Workplace Mentoring Research Articles

Enduring impacts of collaborative workplace music mentoring for early childhood generalist teachers, music mentors and students

ABSTRACT This study documents the enduring impacts of a workplace music mentoring programme for generalist classroom teachers in early childhood school settings in Australia. The study draws on follow-up interviews with mentors, teachers and principals from five of 11 participating schools one year after the programme. This study identifies participant perceptions of enduring outcomes, enduring effective mentoring, and effective mentor qualities. Two researchers undertook thematic analysis independently and conducted iterative discussions to refine the emerging themes. Enduring outcomes for mentors, teachers and students included: (1) music mentoring as collaborative self-development; (2) identification and realisation of individual and collective goals for music teaching; (3) reflection, feedback and joint planning informing learning; (4) integration of music into daily activities, lesson transitions, school culture; (5) creating a community of music practice in and across schools; and (6) improved classroom climate and enhanced student engagement and positive behaviours. Enduring qualities of effective music teaching included: (7) building teacher confidence and competence for music leadership; (8) observation of expert practice as a learning tool; (9) focused feedback informing lesson planning and implementation; and (10) specialised, collaborative workplace mentoring. Enduring qualities of effective music mentors included sensitivity, responsiveness, situational awareness, flexibility, and subject and pedagogic expertise.

Youth Perspectives on Decent Education and College and Career Readiness

Decent education is conceptualized as playing an important role in preparing young people for college and career and eventual access to decent and satisfying work. While this is a promising extension of psychology of working theory for youth (PWT), the construct was derived from a review of literature, and needs to be informed by research, including youth perspectives. To address this gap and to advance research on youth PWT, we interviewed 17 high school seniors (11 female, four male, two non-binary) with diverse racial/ethnic identities and levels of caretaker educational attainment. Interviews were conducted in the year following the outbreak of COVID-19 with students attending innovative schools that feature student-centered learning, workplace internships, and close relationships with advisors and workplace mentors. Analyses conducted through Consensual Qualitative Research highlight youth perceptions of how relational supports and learning experiences at school and in workplace internships can promote a range of academic, vocational, social skills and psychological resources relevant for college and career readiness. The findings amplify youth understanding of decent education and extend knowledge of psychological resources, including youth purpose, self-efficacy, and critical consciousness, aligned with youth PWT.

Mentoring in the workplace: Exploring the experiences of mentor–mentee relations

Orientation: The way work is performed changes continuously and mentoring is becoming more prevalent in the workplace and this rapid modification of work profiles mentoring relationships as vital.Research purpose: This study explored the mentor’s and mentee’s experiences in the same relationship at a construction firm offering a formal mentoring programme.Motivation for the study: A more comprehensive understanding of the mentoring relationship was required to aid organisations with agile and robust talent and skills development interventions.Research approach/design and method: A qualitative research design was employed and in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data were analysed in two phases: (1) direct content analysis and (2) thematic analyses. The study’s findings are singularly reported to comprehensively understand the mentoring relationship’s lived experiences.Main findings: The experiences of the mentoring relationship in a workplace context are viewed as informal, mutualistic, and context-bound. Four key themes emerged from the mentoring relational interaction: (1) positive relationship, (2) growth and enablement, (3) psychological safety, and (4) purposeful.Practical/managerial implications: The findings could assist organisations in realising the importance of mentoring relationships in mentoring programmes, as the interaction proves effective in solving pressing challenges, such as attracting and retaining talent and addressing skills gaps.Contribution/value-add: This study conceptualises the mentoring relationship from an organisational context and contributes to the limited available literature on the topic. Possible recommendations are offered to improve workplace mentoring relationships.

Humanistic Professionals Perceptions on Workplace Mentoring to Support Professional andPersonal Wellbeing: A Narrative Inquiry Study

