Content complete newsletter autumn 2013

The Newsletter for the NHS North West Mentoring Scheme

the

MENTOR

Autumn Edition 2013

www.nwmentoring.nhs.uk

Our Vision Our Mission Our Future

*NEW* VISION AND MISSION STATEMENTS give us your feedback via twitter!

2013 Mentoring Scheme Award Winners

INSIDE

Mentor Net : New Registration Form & Mentoring Agreement

Follow us on twitter

w rking together DO YOU WANT TO GET INVOLVED IN Motivation to be a SHAPING THE FUTURE OF MENTORING Champion IN YOUR ORGANISATION? Resources Materials BECOME A MENTOR CHAMPION!

KEY FEATURES OF THE ROLE:

A Champion is an experienced mentor on the North Developmental West Mentoring Scheme who volunteers their services Mentoring to promote, train and support mentoring within their organisation.

Model

Reviewing the Mentor Champion Role

We aim to grow the Champion network in order to secure a sustainable approach to mentoring within the NHS in the North West.

Benefits

Experience of Communication Work with the scheme and your theaScheme organisation from to promote mentoring Be the first point of contact for mentoring within your organisation.

culture.

Deliver Mentor/Mentee development days.

Support

We are currently reviewing the Champion role and will be looking to recruit new champions from every NHS organisation in the North West.

Support the mentors you train by providing information, contacts and guidance.

If you are interested in becoming a Mentor Champion, please send your expression of interest to us by email to nwmentoring@gmw.nhs.uk.

Become part of a champions’ network to provide feedback on your experiences and shape the future of mentoring.

Organisation mentoring culture

Thoughts on materials and content HOW WE SUPPORT CHAMPION DEVELOPMENT

• Provide training, materials and resources to deliver development days • Delivering Support from the team alongQuality with individual feedback • Regular Champion meetings Assurance • training Access to scheme led training and events • Certificate for your portfolio • Annual letters recognising your contribution to your organisation

2 The Mentor September 2013

www.nwmentoring.nhs.uk

DID YO U you can KNOW...? downloa d an electron newslett ic copy of the er direc tly from our w www.nw ebsite! mentorin g.nhs.u k

CONTENTS The Mentor • Autumn 2013 page

Networking before the annual conference

03

You Said...We Did

04

Welcome from Amy Brockbank

05 06

*NEW* Vision & Mission Statements Sharing Lessons From The Annual Conference 2013 2013 Mentoring Award Winners

07 08

Delegates participating in a workshop.

09 09 10 11

Toxic Mentoring and How to Avoid it.

Member’s Area : What’s New? *NEW* Mentoring Agreements The North West Annual Conference and Recognition Awards Calendar of Events October 2013 to February 2014

Thank you to the Mentor Champions were on hand to help at the annual conference!

Your feedback is important - keep it coming! Email us at nwmentoring@gmw.nhs.uk You said: “Communication was by email only and nothing else, I would have welcomed more 1:1 approach from management team.”

You said: “I found the matching service difficult to use as the mentor descriptions are often irrelevant, and do not give an idea as to what this person’s mentoring style or areas of interest might be.”

You said: “The mentors I picked on the system never contacted me.”

ews” tab, Visit the “n etters select newsl nu for e in the left m past nd all current a . tt e newsl ers g! in d a Happy re

YOU WE SAID DID

We did: Changed Mentor Net to prompt you to request a telephone call with one of the team if you need help during registration; Included all our contact information in the ‘Resources Tab’ of Mentor Net; and updated the website with more information on who to contact for specific issues in the ‘contact us’ page.

We did: Embarked on a huge data cleanse of Mentor Net, reducing redundant profiles by 17%; During the Mentor Development Days we focus on the importance of a completing a comprehensive profile; and at Matching events, Mentors participate in a dedicated profile strengthening workshop.

Manual matching is also available – just ask for details!

