The benefits of a mentoring programme in the professional services industry - with Kat Jordan

There’s a reason why 98% of all US Fortune 500 companies have a mentoring programme. While it can dramatically reduce turnover and save businesses money, it gives people the personal engagements they want and need. We spoke to HG planner and sustainability advisor, Kat Jordan about her experience being both a mentor and mentee after she joined other professional consultants at the recent Women in Infrastructure event to talk about the topic.

I’ve been on both sides of the mentor/mentee relationship.

I currently mentor a second-year urban planning student who’s a scholarship recipient of Keystone Trust, where I’m an alumni recipient. The Trust suggested the pairing at the beginning of 2024, and I was more than happy to step up to the plate, after my experience of being mentored.

My first successful mentoring relationship (after a few which didn’t take off!), was in my final two years of university, where I was paired with Nick Grala, the then Manager of the Harrison Grierson Planning and Urban Design Team for Auckland.

When I was invited to speak as a panellist at the Women in Infrastructure event, “Pathways to Success through Mentoring,” I knew I had unique insights as someone who has experienced both sides of the mentoring relationship. As well as male-female and female-female mentoring pairing, I had a pairing where I was close in career level and a pairing where there was quite a gap. I was able to speak to how these differences impacted how successful the relationship felt.

Nick and I formed a panel with Sue Watson from Leadership for Good and talked to the audience about:

The traits people should look for in a mentor:

Look for someone who has an approach to their career and mana (presence and level of respect) that you admire and wish to emulate in yourself.

Someone you can have comfortable, but productive and professional conversations with.

These points should precede traits such as age, gender, ethnicity etc. However, selecting a mentor who shares traits with you such as gender and ethnicity, means that they may have useful insights as to how they navigated challenges in their career path that comes with these traits.

How to set up a good mentee/mentor relationship:

Set boundaries. Clarifying things like whether it’s appropriate to call in the weekend, seek advice from your mentor if your personal life is impacting work or university and the level of confidentiality (especially if you’re being mentored within your workplace) is important so both sides feel comfortable and safe.

Have intentions and goals. What do you want to get out of the relationship? You might have a five-year career plan, but a mentor relationship might only last six months – setting targets that you both can work towards will help you both get the most out of your time together.  Mentors are often busy people, so be prepped for meetings.

What if I didn’t pick my mentor/mentee?

Try to get to know them and see whether they hold traits that align with your goals or, in the reverse, if they are well-prepared and keen to take on what you have to offer – it might take a couple of conversations before this is clear.

Remember you’re not stuck with one another! Mentoring is a relationship that both people opt into and if it’s not working well, it can end. If this happens, intentionally bring the relationship to a close, be kind and give feedback. Our industry is small and its more than likely you’ll run into one another, so you want to finish on a good note.

How do I break the ice when we first meet?

I shared a personal favourite of mine – “Tell me what home looks like to you?” This question invites someone to go a bit deeper and can highlight something that is valuable to understand in the mentoring relationship. As a sense of home is something we all share, further conversations can easily spring from this question.

We launched the Harrison Grierson Mentoring@HG programme this year and have seen a great response rate. We know that having a mentor or mentee can give you an objective perspective on challenges and opportunities and can help you to stay focused on your goals, help you to learn new skills and improve your performance, as well as provide valuable feedback and constructive criticism.

For more information on Mentoring@HG, reach out to our Talent Acquisition Manager, Ben Greenhaf b.greenhaf@harrisongrierson.com