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e-Mentoring for Self-employed Professionals

e-Mentoring for Self-employed Professionals. Kim Rickard and Erin Wood APESMA Mentoring Summit November 2002. A way of developing leaders and encouraging talent and diversity A way of improving employee performance A tool in attracting and retaining staff

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e-Mentoring for Self-employed Professionals

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  1. e-Mentoring for Self-employed Professionals Kim Rickard and Erin Wood APESMA Mentoring Summit November 2002

  2. A way of developing leaders and encouraging talent and diversity A way of improving employee performance A tool in attracting and retaining staff A way to retain knowledge given generational change Best when combined with continuing education and on the job training The Value of Mentoring for Employers

  3. We facilitate member involvement, contribution and gaining of value This provides a career development service that is in significant demand It aids member involvement and the building of our member community Part of a member retention strategy May provide to industry The Value of Mentoring for APESMA

  4. Business skills development A one on one professional development activity for people who are time poor Work-integrated learning Peer review with a professional colleague Networking The Value of Mentoring for the Self-employed

  5. Mentors Online is a national email-based mentoring program Developed with federal government assistance from the SBECP It is the Connect mentoring program Our Mentors Online Project

  6. Why e-Mentoring? • Professionals - degrees and technical skills but not necessarily business acumen • Time - little time for PD or time to develop business management skills • Professionals have a high rate of home Internet access

  7. Program structure • Matched according to skills gaps of Mentees and areas of expertise of Mentors • 20 partnerships • Structured program - fortnightly contact, exercises & mentoring tools

  8. Program experience • 92% of respondents indicated that they benefited from participating • 92% rated the value of the program as either valuable or very valuable • 92% would recommend the program to another professional • 82% described their e-Mentoring experience as positive

  9. Program outcomes • All respondents reviewed or updated their business plan • All had a greater awareness of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to their business operation • All said they benefited from the opportunity to bounce ideas off a neutral third party

  10. Program outcomes (cont …) • Most discussed ways to network more effectively • Most had more clearly defined business goals • Most reported a broader perspective on key business issues • Most said that participation led to a better growth outlook for their business.

  11. Difficulties • For the program, Mentor recruitment • For program participants, email contact needs to be supplemented by other forms of communication • The e-Mentoring relationship tends to fall to the bottom of the pile • Time it takes to establish online relationship

  12. Difficulties (continued …) • People not used to using email for sophisticated exchanges However, in spite of the disadvantages, 91 % said that the fact that the Mentoring program was email-based facilitated their participation.

  13. Key outcomes • Successful program that contributed to business skills development of participants • Have built the capacity to offer a tested program to members • Developed knowledge of the variables to be controlled • Gained knowledge of best practice • Potential to now apply resources and experience to other forms of mentoring

  14. Report Contents: Program structure Program outcomes Advantages and disadvantages Key findings Feedback www.apesma.asn.au/mentorsonline/pdfs/final_report.PDF

  15. Questions

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