Anyone can be a mentor, can’t they? But can they be an effective mentor? It’s hard to gain an accurate estimate of the difference between competent, well-trained mentors and people dropped into the role with little or no training, but the evidence from hundreds of mentoring programmes suggests that well-trained mentors add value in several ways:

  1. The relationship is more likely to be regarded as useful by their mentees
  2. There is a much higher positive impact on talent retention and succession planning
  3. In return to work mentoring programmes, far more employees do return to their jobs and settle in faster
  4. Diversity and inclusion focused programmes with well-trained participants have a wider organisational impact, rather than just on mentors and mentees
  5. Mentees are more likely to become mentors in turn

 The quality standard for mentor education is the EMCC’s European Quality Award – the globally recognised accreditation for mentors. For anyone intending to practice as a professional mentor, it is an increasingly essential recognition of competence. It is also becoming a significant factor in persuading line managers in organisations to volunteer as internal mentors and/or internal coaches. Among the reasons for this:

  • It’s a skill they value in terms of their own roles as developers of talent
  • Many managers want to have a social impact outside of work and find that accreditation helps them find opportunities to do so
  • They have an eye on the future, when they retire, when being an accredited mentor may be the route to their next career.

Having a cohort of accredited mentors benefits the organisation in many ways. In particular, it appears that accredited mentors are more likely to stay involved in internal mentoring and coaching programmes – the drop-out rate amongst non-accredited volunteers seems to be much higher. The extra confidence that accredited mentors have allows them to take on developmental relationships that would otherwise be assigned to externally resourced coaches, with all thee expense that entails.

The concept of the Professional Mentor provides a practical umbrella for embedding high quality mentoring, at both the individual and organisational levels. To find out more about our latest course, please click here.

© David Clutterbuck 2025