Designing Workplace Mentoring Programs: An Evidence-Based Approach (Talent Management Essentials) - Hardcover

Allen, Tammy D.; Finkelstein, Lisa M.; Poteet, Mark L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1405179899 ISBN 13: 9781405179898

Verlag: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009

Inhaltsangabe

This book presents an evidence-based best practice approach to the design, development, and operation of formal mentoring programs within organizations. It includes practical tools and resources that organizations can use such as training exercises, sample employee development plans, and mentoring contracts. Case studies from organizations with successful mentoring programs illustrate various principles (e.g., how the mentoring program is aligned with other organizational systems) and suggest best practice contemporary strategies.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Tammy Allen Ph.D. is professor of psychology at the University of South Florida. Her research interests include mentoring, career development, work-family relationships, occupational health psychology, and organizational citizenship behavior. Her research has been published in journals such as The Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, and Journal of Vocational Behavior.

Lisa M. Finkelstein Ph.D. is an associate professor of psychology at Northern Illinois University. Her research interests include mentoring, age and generational issues in the workplace, obesity bias, and humor in the workplace. Her research has been published in journals such as The Journal of Applied Psychology, The Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Human Resource Management.

Mark L. Poteet Ph.D. is President of Organizational Research & Solutions, Inc., a management consulting practice based in Tampa, Florida. His practice specializes in human resource selection, performance management, employee training and development, and managerial and executive assessment and coaching.

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Designing Workplace Mentoring Programs

An Evidence-Based ApproachBy Tammy D. Allen Lisa M. Finkelstein Mark L. Poteet

John Wiley & Sons

Copyright © 2009 Tammy D. Allen, Lisa M. Finkelstein, Mark L. Poteet
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4051-7989-8

Chapter One

Introduction

As the number of organizations implementing workplace formal mentoring programs continues to grow, such programs can no longer be considered but one more passing fad. The proliferation of formal mentoring efforts is no surprise, given the vast array of benefits that have been associated with mentoring. Mentoring relationships are thought to serve a critical role in an employee's career and skill development, key to retaining top talent, and a fundamental way by which organizations can shape corporate leadership. Given the continuing need for companies to groom early-career employees for succession planning purposes, to facilitate the upward mobility of under-represented groups, and to respond to organizational structural changes, there is reason to believe that the use of such programs will continue to flourish. However, the implementation of these programs should be done with care in that a poorly designed and executed formal mentoring program may do more harm than good.

Until recently, there has been very little empirical research to help guide the development of workplace mentoring programs. The aim of the current volume is to provide guidelines based on a synthesis of empirical research so that formal mentoring programs can achieve their full potential as a significant employee development tool. The recommendations made throughout the book are based on the existing research evidence and supplemented by examples based on interviews conducted with organizations that have formal mentoring programs in place.

Defining Mentoring

Workplace mentoring is traditionally described as a relationship between two individuals, usually a senior and junior employee, whereby the senior employee takes the junior employee "under his or her wing" to teach the junior employee about his or her job, introduce the junior employee to contacts, orient the employee to the industry and organization, and address social and personal issues that may arise on the job. Mentoring can also be defined by the behaviors that comprise the relationship. Specifically, mentors are thought to provide two primary forms of support to their protgs. Career-related support focuses on protg success and advancement within the organization, and includes exposure and visibility, coaching, protection, sponsorship, and challenging assignments. Psychosocial support centers on the enhancement of the protg's sense of identity, competence, and effectiveness as a professional, and includes friendship, acceptance and confirmation, counseling, and role modeling. Research generally shows that the more that mentors demonstrate these behaviors to their protgs (e.g., the more opportunities they offer the protg to be exposed to other key figures in the organization; the more counseling they provide to the protg), the more positive the outcomes of the relationship. There are several defining characteristics that set mentoring apart from other workplace relationships. First, mentoring is a two-person relationship between a more experienced person (a mentor) and a less experienced person (a protg). Second, the relationship is one of mutuality, yet it also asymmetrical. Both the mentor and the protg may benefit from the relationship, but the primary focus is the growth and development of the protg. Third, mentoring relationships are dynamic. The relational processes and outcomes associated with mentoring change over time. The mentoring relationship often differs from the typical supervisor-subordinate relationship in the following features:

The mentor and protg do not have to necessarily work together.

The mentor usually does not have any formal or reward power over the protg.

The mentor may be several levels higher in the organization and in a different line of responsibility than the protg.

The terms "mentoring" and "coaching" are often used interchangeably. Indeed, there are several similarities between the two forms of employee development. For example, both can be done over an extended period of time, and both can include developmental activities such as giving constructive feedback, teaching the protg/coachee a new behavior or approach, and goal setting and action planning. However, there are some key differences between the two terms:

Coaching is often more instruction-focused - typically the focus is on specific tasks or specific skills that the employee currently needs or will need in order to perform his or her work effectively.

Because it is more skill and knowledge-based, coaching is often provided by professionals who are external to the organization and who, in theory, can work with the coachee objectively and confidentially (e.g., professional consultants).

Coaching interventions are often based on careful diagnosis of the coachee's specific needs, frequently using observation, interviews, and skill assessment tools.

Mentoring often addresses or focuses on issues that are broader than those covered in the typical coaching relationship, such as sponsorship, introduction to key figures, increasing the protg's contacts, orienting a new employee to the organization, and helping the protg learn about the organization's unwritten rules. Anything done to help the employee's orientation, career, and professional development can be included under the broad term of mentoring.

Because mentoring is broader in its focus, it can and often does include aspects of teaching and skill-based instruction. Therefore, coaching is a tool that can be used within a mentoring relationship.

Because mentoring activities are often focused on issues specific to the context of the organization (e.g., broadening a protg's network within the company; helping the protg learn the company's politics; sponsoring the protg for promotional opportunities), mentoring is most often done by an internal, more senior member of the company (rather than an external consultant).

A formal mentoring program - the focus of this volume - is one in which the organization plays an intervening role in facilitating employee mentoring relationships by providing some level of structure, guidelines, policies, and assistance for starting, maintaining, and ending mentor-protg relationships. As will be discussed throughout the book, the nature of the organization's role at each of these stages will not look exactly the same across all organizations. Organizationally sanctioned mentoring relationships are different from those that naturally occur within the organization. In naturally occurring mentoring relationships, it is the mentor and/or the protg who initiate, maintain, and end a relationship, with little or no official organizational support.

Why Do Mentoring?

The primary reason to facilitate mentoring relationships is that they have been associated with a variety of widely publicized organizational, as well as individual, benefits. The popular press is replete with articles carrying titles such as, "The power of mentoring: finding the right advisor can give your career a boost," "A mentor is a key to career success," and "Find yourself a mentor." It is also not uncommon for well-known business leaders to attribute their success to having a mentor. The...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Wiley-Blackwell
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2009
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1405179899
• ISBN 13: 9781405179898
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 200
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Wiley-VCH GmbH; product_safety@wiley.com; ; Boschstrasse 12; Weinheim; 69469; Deutschland