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

The Value of Mentoring for Employers 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 APESMA 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 the Self-employed 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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Difficulties For the program, Mentor recruitment For program participants, 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

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

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

Report Contents: Program structure Program outcomes Advantages and disadvantages Key findings Feedback

Questions