Management, mentorship and personal motivation

They cite the benefits of this type of mentorship as:

• Getting comfortable with difference
  
• Reciprocal wisdom
  
• Practical knowledge and exposure.

At Blue Moon informal mentorship happens all the time, underlying all our work. But the more structured team building and mentoring sessions do often happen outside the office. For example, the Creative team recently made a short film at The Home Movie Factory in Johannesburg (http://on.fb.me/UG8iJO). As well as being a fun experience it was an opportunity for individual Blue Mooners to share their diverse skills in a different creative sphere.

Executive Creative Director at Blue Moon, Lucinda Hooley, explains the levels of in-house management and mentorship further: "There are hierarchies of monitoring and guiding employees. Functional Management checks the basics are in place for employees. Quality Management keeps tabs on the emotional temperature of the business, for instance, are we thinking and expressing ourselves in a way that's good for our growth and our client's growth? Thirdly, formal Personal Mentorship Programmes are in place at Blue Moon. This is an opportunity for mentors to input on employee career paths on a deeper, more personal level." The benefits of the mentor-employee relationship are reciprocal, as Nancy Altobell writes, "When you become a mentor, you gain as much wisdom as you impart."

Blue Moon encourages employees to take the idea of learning and nurturing outside the business one step further by supporting Blue Mooners in their diverse personal endeavours. We will be highlighting some of our amazing people and their small businesses - run in their own time outside Blue Moon - from CSI projects to karaoke clubs to chilli making. The more we learn from our extramural passions the more energy and wisdom we have to offer each other and our clients. Watch this space and be inspired by our wonderful people!