The brief: Develop an internal mentoring programme for staff and volunteers from underrepresented groups, to increase opportunities for BAME staff development within the organisation, enable them to grow in their roles, and build their confidence in order to progress their career within the organisation (thereby improving staff retention). This piece of work was complementary to another consultant simultaneously working on “refreshing the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion plan to embed this into CWA’s work going forward”.
What I did: After some preliminary desk research on mentoring models and guidelines, I took a co-design approch and spoke to a cross-section of staff (with support from the HR team to identify and invite participants from all the teams, equitably across the organisation). I ran 4 “focus group” discussions, 2 in person and 2 online, reaching 12 participants. I also offered one-to-one conversations if people were interested but couldn’t attend the group sessions, and spoke to 2 more members of staff.
I wrote up the notes from every session, carried out a thematic analysis, and wrote a report of findings and recommendations. I highlighted strengths and assets as well as barriers and challenges, identified areas where mentoring could add value, and outlined the requirements and recommendations for effective implementation.
What they said:While there was some further work to be done before the implementation of the proposed model, the staff I spoke with fed back that they appreciated being listened to.
Image credit: Cardiff Women’s Aid