If you have ever considered being a mentor to a colleague, or being a mentee yourself, Northern Health’s new ‘Mentoring for Success’ program is your chance to meet your match.

The new program launching today is open to all employees. Regardless of your role, you can apply to be a mentor, a mentee or both.

Natalie Sposaro, Manager Organisational Capability, explains this is far from a traditional mentoring program, as it offers three different types of mentoring relationships: Traditional, peer to peer and reverse.

“Unlike traditional mentoring programs, Northern Health’s program gives the opportunity for all employees to participate. For instance, an ANUM could mentor a Director or vice-versa. A peer to peer mentoring relationship can also be highly beneficial for both parties and another option individuals can apply for. Research suggests that employees who have a mentoring relationship tend to more successful in their roles,” she explained.

The colourful image representing the program showcases the diversity of thought that goes beyond equality and inclusion.

“It rather focuses on realising the full potential of people, by acknowledging and appreciating each person’s unique perspective and different way of thinking. Diversity of thought promotes innovation, harnesses different viewpoints and allows for more options,” said Penelope Grellet, Director Organisational Capability.

Penelope explained the team will undertake a detailed matching process of all applications and ensure the most relevant pairing is achieved for both the mentor and mentee depending on their preferences and objectives.

“Once a match has been found, the Organisational Capability team will email the mentor and mentee directly. We will endeavour to find a suitable match for everybody, however, if this cannot be accommodated, we will contact you directly to advise,” she explained.

Michelle Fenwick, Executive Director People and Culture, said the program is there for staff to see where their career could go and what pathways are possible to get themselves to the next level.

“We often don’t know what we don’t know. Sometimes, by talking to others, we find out what else is actually there. We don’t need to make every bad decision to learn from it. We can also learn through discussion and finding out other people’s stories,” she said.

Basil Ireland, Chief Financial Officer, said he could apply to be either a mentor or a mentee. “Within my team, there are people I can provide some guidance too. I would also enjoy getting a mentee that is not from the finance sector. It would be good for both of us,” he said.

Dr Megan Robb, Director of Emergency said our ED had mentorship programs she enjoyed being involved in since she was a registrar.

“It is really important for both career and personal development, and to improve the relationships between trainees and consultants. It’s great to see now a mentoring program across the whole organisation. I would apply for the program, as I always had mentors and mentees through my career,” she said.

Applications for the program are open from Monday, 16 September 2019 and all employees are welcome to apply as either a mentor or mentee. All applications will be reviewed by the Organisational Capability team within People and Culture. Applications close on Monday, 7 October 2019.

To find out more and apply, head to the Mentoring Program Intranet page.