Why mentoring is such a benefit to women

Research consistently shows that mentoring is a vital way to help women boost and further their careers. On average, employees with workplace mentors are:

• promoted as much as five times more often than their non-mentored peers,
• more confident in their abilities
• more likely to stay with their organisation with retention and promotions increasing by up to 40%

But while many women would benefit from having a mentor, too often they don’t know where to start in terms of finding the right one.

As part of IHPN’s Women Leaders Network’s endeavours to support and empower women in the sector and help foster the professional growth of women leaders of both today and the future, we have therefore set up a mentoring scheme for women working in independent healthcare.

The scheme aims to help connect mentors working in a variety of roles in the sector with those who are looking for some guidance and support in taking their career to the next stage, and is something we hope will help nurture the next generation of women leaders in independent healthcare.

We are therefore delighted to have (so far) 18 brilliant women (and two fantastic man!) who have put themselves forward as mentors and who have a huge range of experience from commercial to medical governance, policy and strategy to communications and marketing, and legal to operational skills.

There’s very much someone for everyone in our mentoring scheme and we are encouraging women from across the IHPN membership to make full use of this new resource.

So, if you are a woman working in the independent sector who is looking for guidance or inspiration, please do take a look and take advantage of a mentor who can provide a range of support whether that’s:

• Practical advice or insight in your specific field of work
• Developing leadership and management skills to support with career progression
• Help with confidence-building
• Opening doors to new connections and networks
• A much-needed outlet to discuss career frustrations and find encouragement!

Not only does mentoring provide a brilliant sounding board for the mentee from someone who’s “been there, done that”, it’s also a hugely rewarding role for the mentor themselves!

We are keen to keep building up our catalogue of mentors, and are looking for both female and male leaders to put themselves forward and play their part in fostering the next generation of women leaders in independent healthcare. Registering to be a mentor is very simple so if you do feel able to support this important initiative by volunteering some of your time we would be grateful.

For more information on the mentoring scheme and how to take part, please email [email protected]