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Action Plan for Recommendation #5
Institute Mentoring Program
Hyperlink to Exhibit 28: Overview of Strategic SOM Workforce Recommendations by Career
Stage
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RECOMMENDATION #5
Institute Mentoring Program
Description: In order to quickly develop and onboard Recommendation Highlights
entry-level staff or other employees new to the SOM
Target Career Stage: Entry-level staff,
field, mentoring programs (both formal and informal)
mid-career staff, senior leaders
are effective. Mentoring programs typically involve
Will help with Attraction, Recruitment,
pairing someone more junior with an individual in a
Retention, and Development
similar field of work who has more experience in the
Estimated Time to Implement: 7 months
organization (e.g., 5+ years) and a successful
to 1 year
performance record. Mentoring programs have also
Provide opportunity for new employees
shown success for encouraging and engaging minority to learn about their job and the agency
workers by partnering the worker with someone who is from an experienced staff member
more advanced in his/her career, who may share similar Can lead to workers who are more
demographic characteristics and therefore may have satisfied and more likely to succeed in
experienced certain challenges or perceived barriers that their jobs
the junior person may encounter during early stages of
his/her career.
Rationale for Recommendation: As the Baby Boomers retire, the marketplace faces the most
diverse workforce ever encountered. Whereas many SOM managers, professionals, and technicians
are older white males, the potential applicant pool for SOM positions is much more diverse in almost
every state and metro area. These changes in the demographics of the applicant pool have already
impacted the demographics of the current SOM workforce. For example, the majority of participants
interviewed indicated their respective agency has begun to reach out to populations often overlooked
(e.g., minorities, veterans, ex-prisoners). As a result, these interviewees reported an increase of
younger employees, minorities, and women employed at all levels of the SOM field. While tapping
into minority populations to expand the applicant pool helps alleviate challenges associated with
maintaining a sustainable workforce, it may also give rise to new challenges for management. For
example, one participant indicated that communication issues may arise as a result of cultural and/or
language barriers.
Lastly, the impending influx of younger workers into leadership positions presents another set of
challenges. For example, younger workers typically expect more support from their employers in
terms of work-life balance and flexible work arrangements (Zemke, Raines, and Filipczak, 2000).
Participants also commented on the younger generation's need to see how they can advance
throughout their career, which is sometimes difficult to illustrate in SOM since the field currently
lacks a standardized career path. These types of benefits may need to be added to recruitment
packages to attract, recruit, and retain a viable workforce. Furthermore, participants indicated that
motivational factors vary across generations, specifically citing the younger generation's need to be
stimulated and challenged in their work, perhaps as a result of growing up with an emphasis on
multi-tasking. These differences result in the need for new management approaches in order to keep
younger employees engaged and sometimes to retain them in the workforce. These changes in the
demographic composition of the workforce and the influx of so many new workers argue for
increased focus on mentoring and other programs that support efficient development and inclusion
into the workplace culture.
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RELEVANT POSITIONS
TARGET AUDIENCES
Source of Initiation Return on Investment Targeted Audience(s)
Industry 0-2 years Primary: New hires within the
organization and those identified
Agency 3-5 years
as strong performers with a
6+ years predetermined amount of
Primary Human Resource
Focus experience. The new hires should
Estimated Time to be assigned mentoring
Attraction Implement relationships within their first
Recruitment 0-3 months month of hire.
Retention 3-6 months
Development 7 months-1 year
More than 1 year
Implementation Level
National Action Lead(s)
Regional HR Manager (Designated
Mentoring Program
State
Coordinator)
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IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Steps to Implement
1. Assemble Committee. Assemble committee including HR Manager, recruitment staff, and
senior leadership, which will be led by the mentoring program coordinator.
2. Design Mentoring Program. Design the mentoring program by laying out the program
objectives, coordinators, size, and scope of program.
3. Determine Mentorship Match Criteria. Determine match criteria that will designate how
mentees/protégés and mentors are placed into relationships. A formal mentoring program, as
recommended, includes mentees being assigned a specific mentor based on predetermined
criteria. Example criteria for matching include:
Competency Matching--Mentees are matched based on their weak areas. Mentors are
selected based on their strengths or level of proficiency on competencies such that
mentors can help a mentee "fill in competency gaps."
Job Type Matching--Mentees are matched with mentors who have at least 5 years of
experience in the same job type and who have demonstrated excellent performance of
the job tasks.
