Richard, Elevate mentor

Richard, a Lead Business Analyst at the Bank of England, volunteered for the Elevate mentoring programme with a desire to support young people transitioning from school into their next steps.

With experience as both a team leader and mentor within the Bank's internal mentoring scheme, Richard was drawn to the programme by the opportunity to share his knowledge and personal experiences as a parent guiding his own children through similar life transitions.

"It was enjoyable. I looked forward to doing the sessions and enjoyed my relationship with my mentee. I think we worked well together. It made me think and challenged myself in terms of making the sessions interesting and relevant, so that was good. It was all a lot of positives."

Richard, Elevate Mentor

Outcomes

The programme enabled Richard to reflect on his own practices as a manager and mentor, whilst developing skills in active listening and encouragement that he could apply in his professional role.

The collaborative approach he adopted—completing exercises alongside his mentee rather than simply directing her—created an environment of mutual respect and engagement that yielded positive outcomes for both parties.

Richard witnessed significant engagement from his mentee, who demonstrated reliability, strong communication skills and active participation throughout their sessions together.

The culmination of their work together saw Richard conducting a thorough review of their progress against initial objectives, ensuring she had addressed all of the goals that his mentee had established at the beginning of the programme.

Lasting Legacy

"What I found most valuable was our mutual mentoring approach. By completing the exercises alongside my mentee rather than just directing her, it put healthy pressure on me to prepare thoroughly and think on my feet. This has genuinely developed my own listening skills and approach to encouraging others." The impact was mutually beneficial, “Richard helped me understand different options like degree apprenticeships and shared great resources that made it easier to explore what’s right for me," his mentee told us.

Overall, Richard’s experience has reinforced his belief in the importance of establishing clear objectives early in a mentoring relationship and regularly tracking progress against those goals. He remains excited to see what the future holds for his mentee.