9-Nov-12 3:00 PM EST

Mentorship Program Gets High Marks

“We both learned a lot from each other.”

That was one of the comments from participants in this year’s mentorship program sponsored by PRSA-Richmond.

A recently completed survey of participants showed that 84 percent said they were satisfied with the program. This met the program’s objective to raise the satisfaction rating from 67 percent in 2011 to at least 80 percent this year.

The survey also found that 84 percent rated their interactions with their mentor or protégé as substantive and 90 percent rated them as informative and helpful.

The chapter is completing its third year of matching senior PR professionals and Next Wave members, who generally have worked five or fewer years in the profession. This year there were 14 pairs of mentors and protégés, and 19 of the 28 participants (68 percent) responded to the survey.

“The survey participation rate was excellent, and the comments we received about the program were thoughtful and helpful,” said Tom Morris, a chapter board member who administers the mentorship program. “One of the suggestions is to conduct a group session next year to let protégés meet mentors with other capabilities and to exchange ideas for strengthening the mentor-protégé relationship.”

Here are additional findings:

More than a third of respondents (37 percent) said they met with their partner in person or by phone or email five or more times during the year, and another 47 percent said they interacted three or four times. The remaining 16 percent said they were in contact with each other only one or two times.
Most (58 percent) described the number of interactions as about right. The remaining 42 percent thought they did not meet often enough with their partner.
Despite the continued rise in the use of email and other electronic formats, every respondent said the preferred way to interact with their mentorship partner was in person.

Currently 4/5

Rating: 4.00 / 5.00 - Pretty good
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Source: Tom Morris, APR

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