We did: The mentoring agreement now states that all requests are to be responded to within 2 weeks. Through the data cleanse (see page 9) we are actively working to reduce the number of inactive profiles. Also, remember to use use all 3 of your invitations and cancel requests that have been outstanding for over 2 weeks.

mentoring for innovation, integration, leadership

The Mentor September 2013

3

WELCOME

by Amy Brockbank

Welcome to the Autumn 2013 edition of The Mentor! It is my pleasure to write this introduction as the new Lead for the North West Mentoring Scheme. Within this issue I hope to share ideas and spark conversation about how we, as a mentoring community, can move mentoring forward and make it a ‘go to’ source of development within our NHS organisations.

As the NHS is transforming. We have to transform too.

Whether you are working in a new organisation or are learning from the lessons outlined in the Franics report. The level of organisational development in the NHS has never been so large. It is being referred to as ‘the world’s biggest OD challenge’. Where fundamental changes in attitudes, behaviour and culture are required to achieve the challenges we face. As the NHS is transforming, we have to transform alongside it. We have a real opportunity to engage, develop and embed mentoring into the formation of new organisational cultures. As a starting point, on page 6 we share learning from the scheme’s annual conference which explored how mentoring can create positive attitudes and cultures in the NHS.

“

It’s your scheme!

What would you like to say?

What is our mentoring destination?

”

This is the fundamental question we would like you to consider in this issue. To kick start the discussion we have created a starter Mission and Vision statement for the scheme (page 5).

It’s a lot easier to work together and move forward if we all know where we are going.

The mission is a purpose statement, based in the here and now. It is useful in communicating why we exist, what we do and for whom. The vision statement should be aspirational, creating an image of a specific goal. It is useful in communicating where we are going (our destination) as well as being a source of inspiration.

In order for each of us to contribute to the positive development of mentoring cultures in our organisations we all need to understand, be able to communicate and have the opportunity to shape the description of ‘where we are going’.

We would like your input to ensure the final statements are real and meaningful. This is your opportunity to inject a wow factor into how we communicate about the scheme. Share your ideas by emailing nwmentoring@gmw.nhs.uk or via twitter using #mymentorvision. We will also be capturing your ideas at the next Network Learning Event on 17th October 2013.

4 The Mentor September 2013

www.nwmentoring.nhs.uk

Our Vision is a future where developmental mentoring is embedded into all healthcare organisations as a fundamental pathway for developing innovation, integration and leadership in order to facilitate the delivery of the best possible care for patients and their families.

Our Mission is to provide a multiprofessional developmental mentoring service which supports all NHS colleagues in the North West to lead the delivery of outstanding care for patients.

From a scheme perspective we have thought about where we want to be and are taking action behind the scenes to make things easier for our members. We recognise the need to keep things simple and focus on what is really important. In this month’s issue we are focusing on raising awareness, engagement, and sustainability.

Awareness Imagine a landscape where everyone knows mentoring is available and how mentoring can help.

We are tailoring approaches to support organisations as well as different professional networks. As outlined on page 2, we are looking to recruit a Mentor Champion in each organisation so there is a local point of contact. Please let us know if you are interested!

Sustainability Organic and measurable mentoring growth within organisations and professions

Engagement

We don’t just want people to know about the benefits of mentoring, we Increasing numbers would like people to benefit from of active mentoring mentoring. Engagement for us relationships in every is a growth in active numbers of NHS organisation in mentors, mentees and importantly relationships. We are actively the North West reducing the numbers of inactive mentors on our system so when you are requesting a mentor you can be confident they are fully engaged. To find out more about this please see page 9.

Learning from what our members have said to us we are trying new ways to engage with you. We have outlined some on page 3 but we have decided to start a twitter take over every Monday.

Tweet us with #MentoringMondays to start your week with a mentoring mind-set. Ask us questions, share learning, keep the conversation going.

In order for mentoring to flourish we see the need for organic growth within organisations and professions.

What do we mean? Mentoring that fits. Mentoring which is not an ‘addon’ but incorporated seamlessly into local initiatives and contributes to a positive organisational culture. In order to have a positive influence on culture, the experience of mentoring needs to be positive. On page 8 we learn from instances when mentoring has gone wrong and how to avoid ‘toxicity’ in mentoring.

Done right, mentoring is a way to enhance leadership capability at all levels of the organisation. It promotes proactivity in development, whether the development is focused on individual professional direction or a system wide service improvement we see the outcome as always being patient oriented. Fantastic work is already underway in organisations an on page 7 we celebrate the winners of the 2013 Mentoring Scheme Awards.

