Project: Mentor Training for Managers, Operations staff, Tutors and Mentors
Location: South Africa
Client: Taking Care of Business
Years: 2025
Description
Taking Care of Business is a nonprofit organisation supporting grassroots entrepreneurs, predominantly women across South Africa. As the organisation expanded, it recognised the need to strengthen and align its mentoring practices across regions. After the CEO’s positive experience in one of The Human Edge’s programme, TCB enrolled over 60 mentors, tutors, managers and operations staff in the Mentoring Skills and Practice course. The goal was to embed a shared standard of excellence, foster a stronger mentoring culture and ensure quality for the entrepreneurs they support.
Objectives
- Standardise mentoring excellence across all four regional branches
- Build mentor confidence and capability to deliver high-quality, business-focused support
- Clarify mentoring boundaries
- Strengthen programme outcomes by embedding best-practice mentoring
- Create a culture of feedback, observation and continuous learning
Approach
The Human Edge delivered the Mentoring Skills and Practice (MSP1) course, a flexible, online learning experience combining:
- Cohort-based delivery to build shared understanding, peer connection and cross-regional learning
- Self-paced modules covering mentoring models, boundaries, mentoring skills and tools
- Two live practice sessions to connect participants across regions and build real-time mentoring capabilities
Impact
Personal Growth and Profession Development
- Most frequently cited change: Renewed enthusiasm and motivation among mentors
“The excitement level post-The Human Edge with the mentors was something I hadn’t seen before. I think they were motivated. I think they were shown a picture of what excellence looks like as a mentor and I think it reignited a general enthusiasm that perhaps some people had lost.”Jane Naude – National Programme Manager at TCB
- Mentor confidence: Staff reported feeling equipped with practical tools and clearer understanding of their role boundaries
- Cross-regional connection: The live sessions created unprecedented connections across branches, with Johannesburg people, Cape Town people, something special happened in those sessions.
Organisational Culture and Standards
- 100% of mentors are now exposed to a consistent
- Enhanced quality systems: Jane now has frameworks and tools to support “each region’s mentoring rollout, maintaining that standard”
- Cultural evolution: The programme reinforced TCB’s commitment to mentoring excellence, while also strengthening internal relationships. It created space for team members across roles and regions to reflect together, share experiences and support each other, fostering a culture of trust, learning and collaboration.
Implementation and Practical Changes
- Enhanced mentee preparation: Introduction of a “Getting to Know Your Mentee” session. It’s 30-45 minutes of trust-building before diving into business topics
- Comprehensive onboarding materials: New pages explaining what mentoring is, what a mentor does and why TCB values it—building on existing programme strengths
- Contextualised tools: TCB used and adapted core mentoring tools to focus on issues most relevant to their entrepreneurs, like stock management or pricing, so that mentoring conversations could be anchored in the everyday challenges of running a micro-business.
- New tools and common language: Participants gained practical resources, from structured questions to business wheels and feedback models, which they could apply immediately
Key Takeaways
- Excellence through consistency: A shared standard helped unify mentoring across provinces.
- Right people, right tools: Training helped mentors understand both how and who makes mentoring work.
- Culture of reflection: The course encouraged openness, feedback and continuous development.