Team-wide mentoring

Overview

Every PIRC team member should have a 1-hour mentoring session with an external mentor at least every month, 12 times per year. Team members are free to request more mentoring sessions (see Additional Mentoring below).

The aim of mentoring is to:

• provide a safe space for team members to discuss work or personal issues; 
• help team members create and manage realistic workplans;
• support team members in their longer term development;
• provide the mentor with an overview of team morale and workload—with some distance from the organisation—so that they can raise any potential issues with the [People Group] (for more, see Confidentiality below);
• Identify potential workshops and training that could improve team cohesion, strengthen PIRC’s structures and processes, and help PIRC develop as a progressive employer.

Scope

Mentoring is intended to cover work-related issues but can cover personal issues as necessary.

Appraisals & Anti-Oppression

In addition to regular mentoring sessions, our mentor(s) carries out annual appraisal one-to-one meetings with all team members to reflect on their own work and achievements and to give and receive feedback with their co-workers, as well as to provide space for feedback on PIRC as a whole. Feedback from these sessions forms a larger team meeting to discuss issues or problems and find collective ways to solve them.

Further, our mentor(s) also carry out anti-oppression one-to-one meetings with all team members to reflect on their practice, and establish ‘choice-points’ for the work ahead. 

Coordination

The [People Group coordinator] keeps on top of who has had mentoring and who hasn’t and is responsible for making sure team members don’t miss too many mentoring sessions.

The mentor(s) should meet the [People Group Coordinator] every two months to discuss how mentoring is going generally and any broad themes or issues the coordinator should be aware of.

Additional Mentoring

Team members can arrange this with their existing mentor or seek an additional arrangement with a mentor of their choice. 

If team members want more mentoring they should contact the [People Group] outlining their needs. The [People Group] will discuss the proposal and bring it to the [Resources Group] for sign-off. 

Confidentiality

We expect most issues to be discussed by the mentor and team member, and for the team member to take any necessary action afterwards within PIRC’s structures and processes. 

Everything is confidential within the sessions, with the following exceptions:

1. In some situations it will be appropriate for the mentor to seek the consent of the team member to raise the issue with the [People Group Coordinator] . If however, the mentor deems the issue to be sufficiently serious—relating to misconduct, bullying, distress, serious health risks, organisational jeopardy, etc.—they may raise the issue directly with the [People Group Coordinator] without the consent of the team member. The [People Group Coordinator] and mentor will then take any necessary steps—including initiating other PIRC processes or seeking professional advice—while doing everything they reasonably can to maintain the anonymity of the relevant team member(s).
   
2. In cases where a problem relates to one or more members of the [People Group], the mentor may speak with other members of the team, or trustees.
   
3. In addition, as mentioned above, the mentor will feed back broad themes to the [People Group Coordinator]. In doing so, the mentor should ensure these themes do not allow any identification of individual team members, unless previously agreed with the relevant team member(s).