Demographic Characteristics--Mentees may be matched with mentors across jobs or lines
of business based on sharing common characteristics with the mentor such as age, race
or gender.
Combination Approach--Matches occur based on a combination of factors. Typically the
factors are prioritized so that the first "cut" for matching occurs along the most
important dimension and then within that dimension, and additional factors are
considered prior to making a match.
Allow input on specific matching by mentors. The senior-level staff often see relationships
that would be most conducive to mentoring based on criteria that are very qualitative or
"soft."
4. Market the Mentoring Program. Conduct briefing sessions where employees learn about the
program, including its benefits and how the restructured program differs from past mentor
programs.
5. Recruit Mentors through Various Media Channels. Information should include benefits for
the mentor, program expectations, and time commitments. Interested employees should be
asked to complete an application. Mentors should be "pre-screened" to ensure they have good
working relationships with their colleagues and have no indiscretions on their performance
record that might result in a mentee being put at risk should the behavior re-emerge.
6. Invite Mentees to Participate. This should occur at the same time as mentor recruitment.
However, it is recommended that once a mentoring program is established, mentees are assigned
a mentor within 1 month of employment to help with the onboarding process. The mentee
should also be informed of the benefits and expectations.
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7. Administer Self-Assessments. At this point, mentor applications should be screened by the
program coordinator. Mentors who display a lack of interest or time or who may have ulterior
motives for applying should not be selected. Mentors as well as all mentees who apply should
be asked to complete a self inventory that is based on the match criteria.
For example, the inventory may include a competency self-assessment. This brief survey
should ask the participants to rate themselves on how proficient they believe they are on
each of the competencies. Responses will be made on a four-point scale with their
perceived level of proficiency ranging from `expert' to `limited" or low proficiency in an
area.
8. Match Mentor and Mentee. Based on the criteria selected in Step 3, the mentor and mentee
should be matched and provided with the appropriate contact information to initiate the
relationship. Two important considerations in matching include:
Mentor should not be in the mentee's chain of command (e.g., the mentee's direct
supervisor).
For entry-level mentees, the mentor should be two levels above the mentee. This can
assist the new employee in learning the technical skills that are necessary for the position.
For senior-level employees who are hired mid-career, the mentor should be someone at
the same level as the mentee because this new employee will already have the technical
skills required for the job, but will benefit from a mentor who can help teach the role the
new employee will fill in the organization.
9. Train Mentors on Their Role as a Mentor. Optimally, before meeting with their mentees,
mentors should receive training. This training should be formalized, with all mentors being
required to participate. Required potential topics could include what it means to be a mentor,
how to be a successful mentor, personal benefits associated with being a mentor (e.g., respect,
developing a new relationship), and a place where mentors can go to ask questions or seek
advice about the mentoring program.
10. Conduct Orientation and Training. The orientation session provided to program participants
should meet the following objectives:
Outline the program's structure, roles, and responsibilities for mentees and mentors as
well as program staff, and clearly delineate the expectations and limitations of the
program.
Identify additional resources available to the mentee/mentor pairs, including career
counseling services and quarterly conferences designed to encourage and assist the
mentoring pairs.
Provide activities and a structured environment in which the mentees and their mentors
can begin to develop their mentoring relationship.
11. Build Camaraderie among Mentee-Mentor Pairs. Plan and offer activities to build
camaraderie and support among mentee-mentor pairs such as guest speakers on career
development, group lunches, trainings, job-related conferences, and end-of-year mentoring
celebrations.
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12. Monitor and Evaluate the Program at Regular Intervals . It is recommended that formal
evaluation of the mentoring program take place on a quarterly basis. This includes collecting
feedback from mentees and mentors on the effectiveness of the program. Structured evaluation
forms should be developed and used each time data is collected in order to make comparisons
across evaluations. It is also essential to get feedback from both participants before and after.
COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
Communication/Outreach Strategies
As part of Implementation Steps 4 and 5, it is important that the incentives and expectations for
participating in a mentoring relationship are clearly defined. Mentoring relationships often fail
due to unmet expectations (e.g., the mentee expects the mentor to be accessible every day but
the mentor is rarely available; the mentor sees little value in continuing as a mentor).
With respect to Step 7 under Implementation, results of any assessments or personal
information collected as part of the matching process should be treated with strict
confidentiality. For the mentoring relationship to be successful, participants' supervisors should
not be involved in the selection of mentors or in review of any information regarding the
mentee. For success, it is important to inform participants that the assessment process is for
matching and program evaluation purposes only and will not be used to influence the
participants' performance appraisal process.
