Promote Mentoring as part of:
Learning at Work Week
Learning at Work Week 2026 takes place between 18 and 24 May and this year focuses on the theme: ‘Many Ways to Learn’. It’s a timely reminder that learning at work does not only happen in formal training sessions or through online courses. It happens in conversations, relationships, reflection, experimentation and shared experiences.
Mentoring is a very powerful – and human – way to learn at work. It can help create a culture where learning becomes part of everyday work rather than something separate from it.
Learning cultures are built socially
Organisations often talk about wanting to create a learning culture, but culture is not built through policies and programmes alone. It is shaped through behaviours, habits and relationships. Mentoring enables this by combining several forms of learning at once:
- social learning
- reflective learning
- experiential learning
- peer learning
- knowledge sharing
- coaching and feedback
- learning through conversation
Mentoring provides support that is personalised, contextual and responsive to real challenges happening in the moment.
It also helps shift the perception of learning from something people attend to something they actively participate in.
Mentoring creates psychologically safe learning spaces. A strong learning culture depends on people feeling safe enough to ask questions, admit uncertainty and explore new ideas.
This is one of mentoring’s greatest strengths and was reflected in a recent Charity Mentoring Network case study. Mentor Nicola Kent from YMCA St Paul’s Group and mentee Andi Varga from WWF-UK described mentoring as “a constant safe space and support throughout the year,” while Nicola explained that the relationship helped reinforce her confidence and reduce imposter syndrome.
Mentoring supports many kinds of learning. One reason mentoring aligns so well with this year’s Learning at Work Week theme is because mentoring itself can take many forms.
As well as one-to-one mentoring relationships, organisations are increasingly exploring:
- peer mentoring
- reverse mentoring
- group mentoring
- co-mentoring
- micro-mentoring
- mentoring circles
This variety of approaches makes mentoring more accessible and more scalable across an organisation.
It also makes it an approach that can support learning across career stages:
- helping new starters understand workplace culture
- supporting first-time managers
- developing future leaders
- creating inclusive leadership conversations
- helping experienced professionals reflect and grow.
Learning flows both ways. One of the misconceptions about mentoring is that it is a one-way transfer of knowledge from expert to learner.
Effective mentoring is often reciprocal.
Nicola Kent described her mentoring relationship with Andi Varga as evolving from a traditional mentor-mentee setup into something “much richer”, where “learning is flowing in both directions”.
This idea of mutual learning is increasingly important in modern workplaces.
In rapidly changing environments, nobody has all the answers. Mentoring allows:
- senior staff to learn from different perspectives
- leaders to understand lived experiences across the organisation
- employees to exchange ideas across departments and generations
- knowledge to move more freely across organisational boundaries
This is particularly visible in reverse mentoring, where junior employees mentor senior leaders on topics such as inclusion, technology, generational perspectives or employee experience.
Mentoring embeds learning into everyday work. Perhaps the biggest strength of mentoring is that it integrates learning into the flow of work.
Learning at Work Week encourages organisations to think beyond formal programmes and explore how learning can happen “as we work”.
Mentoring does exactly this by helping people learn through work.
A mentoring conversation might help someone:
- prepare for a difficult conversation
- reflect after a presentation
- navigate a leadership challenge
- build confidence before applying for promotion
- think through stakeholder relationships
- process organisational change
Some of the most meaningful learning happens not through content alone, but through conversations, relationships and shared growth. And that’s where mentoring comes into its own.
Is your charity already signed up to the Charity Mentoring Network?
Members of the Charity Mentoring Network can download our Learning At Work Week toolkit in the welcome pack.
If your organisation hasn’t yet joined the Charity Mentoring Network, follow the link below to find out how you can get involved.