Mentoring: empowering growth and collaboration

An important pillar of professional and personal development, mentoring is a growing component in today’s workplaces. According to MentorcliQ’s 2024 Mentoring Impact Report, a best-in-class global platform leveraging artificial intelligence, 98% of all US Fortune 500 companies – and 100% of the Top 50 in this list – have mentoring programmes.

Mentorship offers broad benefits for organisations, mentors and mentees. Participants have opportunities to develop skills, drive growth and share knowledge, all of which help them navigate careers and organisations, accelerate learning, and foster a more collaborative and inclusive work environment.

Lorraine Quoirez, Head of Marketing & Communications, BNP Paribas CIB, outlines the range of advantages of the Bank’s mentorship initiatives: “As both a mentor and mentee throughout my career, I could experience first-hand how mentorship helps us grow, expand our networks and foster collaboration. I highly recommend it to new joiners who wish to accelerate their understanding of the organisation and culture, as well as to more experienced professionals who are seeking growth in their career.”

Navigating careers with confidence and support

Learning one-on-one with an experienced professional brings different skills to those learnt in a traditional training environment, with peer-to-peer learning widely seen as an effective way to grow. Mentorship programmes offer mentees the opportunity to expand their skills more quickly, better understand the corporate culture, power-charge their growth, and help prepare for new challenges. Meanwhile, access to their mentor’s experience and network supports opportunities to transition into new positions and makes them more likely to volunteer as mentors themselves.

Amanda Liu, in the 2024 IT Graduate cohort at BNP Paribas CIB’s Global Markets business in the United States, outlines the concrete benefits she enjoyed and the advice she received: “I found the mentoring programme an especially valuable experience as a graduate. I was able to ask role-specific questions such as what certificates would be helpful to get, or experience-specific questions such as what qualities fresh graduates typically lack and how to work on them to succeed in the workplace.”

A full range of benefits on both sides of the relationship

Mentorship programmes help mentors develop their communication, interpersonal and leadership skills, and gain even greater visibility in their organisation. Mentors also report greater job satisfaction and enjoy stronger career growth as a result of sharing knowledge.

Mark Wootton, FI&C Client Line Co-Head Asia Pacific, BNP Paribas Australia, explains his experience and the benefits of giving back: “I have had the privilege to mentor several colleagues and it has been a valuable experience. Engaging with colleagues as they navigate their early career helps better understand the needs of new generations coming into the workplace and assists our management approach. Having meaningful conversations outside the usual manager-employee relationship provides a real insight into their perspectives and enables leaders to better respond to team needs and future challenges but also gives us new ideas that make these conversations mutually rewarding.”

Mentorship programmes, including those at BNP Paribas CIB, generally last around six months, but the professional relationships developed often last well beyond the duration of the programme, as mentor-mentee pairs often continue to support each other during their careers.

Benefits well beyond the individual

Employers like BNP Paribas CIB are increasingly rolling out mentorship programmes to support career growth, connect people and foster collaboration across businesses and geographies, particularly in a hybrid working environment.

As Charlotte Phillips, Managing Director, Global Head of Liquidity and Head of CMLS UK notes: “I firmly believe that mentoring and being mentored positively impact your career, and am proud to be both at BNP Paribas CIB. It is key at all ages and stages of your journey. One of my first priorities as a leader was to give each employee a mentor and encourage them all to become mentors, as you are often not aware of how much you know until you do. It is amazing the impact of an hour out of your month to speak to someone outside your team, viewing problems and opportunities from a different perspective. It is also valuable in building your network within the Bank. The result is a more collaborative, inclusive, and innovative team.”

For an organisation, mentorship programmes are also a business imperative: they can lead to higher engagement, greater job satisfaction and increased retention.

Anchoring mentoring contributes to corporate culture

At BNP Paribas CIB, mentorship is a natural way to share its corporate culture focused on collaboration, as well as transmit business practices and skills. Its global mentoring programme was launched formally three years ago with partner MentorcliQ’s AI-powered platform, responding to employee feedback, with many staff looking to join a mentorship programme. Available in multiple geographies and at different stages of the career journey, employees are encouraged to take part as either mentee or mentor or both, regardless of their role and seniority, whether new joiner or more seasoned professional.

According to Philipp Daltrop, part of the Global Banking Graduate Programme 2023 cohort: “I’ve learned so much from senior management through mentorship and it really helped me grow both personally and professionally. My mentor and I clicked from the start, and our honest conversations have been truly valuable. One of my key takeaways is the importance of clear communication and self-awareness, and the programme has given me some great tools to keep learning.”

Bringing together people across businesses and geographies promotes diversity of thought, which in turn helps drive innovation, support excellence and ensure the best possible outcomes for our clients and our business.