BSCAI Member Advisory Aims To Connect Individuals For Deeper Learning, Relationships

Contributed By BSCAI

Robert Stewart, director of Member Advisory for BSCAI, knows the power of great advice. When he first joined BSCAI (and the commercial cleaning business), he was pleasantly surprised by how many people offered him advice. He found people at all levels in their careers were talking to him candidly about their experiences and it helped him grow as a businessperson immensely.

"I give a lot of credit to them for my success," says Stewart.

It's why Stewart, along with BSCAI, is looking to engage more people through the association's redesigned Member Advisory groups. BSCAI Member Advisory allows participants to get direction and industry advice from fellow BSCs. This unique opportunity for commercial cleaning mentoring is one that can last for a lifetime.

There are two different groups within the advisory: Peer Groups and Mentors/Mentees. Peer Groups are designed for several people to meet up, virtually or in-person, and connect on issues affecting their business. This is a space for freely sharing ideas, information and opinions. BSCAI will put together a peer group based on interests, personalities and business types to aim for optimal success.

"Peer Group members report this to be an extremely valuable experience and find it very helpful to their business success," says Stewart. "The group primarily focuses on business, but most successful and sustaining peer groups become very close — getting to know one another on a business, family and personal level."

Mentors/Mentees are one-on-one relationships forged between two individuals. Stewart said BSCAI will match mentees and mentors together based on expertise and knowledge interest. Newer BSCs, or those who come from smaller companies, will be connected with seasoned, experienced industry professionals who will volunteer up to six hours of time for a three-month period. If the relationship goes well, Stewart said the parties can choose to extend. In his experience, these relationships can create a lifelong bond.

Both groups are beneficial for many reasons other than the obvious. Not only is knowledge exchanged, but it's a chance for everyone to grow their networks, get exposure to how businesses are run outside of their region and check their own best practices.

"This is a service industry, so we know what it means to help others," says Stewart. "There's really no better way to build someone up than to talk with them and share your ideas and experiences. We're hoping this makes a difference in the BSCAI community."

Interested in learning more? Please visit our website. BSCAI is currently seeking mentees to be part of our Mentors/Mentees program. If you are interested or know someone who is, please contact info@bscai.org with the subject line "BSCAI Member Advisory."