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Stephanie Bennett FSLCC, Local Council Consultancy Associate and Clerk to Fawley Parish Council in Hampshire, highlights the value of mentorship for clerks. A mentor offers guidance, helping clerks manage workloads, grow professionally, and build confidence. Mentoring also supports staff retention and fosters better relationships with councillors and the community.
Imagine one of those days in the life of the clerk; you have a job list that runs off the to do today pad, through a trail of post its, and on to a whiteboard. There is also a legacy pile somewhere of the ‘must get round to that’. Then a developer puts in a stonker of a planning application, councillors are under siege, and the roof starts to leak. At the same time, you are trying to start your course but your personal development plan is somewhere in the pile. PanPan. Possible Assistance Needed.
In this situation it might pay dividends to spend some precious time considering a mentor.
What is mentoring for a clerk?
A mentor helps by providing support across the board. A mentor will:
- Listen and develop trust with a genuine caring approach
- Help you develop relationships with those in the workplace and community
- Be a role model and be honest about their own booboos in order to help you develop your own goals
So, if you set aside the time to make the case for mentoring what will it do for you?
- It will help you develop as a professional
You will grow and gain valuable skills. Your horizon will reach beyond your immediate surroundings, and you will learn from new connections. The signposting you are given will be tailored to what you need - You will gain satisfaction from knowing you know your stuff
Your mentor will help you validate and showcase your knowledge and skills. In the often lonely world of a clerk, professional feedback is rare and can help you grow in confidence - Realistic goals!
If we are honest with ourselves we don’t often feel we have accomplished much. A mentor can help clerks place realistic goals against the calls on their time. ‘Calm your farm’ might be said by others, but it doesn’t get down to the nitty gritty of what needs doing first and how long you need to do it. A clerk mentor will have that lived experience and likely have the same calls on their time. They will also have the knowledge of what can wait - Retention
Mentoring can play a large part in the retention of staff; both clerks and others. With the pace of work there is often very little time to spend with people; listening to their questions and concerns, building an all-important relationship with trust, and also helping them to develop their own workplans and goals. This level of mentoring can also include upward management of line managers and the development of ‘political antennae’ - Councillor and community satisfaction
In an ideal world the ‘back office functions’ run smoothly and we free-up time to look outwards. We can consult, develop and deliver community need. Our councillors are happy as we are doing the things they became councillors to achieve, and our community is happy as residents feel listened to.
That’s the utopia – behind it is the clerk that is enabling this to happen; a person most likely working at the reach of their time. Mentoring at this point can work hand-in-hand; picking up the small but important parts, the essentials to help you function, and importantly help you as the professional, validate your progress, keep you realistic in your expectations of yourself and others, and keep everyone on board with these project-based pieces of work.
Are you thinking PANPAN? Would you welcome a chat about what might help you? We are running mentoring assistance right now and would welcome a chat.
Contact us at [email protected] for more information.
