E-mentoring as a HRD intervention: an exploratory action research study within an International Professional Mentoring Scheme

What is it about?

This paper presents empirical findings from an international e-mentoring scheme which has implications for both theory and practice. For HRD practitioners, the paper provides an overview of the key concepts of e-mentoring, highlighting the key areas for attention when introducing e-mentoring schemes. For HRD researchers, the paper offers empirical evidence of the application of media richness theory (MRT) as well as traditional models of mentoring to develop and evaluate e-mentoring relationships, particularly Global Mentoring Relationships (GMRs).

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Why is it important?

Although it has been established that mentoring works, there is a gap in the literature in terms of why, when and how it works, particularly within an e-mentoring scheme where the mentor-mentee relationships are defined by global separation. We address this gap by first examining how the mode of communication and its media richness affect global mentoring relationships (GMRs), particularly the intensity and opportunity for learning and second, evaluating the type and style of mentoring on the success of GMRs.

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