The roundtable “On-the-Job Mentorship: Current Practices and Development Paths,” organized by the EdUP project, took place in Kyiv at the DTEK Academy. The event became an important platform for discussing the current state and prospects of mentorship in Ukraine and worldwide.
📌 Yana Kochugura, Workplace Learning Expert of the EdUP project, presented a vision of the current state of workplace mentorship. She provided an analysis of the regulatory framework for mentorship in Ukraine and emphasized the vital role of mentors in production, based on research findings. The expert also shared the project’s plans to create a universal mentorship program, highlighting that the development of mentorship is a strategic investment in future skilled workers.
Natalia Starodub, Dual Vocational Education Specialist, AEVO Trainer, and Deputy General Director of “Spheros-Electron” LLC, presented international mentorship experiences in production, discussing the critical role mentors play in the professional development of workers.
"Mentors in international companies assign only learning-related tasks to their mentees so that employees can focus on developing professional skills. Mentors also encourage mentees to keep records of their practice and regularly check them to ensure a quality educational process," said Natalia Starodub, "Spheros-Electron" LLC.
Participants of the roundtable discussed best mentorship practices in Ukraine. Serhii Sylchenko, Head of the Vocational Education Department at DTEK Academy, presented the outcomes of mentorship.
"The main goals of mentorship at DTEK are to improve the quality of staff training, ensure safe and uninterrupted operations, and foster a responsible attitude toward work and the company among workers. A mentor with us is a specially trained employee who imparts knowledge and skills necessary to master the profession to the apprentice. Their main roles are as a manager, communicator, and teacher," said Serhii Sylchenko, Academy DTEK.
Representatives of the construction industry also shared successful models of production mentorship. Olena Hryb from IBK Development emphasized the importance of mentorship in integrating new specialists into the construction industry.
"We have begun building a mentorship system in the construction industry that helps address current challenges. By familiarizing mentees with norms, safety standards, and adapting to working conditions, mentorship becomes the most effective tool for integrating young specialists into the professional environment," - said Olena Hryb, IBK Development.
Svitlana Kis, Deputy Director of the “Regional Center for Vocational Education of Innovative Technologies in Construction and Industry,” spoke about the impact of mentorship on training qualified workers in Kharkiv:
"Mentorship significantly influences the preparation of skilled workers, as it ensures the practical transfer of knowledge and skills. An example is the mentorship experience at the 'Zhytlobud-1' enterprise in construction professions. There, dual education is being implemented, and the results far exceed those of traditional forms of training. Practical training under the guidance of a mentor yields better results, as the quality of student preparation in the dual system is significantly higher than in groups that studied under the traditional system," noted Svitlana Kis, Kharkiv.
A representative of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine discussed the role of mentorship as a tool for professional adaptation in enterprises. Speaking about the importance of mentorship, Serhii Kovalenko, a state expert of the Ministry of Education and Science, noted that while the concept of mentorship is present in educational documents, it is absent in labor regulations. He also emphasized the importance of standardizing mentorship approaches.
"It is important to understand that businesses can independently develop their own approaches to training youth. However, we need to think about how to standardize these approaches to create a unified mentorship model that can be used to train the specialists our country needs," said Serhii Kovalenko, State Expert at the Directorate of Vocational Education, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.
The roundtable concluded with an active discussion, summing up, and formulating a resolution. After the official part, participants could continue their discussions during informal networking.