For Steps 9, 10, and 11 under Implementation, the program coordinator should distribute inter-
office mail memos and post information clearly on the agency intranet regarding upcoming
trainings and activities. These postings should occur at least 2 months in advance of the sessions,
require RSVPs, and be paired with reminder notices 1 week in advance to ensure all mentees and
mentors are aware of events and have the opportunity to participate.
The mentoring program can be used as a hook to recruit new staff at career fairs and
transportation-related conferences/events. Marketing materials describing the program such as a
brochure or flyer should be developed to distribute at these events.
In the effort to recruit minorities, the agency should identify organizations committed to the
professional advancement of different groups and try partnering with them or identifying
events/conferences they could attend with recruitment purposes (e.g., Women's Transportation
Seminar WTS, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers).
Process for Obtaining Buy-In
As part of the first implementation step, agencies are encouraged to engage senior leaders in
articulating the program objectives and scope of the mentoring program. Allowing the senior
leaders a voice helps to gain top management support, which is critical to ensuring that the
initiative is adopted throughout the organization.
The program coordinator should be responsible for identifying the ROI of the mentoring
program and should hold regular meetings with the senior leadership team and initial mentoring
committee to discuss program evaluation results and ways to make continuous improvements.
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USEFUL INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL RESOURCES
To Implement Practice
It is essential that the agency has a staff member who is dedicated to implementing, sustaining,
and evaluating the mentoring program.
The agency needs access to individuals with expertise in training design and delivery to develop
the mentee and mentor training/orientation sessions.
Example topics that could be covered in a mentee training session include:
Review of program expectations and activities.
Identifying personal mentee goals.
How diversity affects mentoring relationships.
Situations where seeking assistance from a mentor would be appropriate.
Situations where seeking assistance from a mentor would not be appropriate.
Tools for building a relationship with mentor.
How to be a productive mentee.
The mentor training session could include the following topics:
Review of program expectations and activities.
Basic mentoring skills.
How diversity affects mentoring relationships.
Effective interpersonal and communication skills related to coaching and providing
feedback.
The mentor's role in helping the mentee set and achieve developmental goals.
How to be an effective mentor.
Tools for building a relationship with mentee.
Suggestions and ideas for future meeting topics.
To Sustain Practice
The mentoring program needs to be highly integrated with other leadership, knowledge capture,
and training initiatives. Mentoring should be tailored to provide mentees with specific guidance
and activities that are appropriate for where the participant is in his/her career.
The agency needs to designate a program coordinator who is responsible for continuous
communication about the mentoring program to ensure that its value is recognized throughout
the organization. Top management support is also integral to keeping mentors and mentees
engaged and making sure the pairs prioritize time spent on mentoring.
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Record evidence of where and how the mentoring program provides a return on investment.
For example, the agency may calculate: turnover data before and after implementing the
mentoring program, money saved due to reduction in turnover among mentees, any increases
that may be discerned in applications received, retention numbers over specific periods of time,
and increases in new hire performance.
EXAMPLES OF EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS
Idaho EIT Mentoring Program. The Idaho Transportation Department employs a successful,
formal mentoring program as part of the Engineer in Training (EIT) program. The mentoring
program is required while participating in the training program. For the program, an experienced
engineer mentor is paired with a new trainee protégé. These matches are made purposefully by
a selection committee based on the interests, goals, and areas of expertise of the mentor and the
protégé. In making these matches, the program stipulates that mentors cannot be in the direct
supervisory line of protégés. Both the mentor and protégé must sign a contract that sets out
clearly defined expectations between the mentor and protégé and they must work together to
ensure that the mentoring relationship is successful. Participants in the program are provided
with a handbook that gives advice for both mentors and protégés, which covers communication,
each person's role in the mentoring relationship, how to deal with conflict, necessary
worksheets, and further resources regarding how to be an effective mentor or protégé. The
program stipulates that each mentor-protégé pair must meet for at least 1 hour each month.
This program successfully exposes new employees to the organizational culture, the technical
requirements of the job, and provides managerial and organizational information. It is also used
as a means to help develop future leaders. While protégés benefit from the support,
encouragement, and information that they receive, mentors benefit by the positive impact they
are making, earning admiration and respect, and by improving and refining interpersonal skills.
In order to ensure that the mentoring program is successful and all mentor-protégé pairs are
benefiting, semi-annual evaluations are conducted by mentors and protégés regarding each other
as well as the program as a whole.
