Create induction materials
How will you induct participants onto your programme?
You should consider putting an induction programme in place for your participants: both mentees and mentors. This is in addition to any written guidance you produce.
Having a structured induction process should mean that:
- participants better understand how the programme works
- participants better understand the obligations and responsibilities they are taking on
- you are able to address any skills gaps amongst your participants before the programme starts
You could also use it as a chance to gather feedback on your programme whilst it is taking place.
Choose what kind of induction you want
There’s no one ‘right’ way to run an induction process. You should consider:
- The format of your session. Will your induction process be in-person or online? Will it be live or pre-recorded? If you decided to run live events rather than pre-recorded video, you are likely to need to run the sessions multiple times to accommodate everyone.
- How many times you run the session. Will you create one large induction session covering all topics, or break it up into smaller or more in-depth sessions?
- Who will be inducted. Will you run one session for everyone, or separate induction processes for your mentors and mentees? We’d recommend separate sessions because mentors will need to know different things about their participation in the programme than mentees.
What your induction could cover
Regardless of format, your induction process is likely to mirror the same topics as you included in your general guidance, guidance to mentors and guidance to mentees.
You might also want to consider including time for questions and feedback if you are running a live event.
Example
Induction for mentors – slide deck
This document contains an example of a presentation you could give to mentors joining your programme. You can freely re-use and adapt this document to suit your needs.
Example
Induction for mentees – slide deck
This document contains an example of a presentation you could give to mentees joining your programme. You can freely re-use and adapt this document to suit your needs.