This research explores workplace challenges as experienced by four Malteseprofessionals in the management, education, health, social welfare and law fields, and theirperceptions on how mentoring arising through understanding of compulsory supervisionin therapeutic practices might impact their professional and personal wellbeing. Informedby collating the narratives of these professionals, I analyse the beneficence of mentoringsupport practices if implemented in these humanistic fields. Supervision is an inherent partof being a practitioner in the talking therapies and supports the practitioners personaland professional wellbeing since, according to Spagnuolo Lobb (2019), individual andorganisational wellbeing cannot be separated. This rationale can be applied to mentoringin other humanistic professions. In fact, mentoring developed in diverse humanistic fields,encompassing the notion that the support of a mentor to the mentee is not limited to careeraspirations but also includes support for the enhancement of personal wellbeing (Dutton2003). Narrative inquiry is the chosen research methodology, generating a transformativephilosophical approach. Purposive sampling was used and the data was collected through indepthnarrative interviewing (Bernard 2002; Lewis and Sheppard 2006). Thematic narrativeanalysis was utilised as an analytic tool to gain access to the narrators world (Polkinghorne1995) and MAXQDA was used to proficiently aid the analytic process. Quality in this researchwas ensured by considering procedural, situational, and relational ethical dimensions (Tracy2010). Following the analytic process, a model is depicted, followed by recommendations,amongst which are: informing humanistic fields about the benefits of mentoring provision;making supportive mentoring accessible for all humanistic professionals; offering formal,informal, internal, and external forms of mentoring; and ensuring that the mentor is trainedand supported.

Workplace learning and development of people with limited work capacity

AbstractWorkplace learning and development is crucial for sustained employability, especially for people with limited work capacity (LWC). We explored the development in cognitive functioning and work behaviour of people with LWC and to which extent this is moderated by workplace acceptance and support. As suggested in literature, acceptance and support concern pre‐conditions for development. Therefore, we expected them to influence the development of our target group. In total, 182 people with LWC and 172 workplace mentors provided data on dimensions of cognitive functioning and work behaviour on three time‐points over 4 months. Furthermore, people with LWC provided data on workplace acceptance and support.Results showed significant development over time for both, self‐ and observer‐rated cognitive functioning, such as planning and organising, learning and memory, problem solving, and for self‐rated adaptability and concentration. Development over time emerged for the self‐rated work pace, a work behaviour dimension. Moreover, the growth curves on self‐rated variables such as learning and memory, work accuracy, social behaviour and work pace were moderated by workplace acceptance and support. This study provides initial insight into growth patterns of cognitive functioning and work behaviour of people with LWC and illustrates the relevance of a supportive climate for development.

Motherhood and Mentoring Networks: The Unequal Impact of Overwork on Women’s Workplace Mentoring Networks

Using longitudinal data on 1,711 female managers in South Korean firms, this study examines how time, culture, and workplace structure affect women’s mentoring networks. Our analyses demonstrate that women with fewer time constraints and who work longer hours are more likely to have a male mentor. However, when motherhood status is considered, work hours and time constraints are not significant predictors of having a mentor for mothers. Rather, organizational flexibility and work-life policies influence whether mothers have mentors, but those mothers who work long hours and display minimal domestic commitments benefit the most from the availability of flexibility. Findings suggest that long work hours and time constraints affect women’s marginalization in workplace relationships, and corporate practices mitigating work hour expectations can alleviate this impact for women with children.

Employee Competency Management Initiative: A Literature Review

This paper discussed the concept of employee competency management initiatives. The paper highlighted particularly on three competency management initiatives – employee training, workplace mentoring and coaching. The paper is theoretical and as such draws its significance from its focus on the need for flexible and fluid employee competency initiatives given the changing dynamics and features of the work and business environment. This position is also hinged on the observed challenges of change and the imperatives for organizational learning and management re-orientation in line with the shifts in the market and the global community. The study concludes that the adoption and application of competency initiatives should begin with the specific needs of the organization as well as the specification of its goals. The design and features of competency management initiatives such as employee training, workplace mentoring and coaching, premised on the specifications of the organizations own particular experiences and expectations will offer more focus and will be more effective in addressing the organizations own unique or particular challenges and problems

An exploratory study into the teaching of clinical examination skills in advanced practice.

Clinical examination skills are vital for the accurate assessment and diagnosis of patients. These skills also allow clinicians to differentiate between pathology requiring investigation or treatment and normal anatomy or physiology. This allows clinicians to avoid unnecessary tests and to be able to reassure a patient that their symptoms do not require treatment. However, an incomplete or faulty clinical examination can lead to missed diagnoses and patient harm. Although comprehensive clinical examination skills training is provided in the undergraduate curriculum of medical schools in the UK, little is known in relation to the teaching provided for nurses and allied health professions working in advanced practice roles. This survey sought to explore this phenomenon and uncover clinicians' experiences with regard to being taught a selection of specific clinical examination skills in theory and in practice, those skills being the core system examinations (respiratory, cardiovascular and peripheral vascular, abdominal, central and peripheral nervous systems) and a number of focused examinations (digital rectal and examination, thyroid, breast and genital examination for males and females). The findings demonstrate a concerning variability of educational experiences and a lack of educational coverage of some of the basic clinical examination skills in both theoretical and practical terms. These findings provide an insight into areas of future higher education curricula development as well as workplace mentoring and learning.

