Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to provide readers with the steps to take to implement a mentoring program for their organizations. The steps listed below are developed by the United States Office of Personnel Management a have been implemented by a multitude of Fortune 500 companies. According to the website businessdictionary.com mentoring is defined as:
“Employee training system under which a senior or more experienced individual (the mentor) is assigned to act as an advisor, counselor, or guide to a junior or trainee. The mentor is responsible for providing support to, and feedback on, the individual in his or her charge”.
The first step identified by the Office of Personnel Management is to Develop a Recruitment and Marketing Strategy (OPM, 2008, pg. 9). Communication is critical to successful mentoring programs. A proper marketing strategy will both advertise the program and recruit mentors and protégés. Additionally, one of the biggest challenges to communication and a mentoring program is finding mentors. Quite often, potential mentors do not fully grasp the value of being involved in a mentoring program. To counter this problem, an organization’s marketing strategy should be to display benefits mentors and protégés.
One of the strategies to recruit mentors and protégés is to develop brochures, flyers, and posters to distribute around the organization. Another route would be to send an email from the agency head or another senior leader requesting participants. Yet another technique would be to ask for leaders and managers to promote the program and solicit participation from their followers.
Step number two as identified by the Office of Personnel Management is to Match Mentors and Protégés (OPM, 2008...
... middle of paper ...
...r has addressed the 12 step process as identified by the Office of Personnel Management to utilize if organizations are considering a mentorship program. Not only are this steps used by the federal government they have been successfully implemented by various Fortune 500 companies.
(Yukl, 2013, p. 165)
(Cameron and Whetton, 2011, p. 117)
(OPM, 2008, pg. 9)
References
Best Practices: Mentoring (2008, September). Retrieved from http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/training-and-development/career-development/bestpractices-mentoring.pdf BusinessDictionary.Com. Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/mentoring.html Whetten, D. A., & Cameron, K. S. (2011). Developing management skills. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall/Pearson.Cobbing, M. (2008).
Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in organizations. (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
Whetten, David A., and Kim S. Cameron. Developing Management Skills. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2007.
The four quadrants of Situational Leadership correspond to the four phases of Mentorship (Hersey, 1985; Carder, et al, 1996; Hitchcock, et al, 1995; Carey and Weissman, 2010). Quadrant 1, in which the follower has no skill and the leader provides high instruction and support (Carder, et al, 1996), corresponds to Phase 1, in which the mentoring relationship is initiated (Carey and Weissman, 2010). Quadrant 2, in which the follower has limited skill and the leader acts as a teacher (Carder, et al, 1996), corresponds to Phase 2, in which the mentee becomes the mentor’s protégé (Carey and Weissman, 2010). Quadrant 3, in which the follower has advanced skills and the leader acts as a consultant (Carder, et al, 1996), corresponds to Phase 3, in which the mentor releases the mentee (Carey and Weissman, 2010). Quadrant 4, in which the follower can be trusted to act independently (Carder, et al, 1996), corresponds to Phase 4, in which the mentee and mentor enjoy a lasting friendship (Carey and Weissman,
There is little scientific knowledge when it comes to mentoring effects on future outcomes; in addition posing confusion as to how these programs continue to emerge. A major component in regards to program effectiveness is in measurement or evaluation of its structure (Deutsch, N., & Spencer, R., 2009). This is done by conducting surveys, focus groups, and interviews (Deutsch, N., & Spencer, R. (2009); Karcher, M., & Nakkula, M. (2010); Diehl, D. C., Howse, R. B., & Trivette, C. M. (2011); Osgood, 2012; Williams, 2011). Studies gives the researcher insight into knowledge that otherwise wouldn’t be known, in order to understand mentoring reactions and relationship styles better (Karcher, M., & Nakkula, M. (2010); Christens, B. D., & Peterson, N. A. (2012); Diehl et al., 2011; Leyton‐Armakan, J., Lawrence, E., Deutsch, N., Lee Williams, J., & Henneberger, A. (2012); Meyer, K. C., & Bouchey, H. A. (2010).
Flaxman, E. Evaluating Mentoring Programs. New York: Institute for Urban and Minority Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1992.
Pegg, M. (1999) The Art of Mentoring: How You Can Be a Superb Mentor. Chalford: Management Books.
Overall, this six-step process allows obtaining renewal without imposing it. When the employees see that the new approach is more effective, they don’t oppose resistance to the ongoing changes. A virtuous circle effect also happens, since those problems solved by the improved coordination help to reinforce team behavior and produce a desire to learn new skills.
Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2009). Management (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Whetten, D. A., & Cameron, K. S. (2011). Developing Management Skills (eighth Ed.) [E-Text]. Retrieved from http://www.coursesmart.com/developing-management-skills-eighth-edition/david-a-whetten-kim-s-cameron/dp/9780136121046
Robbins, S., Decenzo, D., & Coulter, M. (2013). Fundamentals of management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Mentor orientation can be described as “Employees who have seniority… to oversee new hires for a certain time-period and are ultimately responsible for providing much of the training that will take place at work.” (Taylor, 2011) This enables newly hired employees to receive consistent support after the formal orientation and 3 days on the job training. The mentoring support should be planned based on the lessons in the formal orientation program identified above. Since supervisors must continue to do work-related tasks association with leadership at the job-site, mentors can direct, supervise and help new employees refine skills needed to become successful and productive.
In conclusion, everyone’s have different style of guiding people that can affect the ones receiving the guidance, which can change their life in different ways such as giving them hope to do something better and by helping them to learn to solve their own problems. Therefore, mentoring styles will help the person to choose a right path and encourage them to follow a right path. Mentoring styles affect others to understand yourselves in a better way than before.
Reed, S. M. & Bogardus, A. M. (2012). PHR/SPHR Professional in human resources certification study guide. (4th ed.). Indianapolis, IN: John Wiley & Sons.
Promotion of managers from within who will serve as examples of success for others to follow.
by Birgit Leidenfrost, Barbara Strassnig, Marlene Schultz, Claus-Christian Carbon, and Alfred Schabmann (2014). Leidenfrost et al (2014) explored the mentoring relationships in the academic setting to determine a baseline for mentoring effectiveness. According to the authors, mentoring, which includes both formal and informal, follows a predictable path with four phases: initiation, cultivation, separation and redefinition by the mentee, and preparation for separation by the mentor. Leidenfrost et al (2014) identified that although mentoring relationships with a high level of activities and an equal number of motivating and informing messages rated the highest, any mentoring relationship resulted in improved academic performance by the mentees over no mentoring relationship at all. The authors identified an opportunity for the ongoing development and continuing education of
Robbins, S, DeCenzo, D, Coulter, M, Woods, M 2011, Management the essentials, Pearson Education, New South Wales.