I hope you enjoy the issue and join in the conversation! mentoring for innovation, integration, leadership

The Mentor September 2013

5

SHARING LESSONS FROM THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2013 “MENTORING TO CREATE POSITIVE ATTITUDES AND CULTURES IN THE NHS”

The Annual Conference took place on the 6th June 2013 at the Mercure Norton Grange, Rochdale.

With over 68 delegates in attendance from across the region, we looked at creating positive attitudes and cultures in the NHS. Workshops focused on values at work, resilience, socratic questioning and transition stress management. Here are the key lessons from the day.

What delegates said: “Excellent! Really engaging presentation, thought provoking and applicable to mentoring as a tool to empower mentees.”

“Good to have time to work through the stages of transition and consider strategies to manage stress.”

“Really intresting concept. Really enjoyable presentation. I can take this away + use not only in mentoring in my work/personal life. Brilliant presenters.”

“As I am a mentee it was intresting to gain an insight into how a mentor approaches developing resilience in others” “Useful model for breaking down the concept of resileince into components that can be worked on at different levels in different arays.”

Completing the networking activity as delegates wait for the conference to start.

“Beyond Maslow – Values at Work” with Cathy Bridge

“Strategies to Manage Transition Stress” with Agnes Bamford

Graves, a psychologist, built on Maslow’s work to create a model of evolutionary psychology that encompases the individual and their environment. Grave’s model illustrates how systems of core values cluster together to create ‘value memes’. The model helps us to understand why different views exist either at an individual level or for an entire culture.

Key lessons for mentoring: Being aware of a mentee's set of values gives you a starting point for helping you to understand them better and communicate with them more meaningfully.

Why not use the lifeline activity as a starting point?

6 The Mentor September 2013

Each individual reacts to change in different ways and there are five types of change in ‘transition stress’, refered to as the 5 ‘R’s’: Routines, Reactions, Roles, Relationship and Reflections.

Key lessons for mentoring: Tips to manage stress: • Gather information to make sense of your environment • Recognise your own “cultural baggage” • Be prepared to step outside of your comfort zone • Find a mentor or friend to explore thoughts and feelings • Take care of yourself and stay healthy • Ask for help if you need it • Have a sense of adventure!

www.nwmentoring.nhs.uk

“Building Resilience” with Jacquelyn Bownes Key lessons: See below for four key building blocks of resilience and how to develop them: 1. Confidence: Focus on your strengths and achievements, gain feedback for awareness, use language of postive emotions, encourage celebration 2. Purposefulness: Goal setting, values elicitation, deeper level questioning, life wheel exercise 3. Social support: Relaxation techniques, skilful questioning about support, drama/winners triangle, communication pyramid 4. Adaptability: Learn to optimise, reframe thoughts, keep an ABCDE thinking log (see next diagram)

“The Art of Guided Discovery to Facilitate Change” with Yvonne Slater & John Storey The socratic method uses questions to help your mentee learn and draw new conclusions rather than being given advice or instructions.

Key lessons for mentoring: Using the principles of socratic questioning with your mentee can: • Help your mentee to shift perspective away from current focus (stuck point).

• Reveal new perspectives and help gather enough information to develop new awareness and expand current vision.

• Shift attention, to facilitate access to information which is relevant but is out fo the person’s current focus.

• Helps to maintain your mentee’s autonomy and independence.

Thank you to all the delegates, mentor champions and to all our presenters who helped to make this day such a success! If you would like to have copies of the slides from the day, please visit the resources section of Mentor Net to download them.

Got something else to say? Email us at nwmentoring@gmw.nhs.uk or call us on 0161 772 3608.

2013 AWARD WINNERS Model Mentee Award 2013

Jacky Dexter Service Manager, Liverpool Women’s Hospital Foundation Trust

If I had to describe Jacky in only 3 words I would select the brave, tenacious and focussed.

A change in career direction is one thing

but at a time of national and local organisational turmoil it required all of these qualities and more – and she delivered!

