"As a result of my participation in this program, my department and future employers now have a person who is capable, able and willing to take up new opportunities and challenges"  

SAM Program mentee


The Orijen Group > Orijen Mentoring > Programs > Clients and Case Studies > Smaller Agency Mentoring (SAM) Program


At its meeting of 9 November 2006, the Chief Information Officer Committee (CIOC) agreed for the Australian Public Service (APS) to pursue involvement in a Canberra-based Smaller Agency Mentoring (SAM) Program, involving public sector participants, based on the Women in IT Executive Mentoring Program (WITEM).

 

The objective of APS involvement in the 12-month SAM Program is to provide professional development guidance to CIOs of smaller agencies in the APS, and to assist them to progress their APS ICT careers. For smaller agency CIOs, the Program is a personal development opportunity and an avenue for knowledge management, building leadership capability and confidence building.

 

Benefits of the Program

 Mentees gain:
  • Access to the experiences of larger agency CIOs within government;
  • Personal career development;
  • Additional leadership perspectives, skills, ideas and insight;
  • Improvements in existing skills and job performance;
  • Ongoing involvement in cross-organisational networks; and
  • Be challenged to use talents and share expertise.
 
Mentors gain:
  • Satisfaction from helping mentees to develop both personally and professionally to be the best they possibly can be;
  • Regular access to senior executives and peers across government;
  • Insight and self-awareness of challenges faced by other CIOs;
  • Awakened awareness of possible issues within own organisation; and
  • New skill development - facilitative rather than directive.
 
Organisational gains:
  • Influence of organisational culture through the sharing of ideas and experience;
  • Increased loyalty and commitment;
  • Mentee contribution back into the organisation, higher levels of performance

Industry gains:
  • Greater awareness and focus on developing CIO talent throughout participating agencies; and
  • Ongoing development of mentoring and coaching programs in the industry

 

Critical Factors for Program Success

  Success of the SAM Program is dependent on the following:

 
Organisational commitment to Program:
  • Personal commitment by participants
  • Follow up and monitoring by facilitator
 
Adequate Measurement:
  • Surveys
  • Debrief
  • Evaluation
 
Selecting the Right Mentees:
  • Clear selection criteria
  • Displays desire for guidance
  • Shows acceptance of advice

Selecting the Right Mentors:
  • Avoid reinforcing stereotype role models
  • Right Program focus
  • Has understanding of mentee’s needs

 

Testimonial - SAM Program Mentee Speech


I’d like to share with you my journey as a mentee in  the Smaller Agency Mentoring Program: How I felt at the beginning; experiences during the past 12 months and next steps for me.
When I walked into the room for the launch of the Smaller Agency Mentoring Program, I saw a room full of males dressed in suits, greeting each other, launching into conversations like long lost friends.  It felt like I had arrived at the wrong party.  This is a mentoring program for CIOs in Smaller Agencies and I’m not a CIO so I was feeling a bit intimidated and out of place.  
 
I reminded myself that I was here to learn and so were the other mentees regardless of their level and that thought settled my nerves a bit.  I then met my mentor who happened to have the same background as me in terms of starting off as a developer, venturing to business analysis and then management.  This gave us some common things to talk about and that was the start of my mentee - mentor relationship.

Over the next 12 months I met with my mentor regularly as I had specific issues I wanted to discuss.  I valued the independent view provided to my issues, different strategies I could approach a problem with and feedback on specific pieces of work.  Towards the end of the 12 months our conversations had changed from me posing questions to conversations about Gershon initiatives, Gartner Government briefings and the direction of our respective organizations.  I think our relationship had changed from a student teacher relationship to more of a peer relationship like colleagues talking about common issues and experiences.
 
Workwise I found better focus and confidence in my abilities.  I stepped up to opportunities as they became available and was lucky enough to act at a higher level on two occasions.  On one of these occasions I facilitated the completion of the first data collection exercise for the Gershon review.  The consultants I worked with, the acting CIO and the CIO on his return acknowledged my efforts and thanked me for this work.  Recently my manager took time off from work unexpectedly and I was the person chosen to ensure that work outstanding would be delivered.  Among the work I picked up was ensuring the completion of senate estimate briefs for our Group.  During this time, one of my peers informed me that I demonstrated great leadership and was a good example for the rest of the team for stepping up, acquiring additional work and getting on with it with no fuss.
 
Because of the program, I’ve learned a lot about myself, how I react in certain situations and I’ve gained clarity on my strengths and weaknesses.  I’ve acquired additional strategies for handling problems at work.  Through my fellow mentees I’ve learned that life further up the ladder is quite tough and that networking is very important.
 
I’d like to think that as a result of my participation in this program, my department and future employers now have a person who is capable, able and willing to take up new opportunities and challenges.
 
Although the Smaller Agency Mentoring Program has come to an end, my learning journey has just begun.  We learn from new experiences and I’m choosing to acquire new experiences by moving out of my comfort zone and putting my hand up for things I normally wouldn’t, like giving this speech.  I’ve also nominated to be a mentor for my department’s mentoring program.
 
In conclusion, this journey has transformed me from a less confident individual to one who is looking for opportunities to learn and grow.  The past 12 months has provided me with contacts and additional strategies I can apply now and into the future and now I’d like to assist other people in their learning journey by volunteering to be a mentor.  I’d like to thank Orijen for running this program, my mentor for the learning conversations, my fellow mentees for the insight into the life of a CIO and last but not least I’d like to thank my CIO for providing me with the opportunity to participate in this program.