Contact Information: Matt Farrar, EIT Coordinator, 208-334-8538,
matt.farrar@itd.idaho.gov
New Jersey DOT Succession Planning Mentoring Program. As a part of succession
planning at the New Jersey DOT, experienced leaders are paired with less experienced
employees in a mentoring program. The purpose of this mentoring relationship is to provide
the mentee with career guidance, encouragement, knowledge, and a role model in order to assist
in meeting individual goals as well as becoming future leaders. For this program, mentees are
given the option to choose a mentor who can either be inside or outside of the NJDOT.
Because this mentoring program is a part of NJDOT's succession planning, all participants are
expected to be future leaders and are thus required to take initiative in driving the mentoring
relationship. Therefore, the goal of the program is to help mentees in becoming future leaders.
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Mentor-mentee pairs are expected to meet for at least 2 hours each month, focusing on areas
the mentee wants to improve in and on assessments of the mentee. The mentoring program is
1 year in length, and includes both formal training sessions and individual meetings with the
mentor. After a year is completed in the mentoring program, mentees can choose to stay with
their mentor or choose a new mentor, but they are encouraged to remain in the program.
Contact Information: New Jersey Department of Transportation Succession Planning
program, sp@dot.state.nj.us
Charleston County Government Mentor Network Program. The government of
Charleston County, South Carolina, recently implemented a pilot mentoring program called the
"mentor network program" to help workers at all levels of the organization develop into leaders.
It is a leadership tool. Mentees chose their mentors. Similar to a speed-dating approach, protégé
bios are distributed. The pilot program started with five pairs. The potential pairs were given a
certain amount of time to meet each other as done in speed dating. The matched pairs then
worked together for a year. The program is a structured and formal program. Once a month, the
pair is required to submit information to their human resource division. The mentoring pairs are
provided with mentor toolkits, articles on mentoring, and forms to help with dialogue. Self-
assessments (Meyers-Briggs Personality Tests) were conducted to ensure those chosen for the
pilot had the appropriate focus. People in mentoring relationships were not restricted to the
same functional areas.
Contact Information: Evelyn DeLaine-Hart, Director of the Office of Organizational
Development, 843-202-6917, edelaine-hart@charlestoncounty.org
Joint Workforce Investment (JWI) New Operator/Mentor Pilot Project. The Joint
Workforce Investment (JWI), established in 2006, is a joint labor management partnership
between the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and the Amalgamated Transit
Union Local 265 (ATU). Both organizations operate together as one "JWI" team. The JWI
sponsored several projects including the "new operator/mentor pilot project." This one-year
pilot project, now complete, paired 26 new operators who graduated in January 2008 with 17
veteran exemplary operators who acted as mentors. Prior to working with new operators,
mentors were trained via a course offered by a local university partner. The program provided
best practice customer service and job stress coping skills through on-the-job mentoring and
classroom training. The mentoring and classroom training followed a coordinated curriculum,
the content of which was driven by the experiences of veteran operators. With the support of
the JWI team, a third-party consultant was used to collect job-relevant data, collective work
experiences, and lessons learned and then form that information into several training modules.
New operators and veterans have indicated that the curriculum was more "real and relevant"
because of this inclusive development process. Seeing their contributions reflected in the
curriculum also developed a sense of professional pride among many employees. At the
beginning of the mentoring relationship, the new operators would spend 8-hour days on the
veteran's bus and then later the veteran would spend a similar amount of time on the new
operator's bus. New operators were brought back for classroom sessions with mentors at three
critical junctures in their year-long apprenticeship. The collective bargaining agreement between
ATU and VTA created the apprentice designation in 2008. This early intervention prevents new
operators from developing bad habits and attitudes that amplify stress. Eventually, when the
new operators began to drive on their own, they were encouraged to call their mentor at any
time to discuss problems. The mentoring program is supported by a Job Development Initiative
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Fund (JDIF) grant from the Chancellor's Office of the California Community College system.
Contact Information: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, 408-321-2300 or 800-
894-9908
ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES
Alternative Approach 1
Agencies facing constraints in their human resources function or limitations in funding may choose
to implement an informal mentoring program where mentees select their own mentors. In some
cases, the agency may choose to partner potential mentees-mentors upon hire of a new employee
(the mentee) but the length of the relationship is not defined by the agency. These programs often
have established no-cost activities that are not required but that encourage mentees and mentors to
interact such as "brown bag lunches" and networking sessions. Challenges with an informal program
include difficulty in assessing the quality of the mentoring relationship and unmet expectations, and
lack of accountability to ensure that each person upholds his/her role. Risks include potential
backfire if an employee is persuaded to leave based on his/her impression of the organization
through the lens of the mentor who lacks a positive attitude. Last, but not least, there often tends to
be little opportunity for evaluation with an informal program.
