Distance Mentoring and Usage of Technology: What can be Learned from the Success Story?

Distance mentoring enabled the accounting graduates who participated in the Chartered Accountant's Relevant Experience (CARE) programme to appoint the mentors outside their workplaces. It solved the problem of getting mentors (the Chartered Accountants), particularly in the workplaces with insufficient Chartered Accountants. Participation in CARE was a compulsory practical experience requirement, enforced by the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) since year 2009. However, in year 2014, the Committee to Strengthen the Accountancy Profession in Malaysia (CSAP) argued on the ineffectiveness of distance mentoring. In Malaysia, little attention has been given on understanding on the effectiveness of distance mentoring in CARE. In the nurses’ mentoring programme, distance mentoring was effectively implemented. Particularly, it overcame the issue of insufficient mentors in the United States. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to identify the factors influencing the effective distance mentoring in the nursing mentoring programme. It explores how technology has supported connectivity in distance mentoring. In the theoretical perspective, this paper extended the concept of distance mentoring in the lens of mentoring theory. The insights from this paper would assist the accounting graduates, mentors and MIA to enhance the distance mentoring in CARE.