Practices and strategies for enhancing learning through collaboration between vocational teacher training institutions and workplaces

The study aimed to identify and understand practices and strategies for enhancing learning through collaboration among a master’s degree in vocational pedagogy (MVP) program, vocational teacher training institutions (VTIs), and workplaces. Using in-depth semi-structured individual and focus group interviews, data were obtained from administrators, mentors, supervisors, students, teachers, officers/managers of the MVP, two VTIs, and four workplaces from central and eastern parts of Uganda. The data analysis was based on Engestrom’s cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) particularly the concept of expansive learning for resolving contradictions within human activity systems. The findings revealed a need for involving actors in timely planning and disseminating the activity plans, increasing duration for collaborative activities as well as involving the students in the tracking of MVP activity record in fostering the institutional capacity to plan and implement collaborative activities. To strengthen the institutional capacity to supervise learning under collaborative activities, findings indicated a need to engaging workplace mentors and facilitators in learning at the MVP as well as joint supervision and collaborative development of supervision guidelines. To foster the communication between partners, the findings revealed a need to institute a collaboration focal person, providing feedback to collaborating actors and government support on a policy encouraging workplaces’ involvement in vocational training. Relationship issues revealed a need to initiate collaboration based on a signed memorandum of understanding as well as organising workshops and symposiums to equip and orient actors to MVP work methods and practices. Due to contradicting learning cultures and traditions amongst the activity systems, some of the suggested strategies required renegotiating the system especially the university before being implemented to minimise further challenges.

A multivariate analysis of workplace mentoring and socializing in the wake of #MeToo

ABSTRACT This paper examines workplace mentoring and socializing behaviours in the wake of #MeToo and whether these practices might be associated with women’s career trajectories. To address this important and timely topic, we fielded two surveys, one to managers (n = 203) and the other to female employees (n = 1,847), asking several questions about mentoring and male/female work interactions. Descriptive statistics show that 32% of the female employee sample report that their views on male/female work interactions are different today than they were 1–2 years ago. Multivariate analyses of the manager sample indicate that male managers are significantly less likely than female managers to mentor or interact one-on-one with female employees. The implication of these findings is that female employees may face a mentoring disadvantage in the wake of #MeToo. The adverse effects for career growth and advancement for female employees could be profound.

Workplace Mentorship: A Critical Review

Mentoring is a popular workplace practice, bolstered by a substantial body of literature that has underscored its positive outcomes for protégés and organizations. Less pronounced are the potential risks and costs associated with workplace mentorship. In this article, we consolidate what is known about workplace mentorship and draw on organizational justice research, self-determination theory, and findings related to indirect exposure to expand on the potentially darker side of workplace mentorship. Our comprehensive review suggests that workplace mentorship appears to have positive consequences in particular circumstances for particular groups of employees, but the conclusiveness of its positive effects is limited by significant gaps in the research. To assist in determining if the potential benefits outweigh the potential risks and costs, we offer a list of considerations for individual employees who are considering engaging in a mentoring relationship and for those implementing workplace mentoring programs.

The influence of humor on workplace mentoring and employee attitudes

Organizations are under continual pressure to cultivate an environment in which employees feel valued and committed, and mentoring provides one channel through which this may be achieved. In particular, the dynamics characterizing the mentoring relationship are of paramount importance. In the current study of 108 direct-care staff at a psychiatric hospital, we investigated the influence of 2 aspects of these dynamics—mentor humor style and the frequency with which humor is used—on protégé satisfaction with the mentoring relationship and on several key work-related outcomes (i. e., organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions). Overall, mentor humor style and frequency were both positively associated with protégés' mentoring satisfaction. Furthermore, mentoring satisfaction favorably influenced protégés' affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction, both of which were inversely related to their turnover intentions. Theoretical and practical implications of these results, along with the role of indirect effects, are discussed.

An exploration of workplace mentoring preferences of new-graduate physiotherapists within Australian practice.

