Mentorship Theory And Current Practice: A Study Of Executives In The Greater Denver Region

Mentoring is increasingly seen as a critical skill for modern business. It builds on a team concept that represents a win-win situation for the organization as a whole, for the mentor, and for the mentee. Mentoring focuses on work-related needs of the company while building the skills of individual employees. Our study incorporates an extensive literature review on best practices in mentoring, along with the results from interviews with 395 business executives in the Denver region. The discussion builds on a series of interviews conducted between 1998 and 2001 with executives who have had served as a mentor for at least one mentee. In examining mentorship theory and practice, we will focus initially on the challenge and expectations of mentoring programs within organizations, and how specific organizations face these issues. We will next consider the purpose of a mentoring program, looking at the objectives of the organization as well as of the various individual participants. The method for mentorship practice includes program dimensions such as the size, levels of formality, attitudes of those involved, and the various mentorship roles. Finally, we report how the mentee participants rated their experience. 1. Challenge/Expectations for Mentoring he mentoring process helps junior employees learn both procedures and the nuances of effective functioning within the larger organization. The term ―mentor‖ actually comes from the Homer‘s Odyssey. Telemachus, the son of the title‘s hero (Odysseus in Greek, or Ulysses in Latin), begins to act on his own, helped by an advisor, named Mentor. At times in the story, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, assumes the form of Mentor to help Telemachus. This helping role of has evolved into the function of ―mentor,‖ one who helps junior employees. As described by Bard and Moore, ―Mentoring is confidential, one-to-one relationship in which an individual uses a more experienced, usually more senior, person as a sounding board and for guidance‖ (Bard & Moore, 2000, p.256). In particular, mentoring ―enables the more seasoned professional to share their expertise with neophytes who are thrown into a lot of tough situations‖ (O‘ Briant, 1999, p. 22). 2. Scope of the Program Mentoring applies to companies of all sizes. Larger companies tend to have a more formal program, with specific individuals identified to help newcomers enhance their skills. In smaller companies, CEO‘s and senior executives tend to take on the mentorship roles. Our study of mentors in Metropolitan Denver found 58% of participants are from smaller companies, those having 50 or fewer employees. The company size appears in Table 1. ____________________ Readers with comments and questions are encouraged to contact the authors via email. T International Business & Economics Research Journal Volume 1, Number 12 16 3. Expected Benefit Mentoring concerns both individuals and organizations. For individuals, ―Mentoring is about achieving personal growth and development‖ (Bard and Moore, 2000, p. 256). Individual companies use mentoring to fill their long-term positions with qualified applicants. In doing so, companies recognize that they no longer work in a world where supply of qualified applicants exceeds the demand; rather, they must seek out and retain qualified applicants from a more limited pool. As mentioned in Harvard Business Review, ―In this era of talent wars, partners at professional firms can no longer afford to have a survival of the fittest mind-set toward the consultants, investment bankers, and junior accountants aspiring to join their ranks‖ (Ibarra, 2000, p. 147). Mentoring programs meet multiple needs of individuals, companies, and the wider community. According to Van Eck, ―Mentoring has received considerable attention in organizational literature in the United States over the past two decades, primarily because of its linkage to both job and career success‖ (Van Eck, 2000, p. 549). Corporate success requires attention to the changing nature of the job market as well. As James Hayes indicates, ―We want business to view the next generation as part of their responsibility! From the board rooms of the nation‘s largest corporations to the back rooms of main street‘s smallest businesses...from General Motors to the General Store...we want to create an atmosphere . . . that encourages mentoring...‖ (Hayes, 1995, p. 401) In our survey of managers, corporate needs were the dominant reason for developing programs, with the needs of the individual ranking second (See Table 2). Table 2: Expected Extent of Benefits 7 1.8 1.8 369 97.9 99.7 1 .3 100 377 100.0 Individual Organization Society Total Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent Table 1: Size of Companies 173 58.8 58.8 26 8.8 67.6 43 14.6 82.2 16 5.5 87.7 16 5.5 93.2 20 6.8 100 294 100 < 50 5015