Guidance

Offer mentoring, sponsorship and other development programmes

Published 4 March 2026

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Purpose of this action

The aim of this action is to support under-represented groups in your organisation. You can do this by giving them ways to get advice and support. This can help employees develop and progress in their careers and employers to keep skilled employees.

Mentorship schemes

Mentorship schemes enable senior staff members to offer guidance to other employees. They can help people make informed decisions about their career, such as promotions and other opportunities.

Sponsorship schemes

Formal sponsorship schemes offer ways to advocate for an employee. Sponsors can provide references when employees apply for a promotion or a new project.

Sponsorship also helps employees access and work with senior management. This helps them to build networks and gain the trust of senior colleagues.

You may want to choose this action if there is a lack of gender representation in certain roles or a gender imbalance in rates of progression.

Benefits and evidence

Formal development programmes can help address inequality and under-representation.

Employee benefits

Employees being mentored or sponsored may be more likely to receive higher salaries and bonuses, and more frequent promotions. Women may need help to access mentoring or sponsoring, so offering these schemes may help them benefit.^{[footnote 1]}

Mentoring and sponsorship schemes may improve:^{[footnote 2]}

• job satisfaction and retention
• the way employees feel supported to grow by senior colleagues
• knowledge of internal career paths

Creating a mentorship programme can be as beneficial to mentors as it is to those being mentored.^{[footnote 3]} Mentors may develop their leadership skills. They may also widen their perspective by learning about the experiences of junior employees.

Choosing the right programme

You may want to consider which programme fits your needs based on your organisation’s gender pay gap and demographics. For example, employees and applicants from lower income backgrounds may benefit from specifically-tailored mentorships and development schemes.^{[footnote 4]}

Evidence suggests that while mentoring programmes are somewhat effective for women, they are not necessarily effective for women of all backgrounds.^{[footnote 5]} Women – especially those from ethnic minority backgrounds – may potentially be ‘over-mentored but under-sponsored’ compared with men.^{[footnote 6]}

Implementing this action

To create effective development programmes, you could consider the following steps:

Consult your employees

Ask your current employees for their input when you develop the programme. You can use surveys to find out:

• if they are interested in the scheme
• what their development goals are
• the specific barriers they face
• their preferred process, such as virtual or in-person meetings

Set matching criteria

Establish clear criteria for matching participants. Relationships are more successful when they are based on career goals and development needs rather than chance or existing friendships.

Mentoring and sponsorship may be more effective when:^{[footnote 7][footnote 8]}

• the sponsor has worked at the company for a long time
• the sponsor has a mid-level status between the employee and senior management
• the mentee or sponsor gains access to highly influential people

Support the programme

Get support from your senior leadership team by asking them to promote the programme. You should also provide formal training for mentors and sponsors before they start.

Participants need to understand the difference between mentoring (guidance and listening) and sponsorship (advocacy and opportunity). Sponsors should understand how best to use their influence, such as finding them high-profile projects.

Define the timeframe

Set a clear duration for each mentorship or sponsorship, such as 6 to 12 months. Having a clear timeframe and defined objectives helps prevent the relationship from becoming passive.

Tracking progress

You might also want to consider tracking the progress of this action by measuring:

• the breakdown of employees that participate in the scheme, and their career progression, by sex – including the combination of sex and other characteristics (such as ethnicity or disability status) to highlight specific trends for different groups of men and women
• participation in the scheme over time, including the forms mentoring and sponsorship takes, and the rate of – and reasons for – any drop-out 
• if participants stay at the company longer than those who did not take part, noting that other factors may play a part in employees’ decisions to leave
• if employees feel they have a clear career path and increased confidence
• feedback from all employees who took part in development programmes and those who chose not to 

Look for common positives and negatives to help you find potential improvements.

Compare these figures against employees of a similar grade who did not take part in the programme to get further evidence of a programme’s impact.

Data privacy

Some or all of the equality information you collect is likely to be ‘special category personal data’, meaning it has special legal protections. 

Ensure that you are complying with the UK’s data protection legislation when you collect and analyse employees’ data.

Get advice and approval from your organisation’s privacy or data protection expert before you start.

1. Dobbin F and Kalev A (2016). Why diversity programs fail. Harvard Business Review, 94(7/8), 52–60. ↩

2. Allen TD and others (2004). ‘Career benefits associated with mentoring for proteges: a meta-analysis’, Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(1), pp. 127–136. ↩

3. Ghosh R and Reio TG Jr (2013). Career benefits associated with mentoring for mentors: A meta-analysis. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 83(1), 106–116. ↩

4. Dobbin F and Kalev A (2016). Why diversity programs fail. Harvard Business Review, 94(7/8), 52–60. ↩

5. The Behavioural Insights Team (2025). How to improve gender equality in the workplace: actions for employers. ↩

6. Ibarra H, Carter NM and Silva C (2010). Why men still get more promotions than women. Harvard business review, 88(9), 80–126. ↩

7. Rua-Gomez C, Carnabuci G and Goossen MC (2023). Reaching for the stars: How gender influences the formation of high-status collaboration ties. Academy of Management Journal, 66(5), 1501-1528. ↩

8. The Behavioural Insights Team (2025). How to improve gender equality in the workplace: actions for employers. ↩