MENTORING & CAREER PROGRESSION

Mentoring & Career Progression

Mentoring & Career Progression

“A good mentor acts as an advisor, teacher, exemplar, and career advocate. A good mentor can also acquaint a new associate with firm culture and client relations. The road to success is often paved by a good mentor.” (McManus, 2005, cited in Kay, Hagan, & Parker, 2009) This is high praise indeed, advocating mentoring as a method of enhancing career progression. But to discover the mechanics of 'how' mentoring achieves this we need to examine in closer detail, the different types of mentoring and discover what exactly constitutes a 'good' mentor and we will try to examine exactly how 'effective' mentoring is at fostering career development. We will also take a look at some demographical factors influencing the efficacy of mentoring.

A large portion of literature has been devoted to extolling the virtues of mentoring as a means of career development and advancement. (Phillips- Jones, 1982; Ragins & Cotton, 1991).

In 1989 in a study by Fagenson it was found that men and women who had been mentored rated themselves as having had significantly more promotion opportunities, higher job satisfaction, and greater recognition within the company than people who had not been mentored did.

Koberg, Chappell, Boss, & Ringer (1992), found similar results. Individuals that had experienced mentoring rated themselves as having greater job satisfaction and less work alienation.

Ostroff and Kozowski (1993; cited in Mullens, 2002) found that especially in the case of new employees, mentoring was useful. New staff members in an organisation learned more about the organisation and its practices if they had mentors than they did if they had none. Laband and Lentz (1995) found that mentorship reduced employee turnover in a study conducted with lawyers. Both Allen et al. (2004) and Underhill (2006, cited Eby, et al, 2008) found significant relationships between mentoring in the workplace and career attitudes, work attitudes, and some career outcomes.

The potential advantages of mentoring as a form of induction, or in-service training, depend to a considerable extent on the quality of the “match” between mentor and new head. The matching process, then, is a critical element in determining the success of mentoring. In one East Midlands LEA, a careful approach is adopted taking account of location, phase (primary or secondary) and the expressed preferences of the new heads. All mentors must be trained. In a few cases the new head nominates the mentor but more often the LEA co-ordinator makes the allocation, taking account of any “negative preferences” expressed by the new heads.

Typically, heads are the allocated mentors with experience in the same phase. Occasionally, cross-phase mentoring occurs with mixed results. In one case, the relationship broke down because of the perceived limitations of experience in the other phase:

We noted earlier the dual nature of mentoring, incorporating both personal support and professional development. Kram distinguishes between the psychosocial and career functions of mentorship: A mentor relationship has the potential to enhance career development and psychosocial development of both ...