Blog for your life.
01 July 2009
One thing I love to do is compare our industry to other industries. The resources industry is unique in many ways, yet in the end whether your managing a communications company, a transport company or a mining company, many of the issues in managing people are the same.
To my knowledge at least, no resources company has set up a mentoring website. I recommend you check out SouthWest Airlines "Nuts about SouthWest" mentoring site.
SouthWest airlines have an intense 4 week program where senior pilots mentor junior pilots and follow up this process through posting regular blogs. I like this idea as it gives the structure you need to create a relationship between mentor and mentoree yet keeps it loose and informal from then on. Having it in a blog format allows other junior pilots to uncover the senior pilot's pearls of wisdom and means the 2 parties do not have to physically meet with each other. If such a mentoring system were to be transposed into any industry, it would have to be the resources industry, with the remote locations and long hours such a program would be ideal.
SouthWest Airlines are held up as one of the best managed businesses in the world as it has thrived in the ultra competitive airline industry whilst others have gone under. So if they have a program that works it should be reviewed by any serious, large scale business.