E-Mentoring: An Innovative Twist to Traditional Mentoring

Abstract

Many organizations have established and implemented traditional mentoring programs. Both qualitative and quantitative research studies have found that successful mentoring programs enhance productivity, job satisfaction and may ultimately lead to protégé advancement. Traditional methods of mentoring are created through the means of one on one relationships established between the mentor and the protégé. E-mentoring through the use of synchronous and asynchronous computer-mediated communication is a new means for establishing mentor protégé relationships by creating virtual teams. This paper seeks to compare and contrast traditional mentoring with e-mentoring and propose new innovative ways to use e-mentoring in an organizational setting.