Mentor Exemplar Award 2013

Muhuntha (“Mo”) Gnanalingham Consultant in Paediatric Intensive Care, Central Manchester UH NHS Foundation Trust

My truly exceptional Mentor is a valuable discovery. Someone who listens deeply, never judges unfairly, and strives to change his perspective in order to understand mine.

Someone who gives their time and experience freely to encourage, guide and support, and to successfully facilitate both my professional development and personal growth.

Services to Mentoring Award 2013

Sue Ashman Medical Training Co-ordinator, Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust

Sue has been instrumental to the success of the mentor matching programme, working with the Scheme to plan and jointly

facilitate the sessions.

The events have seen a number of new relationships formed for members on the scheme.

mentoring for innovation, integration, leadership

The Mentor September 2013

7

‘TOXIC MENTORING’ WHAT IS IT? …AND HOW CAN WE AVOID IT?

Research into the effectiveness of mentoring in the NHS has concluded that both staff retention and effectiveness improves in the presence of mentoring. However, a small percentage of staff report that they do not find mentoring helpful. To ensure we have a mentoring scheme where both mentors and mentees have a positive experience it is important to learn from incidences when mentoring can go wrong.

From 2009 to 2011, Rhianon Washington undertook a PhD alongside her role as the trainer for the North West Mentoring Scheme. Due to the valuable contribution of scheme members, Rhianon researched incidences of when mentoring went wrong, referred to as ‘toxic mentoring’. A summary of key lessons from Rhianon’s research is included below.

If you wish to protect your mentoring relationship here are a couple of pointers to avoiding common toxic triggers:

• Use skills associated with developmental mentoring.

The onus is on the mentor to listen, rather than offering instant answers or advice. Mentees are encouraged to explore and create solutions. This sidesteps the need for specialised knowledge in the mentee’s field or profession and creates a more equitable relationship.

• The Scheme offers the opportunity to access a mentor

outside of not only the organisation, but the profession as well. This reinforces a strong trust environment as no pre-conceived ideas exist and the relationship is less likely to be influenced by in-house politics.

• Think about endings. So often the relationship either drifts apart or ends abruptly. Plan the end at the beginning. It is important to celebrate achievements and thank each other.

• The Scheme has a wonderful reputation due much to

its focus on mentee care. But as a mentor you need to care for yourself too. Perhaps mentoring champions could explore methods to allow mentors to reflect upon their experiences.

• Always, always contract! Clear contracting ensures

that both mentor and mentee understand their responsibilities, commitment and boundaries. Spend at least one session on contracting. Periodically revisit your contract to ensure that you are both benefiting from the relationship.

Dr Rhianon Washington is Lead Tutor at University of Wales, Trinity Saint David in Carmarthen, South Wales. r.washington@tsd.ac.uk. The full article can be found in the International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching & Mentoring, Special Issue 7, pages 73 - 81.

Network Learning Event October 2013 Theme: Meeting the Mentoring Vision!

Date: 17th October 2013 Time: 12.30pm – 4.30pm Venue: De Vere Village Hotel, Fallows Way, Whiston, Merseyside, L35 1RZ 8 The Mentor September 2013

The next Scheme network learning event will take place on the 17th October and we have secured the inspirational Vicki Espin to be our guest speaker. Vicki has supported the Scheme at a networking event in the past and has been our most requested speaker, so we are delighted to welcome her back.

If you would like to join us there, please book now and reserve your place by completing a booking form.

Please note that all correspondence regarding the event will be sent to the email address you provide on your booking form.

Looking forward to seeing you there! www.nwmentoring.nhs.uk

MEMBER AREA

WHAT’S NEW THIS MONTH?

Mentor Net Behind the Scenes:

Look out for the following changes next time you log in:

In order to ensure our mentoring service stays in tip top shape we have been busy for the past few months with a jumbo data cleanse! You may also remember an email we sent out asking for members to update their Mentor Net account with new organisation names and contact information, which we are pleased to say has been really successful!

*

Save meetings to your calendar! Downloadable sessions can be imported to your Outlook calendar.

*

We can put your online profile on temporary hold when you need to take a break!

*

You will now be able to add past meetings in your relationship record.

