At PHA, we believe growth thrives on collaboration, ambition, and accountability; three of our five company values. To support our employees’ journey to self-development, we recently launched the PHA Aspire Mentoring Programme, designed to foster professional skill development across departments, connect colleagues, and empower personal and career growth.
The pilot programme, which ran over the last six months, brought together employees from a variety of backgrounds, roles, and levels of experience to foster meaningful mentorships. Here’s a look at why we re-launched a programme, the benefits it has delivered, and what participants have shared about their experience.
To set up the programme, we worked with external consultants Ann-Marie Blake and Howard Krais, founders of employee engagement consultancy True, who informed our application and matchmaking process, led a comprehensive training session, and helped us create a structured workbook and guide for mentors and mentees alike.
Skills that mentees were looking to offer ranged from networking and negotiation, to confidence and conflict resolution, and included employees from 13 different departments. The training session that followed covered everything from the responsibilities of participants and building rapport, to techniques for questioning, sharing feedback, and having difficult conversations. We then introduced the pairs to a workbook to help them set SMART objectives, plan monthly meetings, track progress, and prepare next steps. Finally, we wrapped up the pilot with a coffee and cake-centred feedback session, followed by an anonymous survey, the results from which underscore the programme’s impact on the cohort
Survey respondents rated the match quality between their skills and their mentor/mentee 9/10, with 100% saying they’d recommend the programme to colleagues. Many described their experience as highly rewarding, scoring the programme 8/10 overall and its impact on their personal and professional growth as 7.5/10. Importantly, 75% plan to take part again, signaling the lasting value Aspire has offered. These numbers reflect more than just satisfaction; they highlight meaningful outcomes. As one participant put it:
“The Aspire mentoring programme was a great opportunity to develop both my skills and confidence. It was highly valuable to learn from somebody outside of my team who I wouldn’t interact with as frequently and benefit from their vast experience.”
For many, the experience wasn’t just professionally rewarding but also on a personal level. Strong relationships between mentors and mentees emerged, grounded in trust, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to growth.
“I’ve developed a great relationship with my mentor – we built a very easy rapport, and I feel like I came away from each meeting with tangible actions or goals that were achievable and relevant to my objectives.”
As we look ahead, we’re excited to continue evolving the programme as the pilot has shown us the potential of mentorship to create a more connected, skilled, and confident workforce. To those who took part in the pilot, thank you for making it a success. We’re thrilled to see how it continues to shape the future of PHA.