Programs and workshops
Jen develops and facilitates Mentoring and Sponsorship, Leadership Development, and Gender Capacity Building programs and workshops. These programs constitute an important component of a broader organisational change approach.
Programs and Workshops
Jen’s programs are underpinned by the ‘bifocal approach’ – linking individual development to organizational change.
Developmental Mentoring & Sponsorship
Public Speaking, Workshops and Programs
More accessible than ever - zoom, hybrid and face to face engagements
For inspiration have a look at recent engagements for ways Jen can contribute.
Sponsorship: Creating Opportunities for Women in Higher Education
Co-written with Dr Jennifer Binns, the Sponsorship Guide provides a blueprint for gender inclusive sponsorship.
It is a practical guide that explores what sponsorship is, how it shapes careers, the sponsorship practices of leaders, bias in sponsorship, and what individuals, leaders and organisations can do to improve sponsorship.
It is relevant to everyone interested in their own career and the positive role they can play in the careers of others
Be inspired
This report details a whole of school approach at the University of Melbourne School of Ecosystems and Forest Sciences to building a productive and healthy ecosystem. This “is a guide that is both aspirational and practical….its findings and recommendations will be widely applicable”.
Program Boosters
Need an inspiring and motivational speaker at your program launch, a masterclass for your mentors, or a workshop for mentors and mentees that gets everyone on the same page? Want to introduce ideas about sponsorship to your whole workforce or unit? Or you’d like help designing a program that will really make a difference. I’d love to hear from you
Video clip
This video provides a quick introduction to sponsorship, what it is, why it’s important, how it works and what we can do to make it more equitable.
Sponsorship practices in higher education Recorded at Universities Australia Executive Women (UAEW) Forum, Murdoch University, 13 July 2017
Careers take place within webs of enabling relationships
Comprehensive mentoring programs: individual development plus organisational change
The ‘bifocal approach’ transforms mentoring programs from being a career boost for individuals to an organisational change strategy designed to benefit mentees, mentors and the organisation.
Mentoring places demands on 'time poor' senior and executive staff and the dividend to the organisation often remains unmeasured and uncertain. The 'bifocal approach' to mentoring places a premium on thinking beyond a focus on the mentee. It is this broader focus on ensuring benefits to the mentor and the organisation that’s sets Jen’s work apart from the majority of mentoring programs.
Bifocal mentoring places a premium on supporting mentors in their role. This approach emphasises facilitating and supporting the establishment of two-way developmental mentoring relationships. Senior mentors are brought together to 'zoom out' to the bigger picture systemic issues revealed through the collective stories of their mentees, and challenged to become advocates and change agents.
The opportunity for colleagues to learn from their mentees and work together with other mentors for change takes mentoring into new territory, with benefits for the mentee, mentor and organisation.
Jen has experience with one to one (dyad), group and peer mentoring, and has worked with diverse target groups, from women only mentoring programs to those for early career researchers, mentoring programs that are part of leadership programs through to more generic mixed gender programs, and for all levels of staff. Jen’s depth and breadth of experience is appreciated by her clients, and allows her to engage at all levels, from big picture design through to assisting with matching.
Strengthening mentoring and sponsorship
Jen increasingly works with management teams to strengthen mentoring and sponsorship practices, as an integral part of building more enabling, high performing cultures.
Jen's expert knowledge and innovative approach to mentoring and her groundbreaking research on sponsorship have been popular with organisations. She has delivered conference papers, keynotes, programs, workshops and masterclasses in Australia, New Zealand and Europe (UK, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic and The Netherlands).
Contact Jen to custom design and deliver programs for your organisation that deliver individual and organisational benefits.
Services
Testimonials
"I thought the workshop was very valuable.It gave me a chance to outline the strategy, to see what we already have in place and the work we have to do to develop our ecosystem of support"
Paul Donaldson, Head of School of Medical Sciences University of Auckland
"Her expertise in organisational change meant that she understood our strategic focus on distributive leadership and the importance of building an engaging culture. Her 'bifocal' approach to mentoring weaves perfectly into our other OD initiatives."
Melanie Moorcroft
University of Auckland
"In working with Jen, I appreciated her collaboration and flexibility in developing a program that meets our contextual needs."
Professor Marilys Guillemin
University of Melbourne
Contact Jen
jen.devries@me.com
+61 (0) 412 806 377