What is Mentoring?
Mentoring is a mutually beneficial relationship that involves a more experienced person helping a less experienced person to achieve their goals.
Effective mentoring within the workplace:
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is a relationship that focuses on the needs of the person being mentored
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fosters caring and supportive relationships within the work place
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encourages the person being mentored to develop to their full potential
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may be a formal or informal arrangement between two members of that workplace.
How will mentoring help me support an employee with disability?
Despite being as talented as their peers, negative community stereotypes, poor self concepts or unfounded beliefs about their own abilities often mean that people with disability are overlooked in a competitive workplace.
Providing mentoring relationships within your business will support and encourage people with disability to maximise their personal and professional potential. It will help them to become more confident and more competitive for promotion within your organisation. The support offered through a mentoring arrangement regularly leads to increased commitment and loyalty to that business.
An ongoing effect of the mentoring process is wider workplace understanding of the barriers faced by people with disability and a greater awareness of the abilities of people with disability.
Case studies and success stories
Useful resources
See Related Links for the following useful web sites:
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The Mentoring Australia site provides excellent information about mentoring in general.
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The Willing and Able Mentoring Program site provides specific information about matching job seekers or tertiary students who have a disability with mentors in leading organisations in the job seeker's field of interest.
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The Australian Network on Disability also contains reference to mentoring and other strategies which promote excellence in the workplace performance of people with disability.