What Does Great HR Mentoring Look Like?

What Great HR Mentoring Looks Like (And Why Most Gets It Wrong)

Most people have had a mentor who didn't really mentor them. The sessions happened, the conversation was pleasant, and nobody was sure what the point was. Mentoring ranked number one in LinkedIn's Learning Report for L&D priorities — yet only 52% of those who say a mentor is important to their career actually have one.

In this episode, Claire and Sarah cover what makes mentoring genuinely valuable versus a well-intentioned waste of time, how it differs from coaching, why the mentee carries most of the responsibility, and how to find the right mentor in a small or standalone HR role.

• Mentoring and coaching are not interchangeable. Coaching unlocks what's already in you. Mentoring gives you access to someone who's walked the path — and can tell you what they'd do differently.
• The mentee drives the relationship. Turning up without clear questions means sessions drift into pleasant but useless conversation. Preparation is everything.
• Start with a specific goal. "I need to learn how to influence senior stakeholders in a new HRBP role" is a goal. "I want to develop" is not. The goal shapes who you need and whether it's working.
• Three conversations can be enough. Where are you now, where are you going, what next — that structure can be more valuable than a year of vague monthly check-ins.
• The right match matters more than the most senior match. Energy and communication style determine whether conversations flow. A mismatched pairing wastes both people's time.
• You don't need an HR mentor if you're in HR. The gap is often in emotional intelligence or stakeholder influence — areas where someone from a different background can add more value than a fellow HR professional.
• If you're in a small or standalone role, look outside the business. People outside your organisation can see your situation clearly, without the internal politics that can cloud things.

• [00:15] Why mentoring matters — the gap
• [01:14] Formal vs informal mentoring experiences
• [03:05] How to structure a mentoring programme
• [05:19] Mentoring vs coaching: the difference
• [10:10] Why mentoring sessions stop being valuable
• [13:43] Finding a mentor in a small business
• [17:03] Why matching beats seniority
• [19:20] LinkedIn, networking and mentoring schemes

Resources Mentioned

1. LinkedIn Learning Report — mentoring ranked number one L&D priority: linkedin.com/learning
2. Elevate Hub HR mentoring scheme: elevatehub.co.uk
3. CIPD mentoring: cipd.org
4. 70-20-10 development model — 70% on the job, 20% relationships, 10% formal learning

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