We are currently looking at all profiles where members may not have logged in for over 2 years, and we will look at removing those following all responses around midOctober. If you do receive an email from us regarding any of the above, and you believe it 70% of mem is incorrect, please do get in l o gged in bers touch or log in to Mentor Net update and and update your information. d

thei s in Au r gust!

profile

*

‘Terms and Conditions’ have been replaced with a ‘Member Agreement’ and is now printable.

* Comin

AUT g OMA soon T !

IC Men REMIND EMAIL tor N E RS et w you ill you a gentle soon se 1.ha ven’ reminde nd t log r if 3 2. ha month ged in f or relat ven’t re s or spon ions hip r ded two equests to wee after ks.

Your New Mentoring A Mentor agrees to:

A Mentee agrees to:

• Commit to mentoring for a minimum of one active mentoring relationship per year (e.g. a minimum of 3 sessions of 1 hour per mentee) • Provide mentoring on a voluntary basis ensuring explicit organisational support is sought if mentoring is undertaken within work hours • Participate in a Mentor Development Day prior to becoming an active mentor (it is recommended a mentor relationship is started within six months of completing the training) • Take responsibility for maintaining an up-to-date mentor profile using the online database ‘MentorNet’ • Proactively check MentorNet and respond to mentee requests within 2 weeks • Record mentoring activity on MentorNet • Continue professional development as a mentor and support a growing network of mentoring professionals through attendance at a minimum of one ‘Network and Learning Event’ each year • Actively support and role model Mentor Scheme Standards • Provide input into scheme evaluations (i.e. provide feedback on experiences). Preferably at the end of each mentoring relationship.

• Contact the North West Mentoring Scheme team if you would like any advice, training, support or to put forward any suggestions for improvement.

• Commit to the development process demonstrating proactivity in personal and professional development • Take responsibility for maintaining an up-to-date mentor profile using the online database ‘MentorNet’ • Be proactive in requesting mentors online or attending ‘Matching events’ (contact the scheme if they have not received a response within 2 weeks of sending mentor requests) • Lead the arrangement of mentoring meetings • Record mentoring activity on MentorNet • Ensure explicit organisational support is sought if mentoring is undertaken within work hours • Provide input into scheme evaluations (i.e. provide feedback on experiences). Preferably at the end of each mentoring relationship.

• Contact the North West Mentoring Scheme team if you would like any advice, training, support or to put forward any suggestions for improvement.

As always, please share your thoughts, feedback and questions with us by email at nwmentoring@gmw.nhs.uk or by phone on 0161 772 3608.

MOBILE MENTOR NET?

We will be sending out a survey in early October to find out if our members would find a mobile mentor net useful - please look out for this in your emails and let us know your thoughts!

mentoring for innovation, integration, leadership

The Mentor September 2013

9

*

The North West Annual Conference and Recognition Awards Over the past number of years we have celebrated great leaders and great leadership with our North West annual leadership recognition awards; culminating in an award ceremony that gives organisations across the region the opportunity to share and celebrate with colleagues.

As you may be aware, we recently asked you as a member of the NHS in the North West to nominate someone who you believed fit the criteria to win a Regional Recognition Award. This year we have had the highest number of submissions ever, with a huge 114 of our colleagues nominated. We would like to thank all of you for your continued help and support in making the North West proud.

However, the event is yet to come!

Our Annual Conference and Recognition Awards will be held on Wednesday 20th November at The Monastery, Manchester. The event comprises an afternoon of learning from two high level innovative and highly topical speakers.

Introducing the speakers...

Professor Michael West Director Lancaster University Management School

As we move into the evening session we will be celebrating the achievements of the North West NHS Community at the NHS North West Leadership Recognition Awards 2013, hosted by Dean Royles, Chief Executive of NHS Employers and familiar face here in the North West.

There have been an unprecedented number of nominations this year across the nine categories, the finalists will be in attendance and their stories will be showcased at the ceremony. I’m sure they will welcome your support and praise and you will join us in ensuring

Dr Steve Peters Sports Psychiatrist Olympic Cycling Team, Author of ‘The Chimp Paradox’

Dean Royles Chief Executive NHS Employers

we commend the hard work and dedication displayed by all who were nominated.

