Careers Advice & Resources
Accelerate: F&B Leaders Experience With the Mentoring Programme
Odgers Berndtson have partnered with Grant Thornton and the Food and Drink Federation to facilitate a free mentoring programme to accelerate progress in gender parity at senior levels across the industry. Hear from some of our members about their experience.
Read part one of this insight from our recent event, where Roisin Donnelly shares her experiences of working with three different mentors who have given her valuable advice throughout her career and her life.
How did Accelerate work for Ruth and Claire?
After Roisin’s very well-received speech we watched a virtual conversation between one of our pairs from last year: Ruth Simpson and her mentor, Claire Bocking. The conversation was facilitated by Jenn Barnett, Head of ESG and Inclusion, Diversity and Equality at Grant Thornton.
Ruth is Group Customer Strategy and Planning Director for Princes Limited, while Claire is currently Managing Director of Immediate Impact Ltd.
The conversation showed why a really successful mentoring relationship is much more than a senior person telling a junior colleague what they know. The mentor needs to do as much listening, and learning, as the mentee.
Watch the video to find out what worked for Ruth and Claire.
Q&A: different perspectives on mentoring
The event was rounded up by a highly engaged Q&A session. Ruth stayed on the call to speak to us virtually and we were also joined by Sarah Baldwin, CEO at Purity Soft Drinks. The questions covered everything from the benefits of having an external or internal mentor and the differences between mentoring and coaching. Sarah explained that her mentoring allowed you to have someone devote real time to letting you bear your soul, something she didn’t see so much in coaching. She also pointed out that as well as achieving long-term goals, mentors can help you with really simple things…like not taking phone calls in your car!
Ruth explained that her relationship with Clare had started as mentoring and then evolved into coaching and bounced back and forth. She pointed out that if your mentor has the capabilities you should just do whatever works best at the time.
A final question asked about how companies can ensure that Boards are inclusive spaces for women. Roisin explained that we’re often told to treat others how we want to be treated, but what we actually should be doing is treating them how they want to be treated.
The event finished with Danielle Price, Head of Human Resources at the Food and Drink Federation, reminding us why fostering the success of female and non-binary leaders is about more than shaping individuals’ futures – it’s about ensuring nobody finally arrives in the boardroom to discover they’re the only person like them in it. She asked attendees to return to their businesses and spread the word.
Sign up for Accelerate by 28th July 2023
For more information and guidance on how Accelerate works for mentees and mentors, get in touch with the Accelerate Mentoring team.
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