Mentoring is a great way to leverage the skills, attitudes and behaviors of people to continuously improve the performance of others. It is a mutual learning partnership in which people assist each other with professional and personal development through such things as coaching, role modeling, business counseling and sharing knowledge.

Smiths has used mentoring as a way of developing people formally and informally for many years. We have made it a formal part of the Horizons Development Programme to establish the benefit of this kind of relationship early in the participant's careers. The mentors play a significant part in the programme both by participating in many of the elements of the programme but also in helping to embed the learning back in the workplace.

Although the mentors are involved in the programme from day one at the launch workshop, the relationship doesn't start formally until approximately three months into the programme when the mentors and graduates attend a one day workshop together to establish the purpose and ground rules of their relationship.