The Power of Mentoring – Driving Social Mobility Through Internal and External Programmes
Mentoring is a powerful tool for professional development, particularly for individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. By providing access to career guidance, role models, and professional networks, mentoring programs can help guide individuals through the complexities of entering the workforce, navigating career progression and can contribute to addressing social mobility "cold spots" – geographical areas where opportunities for upward mobility remain limited.
Internal Mentoring Programmes:
Supporting Progression, Retention and Inclusion
"Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction." – John C. Crosby
Organisations often see stronger levels of socioeconomic diversity amongst their more junior cohorts, as opposed to their more senior leaders. City of London’s Socioeconomic Taskforce found that employees from low income backgrounds are 30% less likely to be senior leaders than those from ‘professional’ backgrounds. This figure rises to 50% if an employee is also from an ethnic minority and 99.9% if they are a woman from an ethnic minority. Internal mentoring programs are crucial in tackling this issue and helping employees from LSEBs progress in their careers. Key benefits include:
- Career Progression & Retention: Employees with mentors are more likely to adopt and learn key skills which result in promotions and job satisfaction, leading to greater workforce stability, retention and engagement.
- Leadership Development: Mentoring fosters future leaders by helping individuals develop key skills such as decision-making, problem-solving, and strategic thinking. It also provides an opportunity for Mentors to grow as a professional – developing their own leadership, communication and coaching skills.
- Diversity & Inclusion: Organisations that invest in mentorship contribute to a more inclusive workplace by ensuring that talent development is not limited to those with pre-existing networks and mitigates unconscious bias within the organisation.
- Knowledge Transfer: Senior employees pass on valuable experience and insights, ensuring continuity and a culture of learning within the organisation.
External Mentoring Programmes:
Addressing Social Mobility in Your Community
"A mentor empowers a person to see a possible future and believe it can be obtained." – Shawn Hitchcock
While internal mentoring focuses on employees, external mentoring programs focus on community-based opportunities and extend opportunities to individuals outside the organisation. These Programmes have the ability to actively engage those from LSEBs in a variety of ways. Depending on the structure and point of the programme, these Programmes can:
- Support Young People: Working with schools, universities, and community groups to provide career advice, industry exposure, and skills training.
- Empower Job Seekers: Assisting unemployed individuals or those in low-paid jobs to gain confidence, exposure, and direction in their career paths.
- Improve Regional Employment Prospects: Targeted mentoring efforts in social mobility ‘cold spots’ create career pathways in industries that are often inaccessible.
Mentoring– whether internal or external – is a vital strategy for addressing social mobility challenges and creating meaningful career opportunities. By investing in mentorship, companies can support individual growth, build stronger workforces, and contribute to breaking down systemic barriers that hold back talented individuals. In doing so, they not only benefit from a more diverse and skilled workforce but also play an essential role in building a more equitable society.
