Why HR mentoring matters: Turning HR knowledge into confident, capable practice
HR has become significantly more complex in recent years. For many organisations – particularly smaller businesses – HR responsibilities often sit with individuals who are not trained HR professionals, but who have HR as part of their role.
While training can provide essential knowledge, our experience shows that HR mentoring can be what truly builds confidence and capability. National Mentoring Month falls in January and highlights the importance of mentoring for personal and professional growth and development.
The growing complexity of HR
Managing people effectively today requires far more than an understanding of policies and procedures. HR responsibilities now span employment law, employee relations, wellbeing, performance management and organisational culture. Decisions are rarely clear-cut and often carry legal, financial and reputational risk.
The CIPD consistently highlights that effective people management relies on professional judgement and confidence, not just technical knowledge. In its CIPD Profession Map, the CIPD emphasises that impactful HR practice requires individuals to apply knowledge thoughtfully in real-world contexts, particularly when dealing with sensitive or complex situations.
Why HR training alone isn’t always enough
Formal HR training plays an important role in building understanding and awareness of best practice. However, training on its own does not always translate into confident decision-making. Many individuals know what the guidance says but feel uncertain about how to apply it in real life situations/their own organisations.
Learning through study is clearly valuable but capability is best built when formal learning is reinforced through ongoing support such as coaching or mentoring. Blended approaches lead to better knowledge retention, increased confidence and more consistent application of learning in the workplace. This is where HR mentoring adds real value.
What the research says about HR mentoring
HR mentoring is widely recognised as an effective way to support professional development, particularly in roles that involve complex judgement, insight and interpersonal decision-making.
According to the CIPD’s Coaching and Mentoring Factsheet, mentoring helps individuals to develop confidence, reflective thinking and practical problem-solving skills, all of which are in an HR context.
Mentoring improves decision-making, resilience and role effectiveness and impact, particularly in roles where individuals must navigate ambiguity and sensitive people issues.
Why HR mentoring is especially valuable
HR issues are rarely theoretical. They involve real people, real emotions and real consequences. HR mentoring provides a safe and supportive space to:
- Talk through live employee relations issues
- Sense-check decisions before taking action
- Understand risk while maintaining fairness and empathy
- Build confidence in handling difficult -engagements
In our experience, HR mentoring allows individuals to move beyond simply following process and instead develop the judgement needed to handle situations well.
A blended approach that builds real capability
For many smaller organisations, HR mentoring offers a practical and cost-effective way to build internal HR capability without the need for a full in-house HR function. When HR training is combined with one-to-one mentoring, individuals are far more likely to apply what they’ve learned confidently and consistently.
The CIPD’s learning and development reports show that ongoing development approaches, rather than one-off training events, are more sustainable and deliver greater long-term value for organisations.
Turning knowledge into confident HR practice
The difference between struggling with HR and handling it well often comes down to support. HR mentoring bridges the gap between knowing best practice and applying it effectively in real-world situations.
By combining structured learning with HR mentoring, organisations can build confidence, reduce risk and develop capable individuals who feel supported in managing their people responsibilities.
People Business offers a HR Development and Mentoring Programme designed to upskill individuals who are not HR professionals, but who have HR as part of their responsibilities. We also offer mentoring to experienced HR professionals who need a sounding board/sense check for how to approach a people related matter – we find this especially useful when the HR professional is working solo. To find out more visit our webpage and contact one of our consultants to find out how we can help your organisation.
