Saskatchewan's business leaders are a resource that the province and its communities benefit from. By providing leaders with mentoring opportunities we not only revitalize that resource today, we ensure that it will have grown for tomorrow.
How do we know it works?
In Quebec, where there has been a business mentorship program for 6 years, results are impressive. More than twice as many mentored businesses survived the 5 year mark and an average of 0.6 jobs were created each year, compared to an average of 0.16 jobs created by small enterprises without access to mentorship.
How is it different from other tools of economic development and strategies for succession planning?
Cost effectiveness and longevity make this strategy a winner. The retirement of the baby-boomers is problematic. However, best practice mentorship culture is a self-sustaining means of community development that has succession planning built in. And, mentorship costs less than training initiatives or out-of-community recruitment drives would.
Who else is doing this?
Municipalities across Canada are starting their own business mentorship programs. Only Saskatchewan and Québec have established province-wide business mentorship networks, but the other provinces are not far behind. A National initiative to provide a link between provinces is already underway.
How will a partnership with BMI help enhance the profile of our organization within the community?
Partnering with BMI brings more than brand recognition. BMI provides the tools you need to quantify your achievements and to explain the program's results to stakeholders.
How might a mentorship program deployed in partnership with BMI differ from one that you run on your own?
BMI is dedicated to the study of success in business mentoring. BMI works to ensure that programs are organized and maintained according to best-practice principles. Independent community development organizations may not have the expertise, the funds, or the time to run a best-practice mentoring program, BMI does. Partnership can help you minimize program costs.