The transition from student to physiotherapist involves a steep learning curve typically characterised by stress, anxiety and a lack of confidence in clinical and professional skills. Workplace mentoring is widely used to mediate this transition. The aim of this study was to explore new-graduate physiotherapists' preferences for workplace mentoring and perceived characteristics of effective mentoring to mediate workplace transition. A qualitative study with a general inductive thematic approach was used. Semi-structured interviews of 15 employed new-graduate physiotherapists were undertaken within their first 3-6 months of clinical practice. Four themes emerged that were associated with effective mentoring from the new-graduates' perspective: (1) accessibility of mentoring and support, (2) the ideal mentor, (3) individualised to the mentee and (4) desire for self-determination. This study is the first to explore new-graduate physiotherapists' preferences for workplace mentoring in their transition into the workplace and clinical practice. It has identified important characteristics of physiotherapists and other clinicians who support the transition of new-graduate physiotherapists into the practice setting. Enhancing workplaces through support for the development of these characteristics can contribute to the effective integration of the newest members of the profession and may enhance their development and retention in practice.

Learning from community pharmacists' initial experiences of a workplace-based training program

IntroductionTo prepare community pharmacists for the provision of clinical and patient-focused services, a novel postgraduate course for community pharmacists in the United Kingdom was developed. The program incorporated personal development planning against a personal development framework, workplace mentoring, employment of work-based assessment tools, activities that encouraged increased inter-professional working, reflection, and opportunities for peer support. Objectives were to identify course components that support development, describe the effect on practice, and explore the perceived advantages and disadvantages of this model of postgraduate education. MethodsInterviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 15 community pharmacists after they had completed approximately one year of the three-year course. A topic guide covering approaches to learning, rationale for course selection, course experiences to date, and impact on practice was used. Interview recordings were thematically analyzed. ResultsTwo themes were identified. ‘Support for learning’ describes the components of the course that provided support for learning, including opportunities to learn with and from others, workplace mentoring, and facilitated access to general practitioners. ‘Outcomes of learning’ encompasses how the course was a way of effecting change within existing roles and the increase in confidence and motivation to change practice. ConclusionsThe model has merit in supporting community pharmacists to develop the confidence and competence required for extended clinical and patient-focused roles. While this model of learning seems to provide educational value, further research is required to determine whether the additional resources required to provide workplace mentoring, use work-based assessment tools, and encourage inter-professional working are justified.

Perceptions of Job Competencies and Mentoring Program Development for Extension Administrative Assistants: A Focus Group Study of Multiple Extension Employee Groups

Extension workplace mentoring programs may produce increased Extension programming competence, organizational commitment, job satisfaction (Denny, 2016), and leadership effectiveness (Kutilek & Earnest, 2001). The study described in this article aimed to gather information for a proposed mentoring program for Extension administrative assistants. A total of 12 focus groups were conducted with 78 participants representing five employee groups: administrative assistants, Extension agents, county directors, state specialists, and department heads. Employee groups were separately interviewed. Findings indicated that respondents perceive the role of an administrative assistant as critically important, and major competencies required by the administrative assistant role are people skills/customer service, bookkeeping, technology, and a willingness to learn/adaptability to change. Respondents perceived that workplace mentoring is important, and it should be required of all newly-hired administrative assistants. Regarding incentives, administrative assistants felt that counting mentoring time as part of their University’s annual professional learning requirement of 32 hours would encourage participation. Major recommendations include the establishment of an e-mentoring program that incorporates the administrative assistants’ academic, career, and personal goals in addition to organizational policies and procedures.

Mediating role of mentoring functions on linking personality and occupational commitment in Indian organizations

ABSTRACTThis study investigated the mediating effect of mentoring on the relationship between the Five Factor Model (FFM) Personality traits and occupational commitment (OC). The study used cross-sectional survey-based research design. Data were collected from 362 managers of public and private sector organizations located in North India. The results indicated that psychosocial mentoring acts as a partial mediator for facilitating the linkage between all the FFM traits and OC. Contrary to this, career mentoring was found to partially mediate the link between only conscientiousness-OC, agreeableness-OC and emotional stability-OC. No mediating effect of career mentoring was found for personality factors of openness and extraversion. HRD practitioners are encouraged to implement train-for-trainers’ sessions for raising awareness among senior managers/mentors about the importance of psychosocial mentoring functions. This study is unique, because it is among the few to appropriately capture the mediating role of mentoring functions vis a vis the personality and OC relationship. Further, it also enriches the existing body of research on workplace mentoring and careers, especially in the South-Asian context.

