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Learn, Lead, Progress: Manchester Gold mentoring programme

23 Feb 2022

Find out more how to apply as a mentor or mentee

On Tuesday, 1 March our University’s staff mentoring programme Manchester Gold will open for applications. The closing date is Tuesday, 12 April.  

Manchester Gold aims to support staff development by linking them with the support of a more experienced colleague. The programme has been running for over 16 years, and in this time has facilitated over 900 mentoring matches.  

During 2020 and 2021 the programme ran virtually, and feedback showed that 91% of mentees felt they achieved their goals and objectives from the programme, and 95% said they developed a good working relationship with their mentor.  

This year, for the first time, we will be inviting our University Alumni to be mentors on the programme. This will enable colleagues to be matched with a mentor from outside of the University. In addition, this year we have worked with the EDI team to offer mentoring for colleagues of minority or protected groups, on their experiences working at our University. 

Become a mentor 

If you are interested in becoming a mentor and supporting a colleague with their career development, please complete the mentor application form (available from 1 March).

In 2021 we had 50% more applications from mentees than from mentors, so we want to encourage applications from mentors this year to enable us to match as many mentees as possible. In particular, we would like to encourage mentor applications from the following groups, as we have experienced a shortfall in applications in previous years:

  • Mentors in senior leadership roles (academic and PS)
  • Mentors in technical roles
  • Mentors in research roles
  • Mentors from Central PS areas

Opportunities to access a mentor 

Mentoring provides an invaluable opportunity to focus on your career development, supported by an experienced University colleague or alumni. If you or anyone in your team would like to apply to be matched with a mentor, please complete our application form (available from 1 March). 

If you have any queries or would like to discuss the programme further, please contact Learning and Organisational Development by emailing ManchesterGold@manchester.ac.uk.