As the Initial Professional Development (IPD) and Mentoring Manager at the IET, it may seem illogical for me to write a blog about not seeking a mentor for Professional Registration – but in doing some research around students and mentoring I came across an idea which fits in with IPD that I wanted to share.

 

Research has shown that young professionals, particularly those in Generation Z (those born from the mid-1990s), are a generation of self-starters who are comfortable with technology.  Given their ambition and drive, there is potential in supporting a wider pool of development than traditional mentoring allows for.

 
Action Learning Sets

 

Action Learning Sets can be formed as a small group who meet regularly to discuss and understand issues and problems around a particular task or area.

 

Each member of the group attending is allowed time to talk, air any individual concerns and allowed time to explore these areas of development.  Other attendees listen actively, ask questions and allow the speaker to resolve their issues or identify development opportunities for themselves.

 

In doing this, each attendee has a chance to reflect on the issue and through being questioned find the solution to their own issues and learn from the shared experience of the group.

 

As well as sharing issues, it provides a social aspect and an extension of their professional network.  It also comes with an in built support system, allows for a level of accountability (as each member would be expected to report back to the group on their progress at the next meeting) and keeps active members of the group motivated as they progress.

 

In terms of professional development of engineers or technicians, this could be used to identify goals and break these down into more manageable development actions; particularly during a phase of Initial Professional Development (IPD) where the 14 or 17 competences in UK-SPEC (depending on the desired level of professional registration) may seem daunting when faced alone.

 

The benefit of action learning sets are immediate feedback on any issues in a relatively safe environment, sharing space with others who have experienced similar frustrations or setbacks and also in the validation provided by sharing successes.

 

Whilst I don’t necessarily think these will replace more traditional mentoring, used alongside regular meetings with a mentor or line manager it will provide a broader or wider level of feedback and could lead to faster or more consistent rates of development than traditional mentoring alone.

 

If you’re applying for professional registration and want support as you develop, then the IET offer an IPD service which you can register for by submitting an Intent to Register in Career Manager.  Within the Professional Development community, we also have a sharing thread where you can post your goals and share your successes.