Member Insights: Why join the ICRS Mentoring programme as a mentee?

Paige Hunt is  an Environmental Sustainability Executive – Responsible Sourcing at Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd. 

Paige's journey as a mentee in the ICRS mentoring programme has been an incredible experience filled with growth and development. In this article, she shares her insights and experiences with those who are considering participating in the ICRS mentoring programme, inspiring them to take the leap and pursue their own personal and professional goals. Read on to discover the transformative power of mentorship and how it can help you achieve your potential.

What motivated you to apply to this program?

I had a mentor for 6 months through a previous job role and found it absolutely pivotal for taking accountability for my learning and development. I was lucky enough that my employer was an ICRS corporate member so when I first joined in my role it was recommended by a colleague who is currently an ICRS chair for one of the regional hubs. Being new to my role, I was keen to have a mentor that was within the CSR sector but in another company so that I felt safe and not judged for sharing challenges that I was currently facing at work.

What are the benefits and challenges of being a mentee?

Being a mentee has allowed me to really think about those tricky questions and set clear goals for them. For example, what did I want the next 3 years of my career (and life outside of work) to look like? My mentee helped me break this down into tangible steps that I could do to shift me closer to where I wanted to get to, which in my case was preparing for a promotion. The challenges would be remaining consistent with it. I often finished a catch up with my mentor feeling very motivated to complete actions we had agreed but by the following week would get swamped by my day to day workload. I think carving out the time (as little as 10 minutes a day 3x a week) to think about how your actions that week are laddering up to your overarching goals and reflecting on the progress is really important.

How has your mentor helped you achieve your goals?

My mentor has shared with me many techniques to step back and get perspective when becoming stuck in a complex project. Also how to be more ‘visible’ internally so that colleagues and senior leaders can see when I hit a key milestone or achieve a particular objective. She also helped me to apply for a communications and influencing course which was a key development area for my role. I have since completed this and am embedding my learnings into my day to day.

What are some of the key lessons or insights you have learned from being a mentee?

That we all face similar challenges in CSR no matter the industry you’re in or the level of seniority. This space requires resilience, clear and evidenced communication and careful stakeholder management. The mentoring program helped me to feel like I wasn’t the only one facing these challenges as my mentor would often share past experiences – this was reassuring and also motivating that I could push through the blockers. The other key lesson was learning to flex my feedback muscle by asking for feedback in the moment or by follow up afterwards with an email to ask people’s reflections.

What have you enjoyed about the program?

Building a relationship with my mentor over 12-months. Having an open dialogue over a longer period of time allowed us to really get to know each other – uncovering better insights and tips as we got to know each other’s personalities and also personal life.

What advice would you give someone who is looking to apply for the ICRS mentoring programme?

Definitely to take the plunge and apply! It’s a big commitment but totally worth it to really propel your learning and development. Cross-industry collaboration is so needed and there are amazing people out there who are willing to share their know-how.