Business Mentoring has seen some exciting developments this year from the launch of a new website, to the development of an online Mentor Hub and a range of new engaging events across Scotland. We sat down with Louise Ramsay from Scottish Chambers of Commerce to find out more.
SCC has been busy with lots of new additions to Business Mentoring – what are some of the changes?
Over the last year, the team at SCC and the Chamber Network have been making new additions to Business Mentoring. The inspiration behind it all came from our business customers and our pool of mentors with a key focus on improving the customer experience, helping businesses and mentors to connect with each other and using social and digital technologies to showcase the value of Mentoring. With that in mind, we launched a brand-new dedicated website for Business Mentoring, which is mobile-friendly and traffic from the website reached record numbers at the time of launch. Interestingly, the most popular pages on the website was the Sign-Up page which is a great sign that the business community is committed to growing their business. In addition to the online element of Business Mentoring, we have increased the number of “face-to-face” events as well and in the last six months, we have already hosted nine regional events across Scotland from Scottish Borders to Aberdeen, to Renfrewshire and Glasgow.
How have Mentors and Mentees reacted to the new website?
The response has been great! Mentors and Mentees have been using the website to keep up to date on the latest mentoring news, sign-up to events and have the opportunity to feature on the website by sharing their mentoring experience. Having a modern website has really helped to bring our customers together and access key information and connect with each other.
The events schedule looks to have kept the team busy. How did the events go?
It certainly did keep the team busy but for all the right reasons! No single event was the same and that’s the beauty of Business Mentoring – the experience can be tailored and personalised to suit the needs of the business and the Mentor. For example, in Aberdeen, we hosted a Dragon’s Den style event where potential businesses pitched to Mentors and in Glasgow we hosted a “Spirit of Scotland” whisky tasting session. Although each event may have had a different setting, the theme of collaboration and mentoring was the key pillar for each event.
Is the rise of social media inspiring new developments like the online Mentor Hub?
Definitely! Social media and using mobile technology has very much inspired the online Mentor Hub, and collaboration and engagement between Mentors is at the heart of the Hub.
Once launched, the Hub will enable Mentors to engage with each other on business news and topics of interest and receive the latest updates on Business Mentoring. As the programme has over 1,000 Business Mentors, the Hub will play an important and positive role in bringing the Network together.
