valued and expected by the younger generations in the workplace. According to a ‘Deloitte Millennial survey’, 63% of those surveyed said their leadership skills are not being fully developed. They are frequently looking for development opportunities and will seek out the time and space to do this while they move through their careers.
The first few years at work can be amongst the most formative of someone’s career, it is when they start to grow their reputation, to understand their talent and to hone their skills. It can be a time when decisions taken do not always work out, or mistakes can be made. It is a key time when they start to set their direction to achieve their ambitions. Having some independent support and help delivered in a nurturing way from a mentor can be hugely beneficial during this period. Someone to check-in with, who will listen, question to help them validate their own thoughts. Someone who will help them craft their plans and the actions and behaviours they should be considering to achieve their goals and objectives.
Whilst larger organisations will typically have well developed in-house mentoring programmes, many others do not. This is largely because they cannot support the infrastructure and associated costs internally. While most such schemes are self-elected, others are ‘by invitation’, meaning some can miss out if they are not selected or put forward. Perhaps you have a relative or family friend, who is early on in their career or recently left full-time education and is entering the ‘world of work’. Perhaps they are unable to access a mentor through their organisation or network and find that seeking one for themselves is an expense they need to defer.
TrACK supports this ‘gap’ for self-elected clients and is also open to sponsors being individuals who want to ‘gift’ a mentoring assignment to a relative or friend as a generous investment in their future career development. We are happy to facilitate these sorts of arrangements and can be ‘sympathetic’ with scheduling at more convenient times that do not clash with work commitments if necessary (such as lunch breaks, evenings or even at weekends). We just ask that any individuals put forward are eighteen or older please.
Self-elected
Some individuals might wish to approach us directly and ‘sponsor’ themselves as a personal investment in their futures. We welcome this and again in these situations we can be ‘sympathetic’ with scheduling at more convenient times.
The benefits section makes the case for why, but who are the sorts of individuals who might most benefit? We do not want to be overly prescriptive as this should be your choice and we provide mentoring at all levels and times in an individual’s career. However, we have developed a non-exhaustive series of fictional profiles that might help you think about target candidates or consider your own need for mentoring.
Our services
One-to-one mentoring
What does a typical session look like?
The answer to that is that there is not a ‘typical’ session. I do not run these sessions to any sort of script or structured routine. There is no set template to follow. Each session and each person will have different needs. My job is to ensure we stick to their agenda and I use my experience to help guide them. Naturally, common themes might arise but none of this is set and that is the real value offered. I provide all new mentees with a detailed ‘Guide for Mentoring for Mentees’ that has been developed by TrACK. This sets a framework and provides lots of insight and some tips. It is not prescriptive and is to be used as much or as little as the mentees choose for themselves.
The approach can be flexible and tailored to the needs of the mentee and their organisation (if applicable). Generally, one-to-one mentoring follows these principles:
Each session lasts one hour
Confidentiality between mentor and mentee is assured - a sponsor will only be advised whether a mentee attended a meeting or not. No other details will be shared by TrACK unless the mentee chooses that for themselves
The mentee will be responsible for scheduling 6 sessions, over the next 6 or 12 months to suit their calendar and working routine
The first of these 6 sessions will be a ‘compatibility’ meeting, where trust should be built, and the mentee gets to understand their role - in this session, the key objectives will be established
Mentoring sessions are delivered online according to the mentee’s preference (e.g. Zoom, Teams, Skype or Google Meet)
The service is global and not restricted by the location of the mentee, which means face to face meetings are unlikely, but are possible if desired and logistically achievable
We operate from the UK but are happy to try and suit the time zone needs of mentees where practical
Pricing
£225 + VAT per session (1hr) or £1,350 + VAT for 6 sessions.
Payment terms are at 14 days from invoice date and paid either per session, or 50% at appointment, with the balance of 50% becoming due at the conclusion of the final session.
Booking
If you are an organisation seeking mentoring for your employees, identify those you want to ‘sponsor’ to be mentored and provide their contact details to TrACK.
If you are an individual, please feel free to contact TrACK directly.
Cancellation policy
If an assignment is cancelled by the sponsor or the mentee, only the sessions consumed will become payable. There are no penalties for cancellation of an overall arrangement if circumstances change.
Appointments should be honoured and at least of 24 hours’ notice should be given if a session needs to be rescheduled, otherwise the cost of that session will become due if there is a ‘no show’ or late cancellation.
Establish in-house mentoring
Another service offering from TrACK is to help companies set-up their own mentoring program if they are “HR-light”, or just need some professional consultancy in this regard.
Pricing: available on request