Mentoring in the Digital Age

1. Mentoring in the Digital
Age: From Zero to Hero
Shefiu Olabanjo, FCCA, ACA

2. Agenda
 Introduction
 Facts About Mentoring
 Meaning of Mentoring
 Drawbac in Digital Mentoring
 Navigating the Challenges
 Tae Conclusion

3. Introduction
 Mentoring is one of the old informal
education system wIn today's digital
age so much has changed. Mentoring
has experienced a paradigm shift from
the wise old sage to a process that is
more in line with where organizations
are going.
 However, the advent of digitalization
has created a whole new set of
challenges for mentoring in addition
to the benefits it offers.

4. Facts About Mentoring
• Mentoring is one of the most effective tools in people development.
– A study of the top 200 Executives in 50 large US companies McKinsey 2000
• Mentoring is one of the top two most powerful leadership development
tools used in organisations.
– A study by the Institute of Management involving 1,500 UK managers.
• Seventy-one percent (71%) of Fortune 500 and private companies use mentoring in
their organization.
Business Finance Magazine, 2000
• Seventy-seven percent (77%) of U.S. companies surveyed in 2000 said mentoring
improved both retention and performance of employees.
Business Finance Magazine, 2000
• “ A good …….mentor can make a massive difference to individual and organisational
performance. But a bad one can be an ‘UNGUIDED MISSILE’ and do considerable
damage”
TrainingZone 12-Feb-04

5. Facts About Mentoring
• Over 90% reported that their experience as a mentor helped
them become a better leader or manager at work.
- Harvard Business Review, Marianna Tu and Michael Li, 2021
• 79% of millennials say “Mentoring is critical to their success”
- Anonymous
• 75% of private sector executives say “mentoring was critical to
their career development”
- Anonymous
• According to millions of surveys by gallup, more than 80% of
workers globally have been found to be disengaged, thus
creating workforce engagement challenges.

6. Meaning of Mentoring
 Mentoring
 Mentoring is a reciprocal and collaborative at-will
relationship that most often occurs between a senior and
junior employee for the purpose of the mentee’s growth,
learning, and career development.
 Mentoring is a positive developmental partnership, which is
driven primarily by the mentee. It offers a reflective space
where the mentee can take responsibility for and discuss
their development.
 The 3 core attributes for mentoring are: reciprocal relationships;
there is a two-way relationship between the mentor and mentee,
there is a developmental benefit for the mentee's career, and also
that it includes regular interaction between the mentor and
mentee (Haggard et. al, 2011).

7. Meaning of Mentoring…
Digital Mentoring
• The concept of digital-age mentoring refers to the mentoring
approaches that are most effective in today's digital world. It is
based on a deep understanding of technology, an ability to use
digital tools to achieve mentoring goals.
• E-mentoring can be described as “a computer mediated, mutually
beneficial relationship between a mentor and a protégé which
provides learning, advising, encouraging, promoting, and modeling
that is boundaryless, egalitarian, and qualitatively different than
face-to-face mentoring.
• One of the main things mentioned by mentors as a positive aspect
of mentoring in a digital environment is the possibilities to
collaborate with mentors and mentees in other parts of the world.

8. Mentoring Techniques or Models
 One-on-One Mentoring
 Group Mentoring
 Peer Mentoring
 Distance or E-Mentoring
 Reverse Mentoring
 Speed Mentoring

9. Benefits of Mentoring
 Effective learning and first-hand knowledge-sharing.
 Gaining practical insights, guidance, and advice from those in a
position of experience.
 Increased confidence (typically for the mentee).
 Improved interpersonal and communication skills for both the
mentor and mentee.
 Empowerment from the mentee to progress effectively and the
mentor to take on the new and additional responsibilities of
supporting the mentee.
 Wider understanding of different perspectives, be that from
different countries, organisations or departments in the same
organization.
•

10. Benefits of Digital Mentoring
 Flexibility of scheduling
 Overcoming geographic distance
 Facilitating access

11. Mentoring Cycles
 Introduction
 Facts About Mentoring
 Meaning of Mentoring
 Mentoring Cycles
 Navigating Mentoring Challenges in Digital Age
 Conclusion

12. Drawback of Digital Mentoring
The advent of digitalization has created a whole new set
of challenges for mentoring. These include:
• Inadequate access to technology and internet access
• Lack of Digital skills
• Logistics barriers; Differential in time zones and
languages
• Ethical and Cultural Awareness
• Difficulty of establishing rapport
• Perception of students’ needs
• Data privacy vulnerabilities.
• Creating relationships

13. The Way Forward
In order to ensure effective digital mentoring, mentors
are required to possess the following competencies:
• Inadequate access to technology and internet access
• Digital competency: Van Laar et. al, (2017) defines seven
digital skills that are core in the 21st century to not only
use technology but to understand the technology. These
skills are: technical, information management,
communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking
and problem solving.
• Ethical and Cultural Awareness
• Emotional Intelligence
• Staying on top of emerging technologies is often
necessary.

14. key Take Home
 Confidentiality, trust, understanding and positive
expectation are key to a successful mentoring.
 A good mentor can help the mentee become more
effective at work, learn new skills, develop greater
confidence, and make better decisions for their overall
career growth and personal development.