We Use Study Mentors, Here’s Why You Should Care.

September 9, 2024
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The biggest challenge we hear when discussing online-only learning is ‘loneliness’ and ‘lack of interaction’, and for most online courses, that’s the case. But since the very beginning, HRC has pushed to make our CIPD Level 5 and Level 3 courses to be as positive, inclusive and friendly as possible, and a key part of that is our commitment to Study Mentors.

What is a Study Mentor for CIPD qualifications?

A lot of CIPD Level 3 and CIPD Level 5 courses will have someone you can go to when you have an issue with understanding a concept or a particular part of the syllabus. These are ‘hard’ academic questions and are an important part of the support network. But HRC understands that a lot of support learners need goes beyond the ‘hard’ parts of the course. ‘Soft’ support such as self-confidence, emotional support, juggling work and family life, and just someone to chat to about the little things have an enormous impact on the success of someone’s learning. Study Mentors support learners with both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ challenges. In fact, Study Mentors provide learners with a solid foundation to succeed.

What’s it like having a Study Mentor?

“The course material is great and help from my mentor at every step – Great communication for online learning. Just submitted my 1st assignment – really looking forward to the rest of the course. The team and support are amazing.”

Clare McDonnell – HRC Learner

As with most things in life, the right support at the right time can be inspirational and transformative. But as learning providers, HRC doesn’t decide what support our learners need, our learners do. So whether it’s balancing work, kid and studying, or a nuanced technical question on an assignment, our Study Mentors are there to empathise, support and advise on moving forward and achieving your goals.

Learners want to be nurtured, desire fulfilment and crave satisfaction. Study Mentoring bridge this gap by helping to close skills gaps, develop strategies, and improve engagement with the materials.

What’s good for the learner is good for the employee.

At HRC, we believe that good practice is good practice, so Study Mentors are based on actual workplace practices. Mentoring in the workplace involves similar partnerships focused on both hard and soft challenges. The idea of experienced employees guiding less experienced ones can be done both formally and informally. It works in the workplace, and now, thanks to the work done internally, we know it works for learners too. And the benefits speak for themselves; from boosting self-confidence and job satisfaction for mentees to improving communication and leadership skills for mentors. That means HRC courses get better too.

Returning to the workplace, organisations also benefit from increased employee engagement, satisfaction, loyalty, and retention, as well as diversity in leadership, knowledge sharing, and a strong company culture.

Mentoring is a key support structure for millennials, with 79% seeing it as crucial for career success.

Further Reading

Why Everyone Needs Mentoring in the Workplace
https://www.guider-ai.com/blog/why-everyone-needs-mentoring-in-the-workplace/

LinkedIn Learning Workplace Learning Report 2023
https://learning.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/learning/en-us/pdfs/workplace-learning-report/LinkedIn-Learning_Workplace-Learning-Report-2023-EN.pdf.

Mentoring Benefits
https://www.guider-ai.com/blog/mentoring-benefits/

Does Mentoring Still Matter for Fortune 500 Companies?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2022/05/19/does-mentoring-still-matter-for-fortune-500-companies/? sh=b9747ca5d8c7

6 Benefits of Mentoring in the 2023 Workplace
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2023/10/06/6-benefits-of-mentoring-in-the-2023-workplace/?sh=640ea40120d7

National Mentoring Day Facts and Statistics
https://nationalmentoringday.org/facts-and-statistics/

New Study: 76% of People Think Mentors are Important, but Only 37% Have One
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinecomaford/2019/07/03/new-study-76-of-people-think-mentors-are-important-but-only-37-have-one/#721e56994329

The Stack World Conference on Mentorship
https://www.stylist.co.uk/life/careers/sharmadean-reid-the-stack-world-conference-mentorship/715387

Why Mentoring: What the Stats Say
https://mccarthymentoring.com/why-mentoring-what-the-stats-say/

The State of Coaching and Mentoring in 2021
https://www.lhh.com/us/en/insights/the-state-of-coaching-and-mentoring-in-2021/