We look forward to seeing you there to celebrate the continued great work we are doing in our region.

For more information and to book your place visit our Awards page at

www.nwacademy.nhs.uk/recognitionawards13

10 The Mentor September 2013

www.nwmentoring.nhs.uk

NEWS

EVENTS

OCT 2013 - FEB 2014

12

OCTOBER

Mentor Development Day Lantern Centre, Preston 9.30am – 5.00pm

2

Mentee Awareness Session Halton Hospital, Runcorn 1.30pm – 5.00pm

14

Mentor Matching Event Manchester Conference Centre 9.30am - 5.00pm

2

Champion Network Meeting Waterdale, GMW 5.30pm- 7.00pm

14

Mentor Development Day Best Western, Warrington 9.30am - 5.00pm

8

Mentor Development Day Whiston Hospital, Merseyside 9.30am – 5.00pm

9

21

Mentor Development Day Burnley General Hospital, Lancashire 9.30am – 5.00pm

10

NLP Practioner Day 1 Park Inn, Leigh 9.00am – 5.00pm

NLP Practioner 3 Park Inn, Leigh 9.00am – 5.00pm

22

NLP Practioner Day 4 Park Inn, Leigh 9.00am – 5.00pm

JANUARY 16

NLP Practioner Day 7 Park Inn, Leigh 9.00am – 5.00pm

17

NLP Practioner Day 8 Park Inn, Leigh 9.00am – 5.00pm

20

Mentor Development Day Whiston Hospital, Merseyside 9.30am – 5.00pm

24 Mentor Development Day Arrowe Park Hospital 9.00pm – 12.30pm

FEBRUARY

26

Mentee Awareness Session Peel Room, GMW 12.30pm – 5.00pm

6

17

DECEMBER

7

23

10 Mentor Development Day Whiston Hospital, Merseyside 9.30am – 5.00pm

11 NLP Practioner Day 2

Park Inn, Leigh 9.00am – 5.00pm Network Learning Event De Vere Village Hotel Liverpool, Whiston 12.30pm – 5.00pm Mentor Development Day Arrowe Park Hospital 1.30pm- 5.00pm

NOVEMBER 6

Champion Supervision Day 2 Norton Grange, Rochdale 9.30am – 5.00pm

NLP Practioner Day 9 Park Inn, Leigh 9.00am – 5.00pm NLP Practioner Day 10 Park Inn, Leigh 9.00am – 5.00pm

12

NLP Practioner Day 5 Park Inn, Leigh 9.00am – 5.00pm

13

NLP Practioner Day 6 Park Inn, Leigh 9.00am – 5.00pm

All our events are open to NHS employees in the North West with a short regisration required. If you are not a member already please visit www.nwmentoring.nhs.uk to register and choose the event you wish to attend. mentoring for innovation, integration, leadership

CONTACT US IF YOU NEED US TO SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL MENTORING INITIATIVES! The Mentor September 2013

11

MENTORING FOR

C C G ‘S

JOIN THE GROWING NUMBER OF NHS PROFESSIONALS WHO ARE ACCESSING THE NORTH WEST MENTORING SCHEME TO:

PARTICIPATE IN CONVERSATIONS FOR FACILITATING CHANGE REFLECT ON CURRENT PRACTICES AND SHARE LEARNING EXPERIENCES GAIN TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE IN MENTORING AS PART OF AN ESTABLISHED COMMUNITY OF NHS MENTORS Let us know what your development needs are and we can design bespoke sessions to support you. Call us on 0161 772 3608.

There are no fees associated with being a member on the scheme or attending our events.

Join us today by visiting www.nwmentoring.nhs.uk and follow the mentor link if you would like to train as a mentor or the mentee link if you would like a mentor for yourself.

#MentoringMondays Start your week with a mentoring mind-set!

@nwmentoring

The North West Mentoring Scheme, Greater Manchester West Mental Health Foundation Trust, Harrop House ,Bury New Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 3BL, Telephone: 0161 772 3608, Email: nwmentoring@gmw.nhs.uk, Web: www.nwmentoring.nhs.uk, Twitter: @nwmentoring