KIIT School of Management (KSOM) conducted Konfidant, the flagship Corporate Mentoring Program on 17th-18th September 2021. KSOM has been successfully organizing the program, which aims at providing MBA students mentoring from corporate leaders during their entire stay at the campus, for every batch of MBA 1 students.
As many as 42 corporate professionals, including 12 alumni, were involved in the inaugural session of Konfidant for MBA Batch 2021-23, held virtually. The professionals belong to different gamut of work areas comprising manufacturing, ITES, Fintech, retail, e-commerce, BFSI, oil refinery, media, apparel, data protection and food processing.
Prof. S. K. Mahapatra, Director, KSOM; Dr. Sanjay Muthal, CEO, Kontempore & Chief Mentor, Konfidant; Prof. S. N. Mishra, Dean, KSOM; and Mr. Ashish Gakrey, an HR consultant and active supporter of the program, graced the inaugural ceremony along with all corporate guests, faculty members and members of the Corporate Relations team. The session ended with words of gratitude by Prof. Ashok K. Sar.
The program has been arranged and organized by co-evangelists Prof. Joydeep Biswas and Prof. Isa Mishra, with the help of program executive Mr. Amit Jenamani, Placement Executive, Annie Behera, MBA II student who anchored the program, and students from Kongregate – Alumni club. The inaugural session was followed by a session with all 330 MBA I students who were addressed by Prof. S. K. Mahapatra and Dr. Sanjay Muthal.
This uniquely designed platform has MBA 1 students mentored by these eminent leaders from industry, while the students are undergoing their management course. The corporate leaders act as mentors to the students and play an important role in nurturing students’ career aspirations, counselling them on career goals and helping them prepare for placements. By providing information and encouragement, the mentors guide the students, which eventually results in improved professional and academic outcomes.
This mentor-mentee relationship is structured to be a long term one and develops over time. The relationship continues till the students pass out of KSOM. Each mentoring team, comprising a corporate and faculty mentor, are assigned 8-10 mentees, so that mentors are able to do justice to each of the mentees. The mentors are expected to have their first interaction with their mentees face-to-face at KSOM on 18th September 2021which helps the mentors and mentees to spell out their respective expectations from each other. In view of the pandemic, the second time round it is happening virtually.
This first interaction provides comprehensive feedback to students with regard to their individual strengths, weaknesses and areas of improvement. Post the initial interaction at KSOM, mentors might choose to have regular contact over email, WhatsApp and telephone depending on situational requirements. The mentors are expected to connect with each student mentee regularly to monitor their growth and progress.