New mentoring services that will enable experienced fleet managers to pass their knowledge on to newer industry entrants are now available from the UK’s Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).

Paul Hollick, AFP chair, said mentoring is a great way for experienced fleet managers to pass on their knowledge to newer industry entrants

It’s offering both “light” and “full” one-to-one mentoring via a range of different channels.

The light service pairs the mentee with an AFP board member or committee member for an hour’s free mentoring a month, generally through a video call. This will provide younger or less experienced fleet managers with an opportunity to regularly check their overall approach to handling fleet issues.

Full mentoring includes regular coaching and ongoing support, as well as on-site meetings if required, providing a more intensive solution but stopping short of hands-on style consultancy. The latter level of mentoring is chargeable due to the time commitment involved for the mentor.

Paul Hollick, AFP chair, said the association was working to tackle the growing problem of fleet sector expertise being lost as many seasoned experts retire.

“Mentoring is one of the answers we have so far identified and is a great way for experienced fleet managers to pass on their knowledge to new entrants to fleet. It creates strong relationships across different age groups and experience levels, and is good for individuals and the profession as a whole.”

The AFP’s other mentoring channels include a fleet operator open forum, a quarterly online relaxed discussion on latest issues, the AFP fleet operator WhatsApp group and, finally, the member area of the organisation’s website, where questions can be posted alongside a searchable database of existing topics already covered.

Hollick continued: “The fleet industry has arguably never before faced so many challenges and changes, requiring fleet managers to develop new skillsets in areas some may find unfamiliar or even daunting so the ability to be mentored by a more experienced fleet professional who can give some additional support and guidance can only be beneficial.

“Through this range of channels, we are hoping to provide the means for a generational exchange of information between younger and older fleet managers that will help to maintain and improve the huge amount of expertise held within the profession.

“We’re also like to hear from any fleet managers who would like to get involved in the mentoring initiative, whether as mentor and mentee.”