The National Respite Association is now launching our Mentoring Programme for the Community Services Sector.

We currently have 5 Mentors now trained in the art & skill of mentoring who can provide mentoring relationships to staff that will aid in the development of specific skills.  Our Mentors have completed our Pilot course Leadership & Mentoring in Community Services  which was designed around the Advance Diploma of Management. 

 

Mentoring can be  a better alternative for training & development,  providing a more productive & cost effective alternative to up-skilling  staff and enhancing their capabilities & competencies.

Formal Mentoring can provide a structure for the pairing of an expert & skilled worker with an individual who seeks to develop and acquire similar skills, knowledge, & experience.  Mentors can have a breadth & depth of experience, or a particular skill or expertise in an operational area,  that a mentee may not have at this stage of their career, work experience, or in their current position.  Being part of a formal  1-to-1 relationship  will take the Mentee through  a learning journey where Mentors will be able to consciously motivate, support, teach, and counsel the mentee.

A mentoring programme can be used for:

• Induction of new staff to a position
• Induction of new staff to the industry
• Support for workers in “acting up” positions
• Succession planning
• Support for potential leaders  from minority or under represented groups
• Support for isolated employees
• other

Agencies may support their staff  by engaging them in a mentoring programme.

A mentoring program / relationship may have a duration of at least 3 to 10 sessions.
A session may typically last for   30  to  90  minutes.
A session will cost       $90.00  for members of the National Respite Association                    and
$130.00  for non-members .

Mentoring sessions can take place face-to-face, or as envisaged, over the web platform hosted by the National Respite Association.  This means that Mentors & Mentees can be paired from anywhere across the country  and can meet in a face-to-face  environment over the web from their work or home computer.     

Each mentoring relationship will commence with the establishment of an upfront agreement between the Mentor  and  Mentee as to what it is the Mentee wants to achieve and gain from the mentoring programme, and how they will know if they have attained this.  This will provide any employer with a set of indicators as to the success of a mentoring programme that their employee has engaged in.

Applications for Mentees can be acquired by contacting Kevin at the National Respite Association  or downloading the application form from our website.

Once completing the form,  potential Mentees will be able to access the profiles of all available Mentors so they can select the Mentor they think will be most suitable to support their needs.

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Definition of Mentoring.

Formal Mentoring provides a structure for the pairing of an expert & skilled worker with an individual who seeks to develop and acquire similar skills, knowledge, & experience.  Mentors can have a breadth & depth of experience, or a particular skill or expertise in an operational area,  that a mentee may not have at this stage of their career, work experience, or in their current position. 

Mentoring can also include the provision of emotional and psychological support, direct assistance with professional development, and role modeling.  Mentors will  work with the mentee to identify their current professional strengths and areas for growth.

Mentors & Mentee form a 1-to-1 relationship and the Mentor can consciously motivate, support, teach, counsel, promote, and protect the mentee.  A Mentors role can be required to:

• Encourage the exploration of ideas
• Encourage risk taking in learning
• Listen when the mentee has a problem
• Provide appropriate and timely advice
• Provide appropriate skills training
• Assist the mentee to identify and solve problems
• Help the mentee to shift their mental context,                          and
• Confront negative intentions or behaviours

 

A Mentoring role differs from that of a Coaching role in that Coaches are not usually subject matter experts, and are usually specifically trained as psychological  and human behavior experts whose role it is to diagnose barriers to change, motivate, hold accountable, and monitor progress against the goals as determined by the client.