This is an activity that aims to prepare mentors to provide effective assistance to companies experiencing difficulties across Europe.
The Early Warning Europe Mentor Academy is a continuation of two previous international projects we have implemented as a Foundation: Early Warning Europe and Resc-EWE. It was in the Early Warning Europe project that we created and educated a community of more than 120 mentors in Poland and 1,000 mentors in Europe who have helped and continue to help entrepreneurs in crisis free of charge.
We implemented the Early Warning Europe Mentor Academy project from 2022 to 2024. It was aimed at both experienced and new mentors from all countries in Europe – so that they could develop their competencies and exchange knowledge, experience and best practices.
One of the goals of the project was to create a universal training for mentors supporting companies in crisis, based on the best European standards. The training program was developed with the participation of both experienced and first-time mentors. They took part in peer – learning workshops, during which they presented their needs and developed recommendations for the online training.
The Early Warning Europe Mentor Academy is an initiative of the European Union, within the framework of which the project “Improving the availability and scope of services for companies in financial distress” was created. It was implemented by AARC Consultancy (Ireland), Erhvervshus Midtjylland (Denmark) and the Family Businesses Foundation (Poland).
As a Foundation, we had very responsible and demanding tasks in the project. We were the leader of two activities: Recruitment of mentors, for which Kasia Gierczak- Grupinska was directly responsible, and preparation of all nine peer learning workshops – the leader of this task was Eleni Tzoka Stecka. All the workshops are behind us – the first and the last were held live in Barcelona, while the other 6 were conducted online.
Watch a summary of the first workshop in Barcelona in the form of a short video.
A very important part of the EWEMA project was a workshop for mentors from all over Europe. The Foundation was responsible for their preparation, and Eleni Tzoka-Stecka was the leader of this task. The first and last workshops were held live in Barcelona, while the other 6 were conducted online.
Here are some important statistics related to the workshops:
A very important element of each workshop was also the so-called case study, i.e. work on a real, live case.
After each workshop, we conducted an evaluation to find out how the mentors evaluated the meeting and what they expect in the future. Here are some of their comments:
Thank you to the entire Early Warning Europe team. The timing [of the workshop] is very tight – but at the same time it’s okay because it’s held online. The case studies were once again well chosen and completely representative of the topic of discussion. It was great to attend the workshop and learn from the experienced mentors and participants.
Keep it up. This was my first time attending this workshop and I had no particular expectations. Upon completion, I found them to be very insightful, well prepared and organized, and rich in content.
Helping struggling SMEs is a never-ending topic. Crises that challenge smooth business operations appear one after another. Resilience is the key word these days. Resilience to world crises, personal crises, local, national and international business challenges. That’s why I’m happy to have just completed the second part of the fourth workshop of the Europe Network’s Early Warning Mentor Academy, which aims to create tools to help SMEs in times of need.
It was not only very meaningful work, but also a pleasure to immerse ourselves in difficult case studies, share knowledge and seek solutions with more than 50 mentors from different countries. The many opinions, thoughts and insights on helping SMEs in a critical state is a rewarding experience and food for thought. I feel richer! Thank you for an impressive experience and new helpful tools, EWEMA!
Based on recommendations from mentors, those experienced and those who are just beginning their mentoring careers, an online training course was created to prepare mentors to support companies in crisis. The training is located on the Early Warning Europe learning platform. It consists of 4 modules: Mentoring and Engagement, Problem Analysis and Change Management, Future Planning and Resilience, and Mentoring Readiness.
The mentor learning path is based on going through all the topics included in the 4 training modules independently.
The material is in the form of short articles and videos, with relevant links to supplementary materials. Each participant can share his or her comments on the topic within the forum, which allows him or her to experience so-called social learning.
As part of the project, recommendations have been developed, addressed to various target groups. Their application will ensure the maintenance of EWEMA’s legacy and the building of a community of practice.
As part of the EWEMA project, a guide to best practices related to crisis mentoring has been developed.
The research started with a literature review on the topics of businesses in distress, business resilience and the role of mentoring. The research team collected information on training programmes related to mentoring and business resilience through a combination of research methodologies. It performed an online search in ten business‐friendly and three other countries (as ranked in the World Bank’s Doing Business report), interviewed 13 European Early Warning service providers, reviewed ten relevant European projects, gathered information from 12 EU and non‐EU education/training providers, contacted chambers of commerce and business associations in 36 EU and non‐EU countries. The combination of these methodologies allowed the collection of information about 78 training programmes that were related to mentoring/advising and business resilience. Also, the research team interviewed an expert on Expansive Learning and an expert from the European Training Foundation, in order to discuss the educational methodologies that can be used in future trainings.
We invite you to take a look at this guide.
Resilience in Action. A Good Practice Guide to Mentoring Companies in Distress
Agnieszka Simon – Adamczewska, Krzysztof Kasperuk, Victoria Iwanowska, Ewa Magier, Janina Seredyńska-Targosz, Konrad Frontczak, Marzenna Tusza, Katarzyna Kłopocinska, Agnieszka Zasikowska, Celina Koszany, Grzegorz Kosson, Renata Żukowska, Ewelina Kosińska, Dorota Wieczorek, Ewa Chojecka, Maciej Siejka, Przemysław Przyjazny, Albert Adamczewski, Ewa Chojecka, Artur Wróbel, Ryszard Ćwiertniak, Katarzyna Ryfka-Cygan, Marta Ozga, Piotr Andrzej Oszytko, Agnieszka Wdowińska, Damian Hajduk, Monika Stachowicz, Agnieszka Lewandowska, Maks Kisyk, Patrycja Ilasz-Kłoda, Justyna Markiewicz, Tadeusz Woronowicz, Joanna Gawlik-Dziadoń, Jolanta Porebska, Marcin Birkietowicz.
Eleni Tzoka Stecka – responsible for preparing and conducting 9 peer learning workshops for mentors and moderating master classess online trainings
Katarzyna Gierczak-Grupińska – responsible for recruiting experienced and new mentors and moderating peer learning workshops.
Małgorzata Szady – organization support in preparing and conducting workshops and recruiting mentors
