Left: Mentoring can achieve substantial benefits for both mentor and mentee
realised how much they’d achieved in the course of their careers.
Similarly, the benefits to organisations are clear. Another
study found that companies that made mentoring available had significantly better staff satisfaction and retention rates among mentors (69%) and mentees (72%). Hardly surprising when you consider 94% of staff
(according to LinkedIn) say that how long they’ll stay with an employer hinges on opportunities for structured learning and growth. When you consider the huge cost of hiring and training
new staff, as well as the “brain-drain” impact of employees leaving (taking their accumulated skills and knowledge to competitors), the benefits to companies cannot be underestimated. Mentoring has also been shown to support EDI goals. Another study found that a company’s in-house mentoring scheme boosted attraction and retention of under- represented groups by up to approximately 25%. The same study (by Cornell University) found that having access to mentorship improved promotion and retention rates for those from ethnic minority backgrounds and women. The NI has offered mentoring on an invitation-only basis
for a number of years. Now we’ve partnered with one of the world’s premier digital mentoring platforms so that we can scale this up, in both numbers and scope (i.e. across all possible career competencies). The platform allows members to sign up to be a mentor or mentee (or both) and create a profile based on the qualities or skills you seek support with or are offering. Once a match is made, the pair can arrange a first virtual meeting to discuss what they’re hoping to gain and set goals. The frequency and length of meetings can be flexible, but as a rule of thumb, we recommend most will be an hour a month for six months. Most mentors are taking on one mentee at a time. We have had some super keen types with up to four – we won’t say no, of course, but one mentee seems to be manageable for most people.
Over 200 members have already signed up as mentors and mentees, often both, across over 70 companies and educational institutions. The scheme has only been open for three months, and we anticipate significant growth as we continue to promote the scheme to over 5,000 members.
Who can be a mentor? In short, anyone! Everyone has some experiences and perspectives that could be useful to someone lower down the ladder. Or in the case of reverse mentoring, up the ladder.
Many universities even have highly successful peer-
mentoring or “buddy” schemes, where third year undergrads are paired with first years to help support their transition to university. At the NI, we’re planning a lot of educational outreach, and are currently trying to encourage young professionals to consider mentoring a student. The student gets an insight into what it’s like to join the industry, and young professionals build the communication and support skills that will ultimately make them tomorrow’s future leaders. At the other end of the scale, a number of retirees who
have held senior roles in industry have been successfully mentoring mid-career professionals in the ”soft skills” required to take on a senior role or promotion. One of our mentors is so experienced they’ve advised five successive secretaries of state on the future of the industry. And it can include everyone in between; from those who
want to become Chartered, move to a different sector within nuclear, weigh up their options in terms of career path, or get advice on specific topics like safety case analysis or improving a company’s EDI policies. Everyone has doubtless had times when a key decision
was impacted by one of those “you don’t know what you don’t know” moments – times that could have been avoided with a bit of guidance. And everyone has almost certainly had points in life where they could have used a bit of support and a different perspective. The qualities that make a good mentor include empathy,
patience, active listening, effective communication, a positive attitude and a willingness to share. As well as the ability to creatively problem-solve, set goals and determine priorities. We believe these are qualities that exist in abundance in the nuclear sector due to the nature of it being a highly skilled and demanding profession that requires the very best. Therefore, we have high hopes for the growth of Nuclear Mentors.
Why is mentoring so important to nuclear right now? The nuclear industry is entering a new period of rejuvenation and challenging targets as the government realises the importance of safe, clean power to meet net- zero goals. It’s never been more important to attract and retain the best talent to the sector. We believe widespread access to mentoring can make a huge difference in supporting the nuclear workforce. ■
To find out more, please visit
https://nuclearinst.com/membership
www.neimagazine.com | November 2024 | 47
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