Forum 2 was an intimate event as many members struggled with other commitments but the 20 attendees generated a dynamic and fruitful discussion. The presentation will be posted to the Website for those who haven’t viewed.
The goal of the new Mentoring and Transition program is to provide the stile for the students to overcome the barrier moving from Tertiary to their first Career role and to create the aspiration to contribute to the OBA and G&MB in the future, to support the next generation of students.
We were excited to have the attendance and contribution of the Palladins at the Forum. The Palladins have joined with the GM&B in the Junior Leadership Program, which has taken this program to a new level and the Participation of the GM&B and Palladins to develop the Mentoring and Transition Program will deliver a benchmark standard to the development of our Graduating cohorts.
Key Feedback from the Forum (referencing the presentation)
1. Is the M&T going ‘in the right direction’?
- The general value add of an MHS education are the extra opportunities which are available at the school. This reduces the impact (or perception) of the new M&T direction, focus from current students to alumni
- The concept of having mixed groups of recent MHS graduates, recent tertiary graduates/young professionals, and senior professionals in the one group is good in concept, but the interactions and expectations of participants needs to be refined and guidance provided to ensure that expectations are properly met
- Whilst the primary focus of the program should remain on mentoring, the potential for networking within and between mentoring groups underscores the transition aspect of the program
- The real value add of the program is the breadth of life experience that exists between mentoring groups and seniority levels within each group.
2. How should the M&T program interact with the Palladians?
- The M&T program should aim to replicate the essence of the JLP, in having a co-led program with joint ownership and shared committee responsibility
- The long term goal should be to have a circulation and synergy between JLP participants (both students and GLs) and the M&T program
- Group sizing should aim for 5 as a minimum and 10 as a maximum, which depends on the practicalities of interest in the program:
- Guidelines should be developed as to how the relationship between mentoring groups should work (In progress)
- The senior mentors can act as an anchor from year to year of the program, as well as an anchor as between groups (e.g. other group participants could potentially shift depending on relationship)
3. Funding Model for the M&T Program
- To avoid the issues associated with equity and the nascent nature of the program, corporate sponsorship should be explored as an option to fund the bulk of the program’s insight sessions
- The concept of skin in the game is still important so that participants perceive value (this may take the form of a nominal fee being paid by participants, or to have complimentary participation for current members of the GM&B/OBA)
- The approximate cost of a sit down dinner catered event at the Unicorn club is ~$2.000, therefore the budget for the first year of the program would be ~$6,0000. A sponsorship level of ~$3,000 would be ideal to meet this.
- It is agreed by M&T committee that a sit down dinner is not the ’selling point’ of the insight sessions. Budgeted funds may be better used for example, to offset travel costs for interstate speakers