ASE foundation & S/P2 launch mentoring program

A program designed to help businesses identify and train service people to mentor students and entry-level employees was just announced by the ASE Education Foundation. In a partnership with S/P2, the Foundation plans to develop and distribute The Workplace Mentoring System, a mentoring program for the automotive industry.

The program would be made available to the entire industry: automotive service, medium/heavy truck and collision repair and refinishing.

The partnership stems from a meeting between the Foundation and S/P2 in early 2017 to discuss the technician shortage. Representatives of the two organizations specifically discussed the issue of how to mentor young technicians as they enter the automotive industry.

After that discussion, S/P2 created the Workplace Mentoring System, which offers online courses covering the roles of the three key players – the mentor, the mentee and the manager. The courses explain the roles and responsibilities of all three, as well as designates the responsibilities of the manager who would oversee mentor/mentee relationship. It includes content from choosing the mentor and hiring the mentee, to handling business decisions such as pay plans and tool issues.

“Mentoring is an essential component of a successful ’grow your own’ employee process,” said Trish Serratore, president of the ASE Education Foundation. “S/P2 has created an online mentoring program that focuses on the mentor and the mentee. It also allows the instructor to be involved, to monitor, and to be a resource. We see this opportunity to team up with S/P2 as a way to help the industry grow the next generation of technicians, both in the classroom and in the shop.”

For more information on the S/P2 Workplace Mentoring System, schools or businesses should visit sp/2.org.