The Psychology of Workplace Mentoring Relationships

Workplace mentoring relationships have been advanced as critical to employee development. However, mentoring research has tended to find small to moderate effects of mentoring on protégé and mentor outcomes and considerable heterogeneity in effect sizes. These findings underscore the need to better understand the psychology of mentoring relationships in order to maximize the benefits of mentoring for mentors, protégés, and organizations. In this article, after briefly reviewing established research on workplace mentoring relationships, we introduce five relationship science theories from outside organizational psychology and organizational behavior that provide new insight into the psychology of workplace mentoring: attachment theory, interdependence theory, self-expansion theory, Rhodes’ model of formal youth mentoring, and the working alliance. We then discuss several unique features of workplace mentoring that should be considered when applying these relationship science theories and introduce provocative ideas for future research. We conclude by discussing practical implications for mentors, protégés, and organizations.

The Impact of Workplace Mentors on the Moral Disengagement of Business Student Protégés

Educators and practitioners often raise the question of whether business schools sufficiently prepare students to stay morally engaged when faced with ethical dilemmas in the workforce. Specifically, they criticize the theoretical nature of traditional in-class exercises for inhibiting students’ moral development. We investigate the impact working business mentors have on business student moral disengagement. We collected three waves of data from an 8-month formal mentoring program that matched business students with working mentors from the business community. We found that student protégé moral disengagement decreased during the mentoring program as a function of mentor ethical leadership skills, moral identity internalization, and moral awareness. Consequently, we recommend that mentoring programs pay close attention to these mentor characteristics to elevate business student moral reasoning and avoid unintended negative consequences. To guide mentoring programs in this endeavor, we provide specific recommendations for structuring a training program that focuses on improving mentor critical thinking, moral awareness, and ethical leadership.

Mentoring Connections: Implementing a Student–Alumni Mentor Program in Social Work

ABSTRACTA student-alumni mentor program that combines aspects of academic and workplace mentoring was developed and implemented in a school of social work. Foundation-year MSW students (mentees) were matched with school of social work alumni (mentors) in a formal mentoring program. This program was developed to address the needs of MSW students, alumni, and the school of social work by providing students with a professional mentor and fostering ongoing connections and opportunities for involvement for alumni. A model for designing, developing, and implementing this program is presented. Benefits of the program for students, mentors, and the school are discussed as well as lessons learned during implementation.

The impact of a short-term training program on workers' sterile processing knowledge and practices in 12 Ethiopian hospitals: A mixed methods study.

BackgroundThe need for increased attention to surgical safety in low- and middle-income countries invited organizations worldwide to support improvements in surgical care. However, little is written about issues in instrument sterilization in low- and middle-income countries including Ethiopia.ObjectiveThe study aims to identify the impact of a sterile processing course, with a training-of-trainers component and workplace mentoring on surgical instrument cleaning and sterilization practices at 12 hospitals in Ethiopia.MethodA mixed-methods research design that incorporates both qualitative and quantitative research approaches to address issues in sterile processing was used for this study. The quantitative data (test results) were validated by qualitative data (hospital assessments, including observations and participant feedback). Twelve hospitals were involved in the training, including two university teaching hospitals from two regions of Ethiopia. In each of the two regions 30 sterile processing staff were invited to participate in a three-day course including theory and skills training; 12–15 of these individuals were invited to remain for a two-day training of trainers course. The collected quantitative data were analysed using a paired t-test by SPSS software, whereas comparative analysis was employed for the qualitative data.ResultsProcess, structural, and knowledge changes were identified following program implementation. Knowledge test results indicated an increase of greater than 20% in participant sterile processing knowledge. Changes in process included improved flow of instruments from dirty to clean, greater attention to detail during the cleaning and decontamination steps, more focused inspection of instruments and careful packaging, as well as changes to how instruments were stored. Those trained to be trainers had taught over 250 additional staff.ConclusionsIncreased attention to and knowledge in sterile processing practices and care of instruments with a short, one-week course provides evidence that a small amount of resources applied to a largely under-resourced area of healthcare can result in decreased risks to patients and staff. Providing education in sterile processing and ensuring staff have the ability to disseminate their learnings to other health care providers results in decreasing risks of hospital associated infections in patients.