IR Mentoring in 2022

Robert Dann and Fiona O’Nolan reflect on the successful Mentoring Programme pilot scheme, and welcome applications from mentors and mentees for this year’s programme.

Robert Dann is head of marketing and operations at the IR Society.
robert.dann@irsociety.org.uk

After a successful pilot programme in 2021, completed by 18 mentors and mentees, we are pleased to announce that the IR Society Mentoring Programme, in partnership with Equitory, will be launched in its expanded format for the 2022 programme year, and will be open to anyone across our wider membership.

The programme aims to pair less experienced IR professionals with their more experienced peers, to help them to achieve specific career goals or simply to improve their understanding of the IR profession. We are thrilled that many of those who acted as mentors during the pilot programme have volunteered to carry on as mentors again in 2022.

Expanded 2022 programme
The 2022 programme is the first year of our full programme, and whereas the pilot was only open to in-house IR professionals, when the programme launches in April 2022, any IR Society member is welcome to submit their application to become a mentor, a mentee, or indeed, both.

Feedback from previous participants has highlighted the importance of both parties identifying specific goals from the programme, as well as being sure to dedicate enough time to the relationship, and to regular meetings, to make the process valuable for both parties.

The process for applications and the programme format run as follows:

Applications
These are due by Friday 15 April for both mentees and mentors. The forms are available on the IR Society website: irsociety.org.uk/careers

Matching
Once all the application forms have been received we will work through a matching process to endeavour to match each mentee with a suitable mentor. The application forms will allow us to use criteria such as prior experience, areas of interest and specific goals to create appropriate matches. We will aim to complete this part of the process by Friday 29 April.

Introductions
Once the matching process is complete we will introduce the mentoring pairs to each other, during the first week in May, and they will have an initial introductory meeting to confirm a good fit and to discuss specific outcomes from the programme.

Regular meetings
We are encouraging meetings to take place at least once a month, and in person where possible, as this improves the outcome for both parties. The pairs will then meet periodically over the next six months, with the programme coming to a close in October 2022. If agreed between mentee and mentor, an individual programme can be extended by a further [three or six months] as some situations can merit a longer period of mentoring.

Launch event
We are planning a launch event in May 2022 to share some of the tips and suggestions from previous participants to help make the programme a success and to answer any questions you may have. We will also check in after your first monthly meeting, and periodically during the programme, to make sure everything is on track.

All of the information you need to sign up to the programme is on the website, and we would once again like to thank out partner for this initiative, Equitory, for their help and support in launching the mentoring programme