Corporate programs are far from uniform. Zey's study will first identify companies with programs in place and then develop a typology by looking at various factors, beginning with goals. There are firms, for example, who want to promote the personal and professional development of their employees. Others seek to provide orientation, help employees understand the corporate culture or learn specific job skills. Still others seek the advancement of women or minority employees or to develop those who have been identified as possessing great potential.
Leadership development is yet another focus.
Zey pointed out that what a company sets out to do may be altered as both mentors and their new employees begin to experience benefits. Far from a one-sided proposition, many mentors learn to their surprise that those they are assigned to help have specialized knowledge that proves invaluable to the more experienced of the pair. And for their part, employees who recognize the value of having a mentor may press for the expansion of a program initially limited to a particular category of employees. He also plans to study how mentors and proteges are selected and matched. Various forms of program administration will be studied, along with the inclusion or omission of mentor training in program design and implementation.