When the mentee becomes the mentor

How IOM3 is shaping its support for mentoring practices.

Whenever I’m asked about mentoring, I often start by reflecting on the mentoring I received early in my career. Some was good and some not so good. I’m sure you all have similar stories.

About 10 years into my career, I met a senior industry figure who headed up a subcontractor’s team on a project where I was working for the main contractor. On first impressions, he seemed a bit standoffish, but my perception changed when I saw how he supported the team beneath him. Being cruel to be kind would be a good way of describing his approach, but he was gentle with it. Some call this the carrot and stick approach to mentoring.

A little over a year later, I’d begun to like the way the subcontractor’s organisation worked. The business was results focused and everyone worked hard, but people were supported and everyone looked out for each other. The organisation was successful because the leaders supported their teams.

An opportunity arose and I found myself being interviewed by this same senior leader. On joining the company, I began to see a different side to his character. He told me he had been brought up in a Welsh mining community and was the first in his family to go to university. He said he loved the ‘muck and bullets’ of project delivery, but he was deeply passionate about people and giving them the chance to develop and succeed. I liked that.

He told me why his team called him the ‘old man’. It was simply because everyone who worked for him said it was just like working for your dad. I later discovered that this was a great strategy, because when the chips were down everyone went the extra mile – nobody wanted to let ‘dad’ down. 

Much further down the line, I found out that one of his early trainees ultimately went onto become Chief Executive of the organisation – in that role he grew turnover and the number of employees more than doubled. I suspect that early mentoring from ‘dad’ went some way towards achieving this.

He supported me with my CEng application. When it came to signing my training off, he didn’t look at the detail of my records. I was a bit surprised, but he simply said, 'I don’t need to, I trust you and I know what you can do'. 

That meant a lot. In that moment, with an exchange of wry smiles, we both knew that he had played a big part in that. Ten years later, when I moved from my operational career into my dream job, running the company’s early-career programme and supporting professional development, albeit a little earlier than I might have planned, I was able to put the things he had taught me into place helping others. 

On reflection, I think I’ve probably helped around 2,500 people so far to achieve a professional qualification and really enjoyed every moment of that. Hopefully, in turn, each of those that I have helped will in some way help others to do the same further down the line.

When I moved on, my successor was another of the ‘old man’s’ mentees. Four years in, he is still doing a great job where I left off – proof if any is required, that mentoring works. His efforts were recognised in an industry ‘Mentor of the Year Award’ last year.

The ‘old man’ is sadly no longer with us. He died way too soon, back in 2022, but along with his legacy, in spirit he is still here. Even now when I am faced with a difficult situation, I find myself thinking, 'if he was here, what would he do with this one?' 

At IOM3, we have been working for the last 12 months to develop our mentoring offer for members. This includes a two-hour training module to help mentors improve their understanding of our registration processes with the Engineering Council, Science Council and Society for the Environment. 

The module covers the different entry routes for apprentices, graduates, senior applicants and those without academic qualifications. We talk about progression through the grades, linked to wider development, and the similarities between the engineering, science and environmental routes.

We are delivering this training to companies as a benefit to help grow our mentor pool. The training is free of charge and, depending on cohort sizes and locations, we can accommodate face-to-face or remote delivery.

Initially, we are supporting companies with IOM3-accredited training schemes. Our scrutineers and assessors are then looking to widen access to the training to companies that want to improve their mentor provision, along with individuals who are professionally registered and want to support others. For this group, becoming a mentor could be the first step towards undertaking wider volunteering activity with IOM3.

Our hope is to provide consistent support to mentees that complements the centrally delivered workshops and open membership clinic sessions. It is hoped that as our mentor pool grows, support to individuals outside of the mentor’s own organisation will be possible. This is crucial, as currently we have over 3,500 members who are the only IOM3 member in their organisation.

I’m writing this at the end of Volunteers Week, where we take the time to thank our wonderful active supporters and volunteers for all the marvellous work that they do. 

In time, mentors will develop many of the skills required to support IOM3 with CPD assessment, scrutineering and interviewing for professional review, or maybe even assessment of academic courses. Becoming a mentor is a great way to develop soft skills alongside your day job and become part of a much wider community giving back.

Our LinkedIn mentoring channel has grown significantly since its inception in 2023. We recently surpassed 1,000 members, with the group comprising both mentees and mentors. True to its original concept, the group continues to share best practice and encourage both mentors and mentees to come together as part of a supportive network.

If you think you could give back as a mentor, we would love to hear from you. Equally as a potential mentee, if there is specific support you need, please let the membership team know at [email protected]. 

I once heard someone say, 'when I was young, I thought I knew all the answers and now I’m getting older, I’ve realised I don’t even know the questions anymore'. What I can say is from my experience of mentoring, the benefit certainly outweighs the effort regardless of whether the relationship is inside or outside a particular organisation. 

As an early-career professional, someone taking an interest with a regular check-in and helping with a gap analysis on route to Chartership is invaluable. You never know, the person you are mentoring may ultimately become your boss. 

As you get older, you may look for more informal mentoring support, or perhaps a reverse mentoring opportunity. What could be a better way to get to grips with the current skills shortage or Industry 4.0? Now I wonder what the ‘old man’ would have made of that…