'No one forgets a good teacher' was the strapline of a prominent advertising campaign. The same could be said of mentoring.

Throughout my career, I have been blessed with the insight and experience of several mentors whose informal role changed over time. They all played an important part in helping me shape and develop my career. I have also taken great pleasure in mentoring others, helping them chart their own path to success – a hugely rewarding experience that allows you to learn a lot about yourself.

Mentoring is an opportunity to benefit from someone sharing their experiences, knowledge, skills and perspectives; to reflect on feedback and consider change; to have a private sounding board to work through decisions; and to improve confidence.

Equally, it offers benefits to any business and its people, helping with retention, assisting career progression, enhancing productivity and supporting personal and professional growth.

At Linklaters, we see mentoring as an important way to support ongoing performance and career progression and build a supportive culture all round. It exists in diverse forms, from self-managed relationships to formal mentoring schemes run by specific groups such as our LGB&T (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) and BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) networks, which sit alongside our leadership and development programmes. We have built strong relationships through initiatives like the 30% Club (which aims to get 30% of FTSE 100 board positions filled by women by the end of 2015) and the Mentoring Foundation's FTSE 100 Cross-Company Mentoring Programme.

We also recognise that young people and those from disadvantaged backgrounds benefit from being mentored by our people and so we support many young individuals through our engagement with the Amos Bursary and the Clapton Girls' Academy.

Mentoring has proven valuable in supporting our diversity commitments, particularly as we work to improve the representation of women in leadership positions, something we've identified as a key priority.

Through an improved gender balance not only can we attract, retain and develop the best people, we can also deliver more innovative solutions for our clients and ultimately create a stronger firm for the future. With this in mind, we have introduced an aspirational target of at least 30% females on our executive committee and international board by 2018. We are also aiming for at least 30% of all new partners to be women.

These targets can only be met through a comprehensive set of initiatives. In order for women to fully realise their potential, they need to understand the way through to partnership. I believe we have a responsibility to help them and that mentoring can be a great tool to unlock their potential.

As part our global diversity and inclusion plan, we run a women's leadership programme in conjunction with the Cranfield School of Management. Its purpose is to support the progression of our most talented female lawyers to partnership. The scheme started in 2012 and we are about to kick-off our fourth programme this year.

Mentoring and sponsorship are integral to the programme; each participant has a sponsor/mentor partner from a different practice group and office. Their mentor's role is to help the participant grow their network, better articulate and sell the value they bring and ultimately achieve their career goals at the firm. The programme is receiving phenomenally good feedback from all involved.

This feedback is heartening. It has reinforced to me the benefits of mentoring – both for the mentor and the mentee. It helps drive greater engagement, increases job satisfaction and helps people unlock the self-awareness that is key to career success.

Simon Davies is firmwide managing partner at Linklaters.