Alternative Approach 2
An agency that is not able to dedicate one person solely to the role of program coordinator may
request volunteer coordinators from different divisions to provide oversight to the program for a
specified amount of time (e.g., 6 months to 1 year). Furthermore, if enough mentors are not available
to match with new hires, networks of mentors can be used where a mentee has a list of individuals
they can approach for different needs and the mentors are shared across mentees.
Alternative Approach 3
A mentoring program could be considered by the TRB and AASHTO committees covering SOM
activities. Because committee activities can differ quite significantly from typical SOM activities, it
can be difficult for new committee members to adapt to their newly acquired responsibilities. As
such, instituting a mentoring program for new committee members would make the transition onto
the committee easier because they would be paired with a mentor who has experience on the
committee. This would decrease the time that is needed to learn about one's role on the committee
and would make joining a committee less intimidating for potential new members.
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IMPACT
Positive Outcomes of the Practice
Research has found that mentoring programs can lead to a number of positive outcomes for the
mentee such as salary increases, promotional opportunities, job and career satisfaction,
perceptions of organizational justice, organizational commitment, career mobility/opportunities,
recognition, organizational socialization, and reduced turnover intentions (Viator and Scandura,
1991, Koberg et al., 1998).
Mentored individuals reported having more satisfaction, career mobility/opportunity,
recognition, and higher promotion rate than non-mentored individuals, regardless of gender or
level (Fagenson, 1989).
Protégés in informal mentorships reported more favorable outcomes (like organizational
socialization, satisfaction, and salary) than non-mentored individuals, which suggests that some
form of mentoring program is better than none (Chao, Walz, and Gardner, 1992).
While results from the JWI program cannot be credited solely to the mentoring pilot due to four
different programs serving as part of the JWI initiative, the overall results of the JWI have been
positive. A Program Performance Statistics Summary used by VTA benchmarked quarterly data
comparing JWI participants and non-JWI participants on four categories: absenteeism, retention,
number of grievances, and complaints. According to the data collected each quarter, this
initiative helped the agency alleviate several workforce issues. For example, the data collected
from April 1, 2009, to June 30, 2009, show the following for bus operators:
Less absenteeism in JWI vs. non-JWI (3.5% vs. 8.5%)
Higher retention rate in JWI vs. non-JWI (100% vs. 84.3%)
Slightly less grievances per employee in JWI vs. non-JWI (.5 vs. 1.7)
Slightly less complaints per employee in JWI vs. non-JWI (.5 vs. 2)
One study regarding mentoring of minority individuals found that those who had multiple
mentors who served different roles in their development had the most successful mentoring
experiences. The article is titled "Mentoring Across Differences: A Guide to Cross-Race and
Cross-Gender Mentoring," published by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and
written by Ida Abbott, Esq., and Rita S. Boggs, Ph.D. (Abbott and Boggs, 2007).
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CAUTIONARY CONSIDERATIONS
To create an effective mentoring program, there must be an agency commitment to continuous
evaluation and improvement. Without this commitment, the program can begin to lose
momentum, leaving a divergence in the expectations for mentees and mentors about how the
relationship should be maintained. In order to gain continued commitment to the mentoring
program, it is important to make sure that individuals within the agency are aware of the
mentoring program and the positive outcomes that it brings to the agency.
Without a valid approach to assess potential mentors prior to partnership and a system of
accountability that includes requirements for periodic "check ins," the mentoring relationship
may backfire. An ineffective mentor can actually become the catalyst for low job satisfaction and
even possible turnover intentions if the mentee perceives he/she is "stuck" with the mentor or
that the mentor represents the larger agency. Agencies should institute an automatic
reassignment period so mentees can have more than one mentor within their first 2 years of
employment. The agency should also have a grievance reporting process for mentees that is
confidential so that it is perceived as a safe avenue for expressing concerns.
Mentors should be outside the chain-of-command of a mentee to avoid disruption of the trust
needed for a successful relationship based on fears of the mentee that performance decisions will
be made by the mentor. To ensure that this does not happen, it is necessary to have a full list of
supervisors when matching mentees to their new mentors.
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