A Chat with Ed Johnson, Founder and CEO at Cloud-Based Mentoring Platform: PushFar

PushFar is a cloud-based mentoring and career progression platform and mentoring software provider. Our own platform is now used by more than 70,000 professionals as mentors or mentees.

We also work with organisations, to enable the efficient setup, management and reporting of internal mentorship programmes, supporting employees or members with career development, onboarding, and inclusion and diversity among other issues. Features include mentor matching, mentor relationship management and mentor reporting, as well as professional event recommendations, job listings and networking opportunities.

In only three years, PushFar has grown from the spark of an idea to one of the UK’s fastest growing HR tech platforms with global clients. We work across a wide range of sectors, with clients including Scholl, Danske Bank, Humberside Police, Arbuthnot Latham and Bath Spa University for example, but no matter the industry, time and time again we see the benefits that mentoring can have both for the individual and the organisation. It can help to create stronger team relationships, support wellbeing in the workplace, and generate a more committed and inspired workforce.
 
 

 

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

 
Founded in 2019, PushFar was really borne from my own experiences of not being able to find a mentor. Late in 2017, I was looking for someone that would be able to offer some guidance in my career, but quickly realised that the process of finding a mentor, or a more-experienced individual that I could talk to, was not as straightforward or simple as it should be.

But it wasn’t until my Co Founder, Gabriel, and I started talking to people and companies that we recognised just how pervasive the problem was across all businesses. With a background in tech startups and online business development, we decided to begin building a mentoring platform focused on helping individuals and organisations to access or offer mentoring in a much more efficient and reachable way.
 

How has the company evolved during the pandemic?

 
Since the pandemic, we have seen a surge in demand from businesses and professionals for mentoring, and PushFar has grown to meet this need. Certain Covid related trends have undoubtedly been key factors behind the surge in the level of interest, namely the move to remote working, and the increase in career re-evaluation which seems to have been an impact of the change in our working lives. Mentorship has provided businesses and individuals with a solution to these challenges.

We have focused on helping organisations to make sure their remote workers stay connected and supported, and for any new joiners to be onboarded remotely in an effective way. Employers working with us have been able to reduce turnover, and individuals have been able to develop their skills and pursue new opportunities.
 

What can we hope to see from PushFar in the future?

 
The past year has been one of rapid growth for PushFar, with users climbing 107% as more and more professionals turn to mentorship programs to improve their career prospects and wellbeing, and organisations recognise the benefits it can bring, and we plan to remain on this upwards trajectory.

We continue to release new features and updates across our platform in response to feedback from users in order to provide the best possible solution, and will always seek to adapt and improve our offering where we can. We think that there is so much still to come in the mentoring space, and PushFar intend to be at the forefront of that. It will be very exciting to see how the platform grows in the coming few years, as we see rules around employment and careers continue to evolve.