Coping with redundancy: A mentorship program for men

Abstract

The idea of a small group mentorship program was developed from the concept that small groups might, in some small degree, replace the companionship that men who had been made redundant had experienced in the workplace and in social activities related to work, and that, as a result, participants? health would improve. It was thought these groups would function better if one or two unemployed peers who could demonstrate some positive approaches to the experience of unemployment were identified. This report documents the use of a small group mentorship intervention among 126 retrenched and unemployed men. The aims of the program were to determine the effectiveness of the mentorship program in improving a range of outcome measures, including improvement in health and wellbeing, increased confidence and skills in job search behaviours, and enhanced social networking/ reduced isolation. The program was evaluated using quantitative and qualitative methodology. The mentorship program was found to be an effective intervention to significantly improve outcome measures for depression and anxiety and social interaction for retrenched men. It is recommended that small group mentoring programs be more generally offered to retrenched men to build skills, to promote social connectivity and to improve men?s health and wellbeing.