Plan well for good mentoring results
How Scouts built a mentoring community with the Charity Mentoring Network
Why should your executive team get behind mentoring? That was one of the first questions Scouts asked before introducing mentoring to the organisation.
“Anyone who is familiar with the work of Simon Sinek will know that his whole premise is around starting with why. We knew that as we were rolling this out, we needed to start by understanding why mentoring is important? And crucially, why our executive team should get behind the idea?”, says Alex Clark, Head of Culture and Learning at Scouts.
Alex and his colleagues Josh Barnbrook and Monica Enzo shared how careful planning, strong leadership support and an ongoing communications campaign helped successfully launch and start to embed mentoring across the organisation.
The Scouts introduced the Charity Mentoring Network (CMN) in early 2026 as part of its commitment to learning and development for both staff and volunteers. Rather than viewing mentoring as another training offer, the organisation positioned it as a long-term development opportunity that supports its wider culture of learning and its “Skills for Life” ethos.
Launch approach
Before launching CMN, the team focused on building the case for mentoring. They presented both the business benefits and the emotional value of mentoring to the executive team, highlighting the organisation-wide demand for staff and volunteer career development, retention and the opportunity to create a stronger learning culture.
The team invested time in understanding – and being trained on – the platform, so that they could roll it out to the organisation. They then developed a communications plan and promotional materials before launching during National Mentoring Month, which helped generate greater visibility and momentum.
Rather than relying on a single announcement, Scouts promoted mentoring through multiple existing channels, including staff and volunteer newsletters, SharePoint, the staff intranet homepage, the learning management system and an all-colleague meeting. A dedicated web page brought together information, resources and direct links to the platform, making it as easy as possible for colleagues to get involved.
Personal stories also played an important role. Members of the learning and development team shared their own mentoring experiences, while a member of the executive team spoke about how mentoring had supported both their career and personal growth. This storytelling helped colleagues understand the impact mentoring could have beyond professional development.
Keeping the momentum going
Scouts recognised that launching the platform was only the beginning. Over the following months, the team continued promoting mentoring through regular communications and ways to engage with mentoring.
Power Hour sessions gave colleagues the chance to learn more about mentoring, ask questions and explore the platform. Weekly newsletters featured short mentoring videos, while a dedicated Teams channel encouraged discussion and shared additional resources. New starters were introduced to CMN during onboarding, with mentoring included in welcome communications and induction events. Follow-up emails also encouraged registered users to complete their profiles and continue searching for suitable mentoring matches.
Scouts also encouraged participants to be proactive when looking for a mentoring match. Rather than waiting for a single connection request to be accepted, colleagues were encouraged to contact several potential mentors or mentees whose profiles aligned with their goals. The team reinforced that finding the right mentoring relationship can take time and that increasing the number of initial conversations significantly improves the chances of finding a good match.
Early results
After six months, Scouts had 36 active users, representing around 18% of staff, alongside a small number of volunteers. Twenty-four participants registered as mentees, while 11 chose to be both mentors and mentees, with more matches expected as the community continues to grow.
The team also delivered Power Hour sessions attended by 13 colleagues and introduced more than 30 new starters to mentoring through their onboarding programme.
Next steps
Scouts plans to increase the number of active mentoring relationships, continue promoting mentoring to new starters and share success stories from mentors and mentees. The organisation also aims to keep mentoring visible throughout the year, reinforcing that it is now a permanent part of its learning and development offer rather than a one-off initiative.
Lessons learned
- Start with the need for mentoring rather than the platform itself – focus on the why
- ‘Plan well for good results,’ says Alex Clark
- Treat the launch as a communications campaign, not a software rollout
- Use leadership endorsement and personal storytelling to build engagement
- Promote mentoring consistently through multiple existing communication channels
- Encourage participants to take ownership of the matching process. Encourage mentors and mentees to contact several suitable matches rather than waiting for one response and reinforce that finding the right mentoring relationship often takes time.
- Set realistic expectations that finding the right mentoring match can take time and encourage participants to take ownership of the process
Are you interested in getting your organisation involved
with the Charity Mentoring Network?