Our Services

Services include:

• Matching mentees to mentors
• Training of mentees and mentors
• On-going support for both mentees and mentors
• Mid-year workshop

Matching

The Rural Mentor Programme provides the opportunity for mentees to gain a sounding board from outside their current networks that has the skills and expertise in area of the mentee's business where they are looking to extend their knowledge.

The matching process involves a combination of matching mentee needs with mentor abilities (experience gap), personalities and geographical location.

During the application process the mentees are required to identify areas of their business that a mentor could help them with. This ranges from day-to-day management to financial management to goal setting and planning.

The mentor is required to provide similar information on their areas of skills, expertise and knowledge. It is a requirement of the programme that both Mentor and Mentee attend training to gain an understanding of expectations and roles, as well as personalities to be gauged.

Training

A training day is provided for both mentees and mentors  which is considered an important aspect of the Rural Mentor Programme. This day sets the scene for the partnership and provides tools and templates which may or may not be used by the mentor.

The training material has been developed specifically for the rural sector alongside the New Zealand Mentoring and Coaching Centre who provide mentor training for a number of industries throughout NZ and internationally.

These training days are also a good opportunity to network and get to know others involved in th programme.

On-going support

Throughout the 12 month period of the partnership there is on-going support provided by the Rural Mentor team. The 0800 number (0800 RURAL MENTOR) is available if participants have any queries or issues about how their partnership or how the programme is running. There is also an on-line forum where mentees can chat on-line with other mentees and mentors with other mentors. Other templates and training material is also available on-line to be downloaded.

The Rural Mentor team will also randomly call participants to see how things are going and if they have any questions or queries.

Mid-year Workshop

Approximately half way through the term of the partnership a mid-year workshop will be held in each of the 3 regions. This workshop gives participants the chance to network with others in the industry and will provide some further training and templates for both mentees and mentors.