Mentoring Employees in Stressful Workplaces

RUNNING HEAD: DISSERTION PROSPECTUS

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 2

HI

This is still a great idea for a dissertation. However, the prospectus still requires work and needs some revision. Please read through my comments and try to amend the prospectus. When you revise the prospectus, please leave in my comments so we can keep working with this version. Leave on Track changes.

I believe you have identified the gap in the literature because of your focus on stressful environments. However, you need to show how previous research on mentoring and training transfer have not focused on stressful environments. The way to do this is through citing previous research and then stating how your study fills the gap in the focus on stressful environments. You also need to state why this is important.

In terms of design, please use a quantitative study. I have commented on this throughout the prospectus. There are measures in research that you can use. You just need to locate them.

Industrial Training

Ani Fermanyan

November 17,2017

Dissertation Prospectus

Introduction

Organizations exist in a turbulent environment that is subject to continuous changes as a result of technology and globalization among other factors. Organizations have to learn in order to keep abreast with these changes hence the need for training programs. Industrial training is a form of training which entails both on-the-job and off-job training. This training helps employees to be updated on the current technological changes thus preventing them from being obsolete and outdated. A lack of industrial training can give rise to a situation that may negatively impact the performance and quality of services and goods offered (Cummings & Worley, 2014).Even though training programs are not always effective in improving performance in the organization, Industrial training has the potential to they equip employees with the necessary skills for performing tasks. However, external factors such as the environment may impact employees’ behavior. These outliers may be learned through the observational process. Some conditions are necessary for an effective training program (Donovan & Benko, 2016). Attention is the most important factor to consider when training employees. However, there are factors such as personal perspective, sensory level, and noise that may reduce or increase an individual’s attention level (Highland, Lee & Mills, 2015). Retention is also another factor to consider.. The ability of a person to remember the information taught will determine the effectiveness of the training program. The motivational level will also determine the willingness of the employees to engage in the training program and apply what they have been taught (Donovan & Benko, 2016). In terms of the relationship between employee mentorship and supervisors, Eby, Butts, Hoffman and Sauer (2015) have shown that more research needs to be conducted to explain the causal direction and boundary conditions of this relationship. Likewise, Dalton, Davis and Viator (2015) have shown that external mentoring can help positively stimulate employee attidues; however, they do not address the specific relationship between employee mentorship and supervisors. A gap still exists with respect to understanding the nature of this relationship (Lapointe & Vandenberghe, 2017). Among the primary aims of the study will be to find out the relationship between employee mentorship and the supervisors. The research will also focus on finding out the new mentorship strategies to employ to come up with the best employee mentorship in organizations. Comment by Annette Towler: A situation ….. this sentence is fragmented and needs to be integrated with the previous sentence. Comment by Annette Towler: Please delete the section that I have highlighted. It iAnnette Towler Comment by Annette Towler: For the last two sentences, you need to state how your study fills the gap in previous research. First, what do we know about employee mentorship and supervisors. Then, state what we don’t know about this relationship. Finally, state how you will fill the gap.Annette Towler

Background of the Problem.

Comment by Annette Towler: Please include citations. There should be at least 2-3 citations in the opening paragraphAnnette Towler

Organizational research reveals that social learning has both positive and negative influential effects on employees (Derks, Duin, Tims & Bakker, 2015). Many organizations are coined within the notion that in order for them to be competitive they have to have a highly adaptive human resource which will meet the rapidly changing business world (Jackson, Schuler & Jiang, 2014). For them to achieve this, vision mentoring has to be provided to the employees (Jyoti & Sharma, 2015). The success of the firm is directly related to the effectiveness of the employees and managers to carry out their duties more efficiently. Employees are able to remain productive if they are equally trained in order to acquire the necessary knowledge and expertise to stay competitive. When organizations provide employee mentorship training programs, this can result in success for both the organization and employees (Andre, 2014). To improve the productivity of employees and increases the efficiency of the organization, supervisor-employee mentorship programs must be lined with the organizational goals and objectives.

The social learning theory is vital in explaining how employees learn work attitudes and the behaviors they possess. Nevertheless, the theory will help in understanding the best implementations that leaders can come up with to increase yields. Social learning can also be seen as the most effective tool that will be used to enable effective social learning behaviors in the workplace environment. If social learning practices can be enhanced further, employees have the potential of improving the organizational effectiveness. Over time, the business environment is changing. This calls for more research to cover up the additional factors which influence workplace learning.

To date, there is little research that has focused on how mentoring can enable effective learning for employees in a stressful workplace environment. As O’Brien and Beehr (2016) show, mentoring may be able to help workers cope with stressors in the workplace, but more study is required in order to understand the full effect of mentorship in stressful workplace environments as opposed to calm workplace environments (Lomas, Medina, Ivtzan et al., 2017). This study aims to narrow this gap. When a sharp look is taken into how the world is changing, several technologies have come into place. The knowledge that employees possess needs to be improved in order to be able to deal with the new environment. Every time there is a new change in the business environment, the operational methods are also likely to change. To ensure continuity in quality production of goods and services, there is need to add to the existing research so that learners, managers, and other concerned entrepreneurs will find the best strategies to implement in social learning. Comment by Annette Towler: In this section. Please state why it is important to narrow this gap. For example, please describe why it is even more important to examine this relationship in a stressful vs. calm environment.

Review of the Literature

Inside and outside the workplace, employees seek mentors who can guide them in doing better in the workplace. These mentors act as role models who display many of the behaviors that employees wish to emulate. Social learning is a concept that directly relates to employee training which aims at influencing behavior in a more positive way. In this case, the aim of this research proposal is to assess the relationship between mentorship and employee training. It should be noted that a mentorship is a form of knowledge transfer techniques which assist the employee in learning techniques within the workplace. New techniques are essential in improving employee productivity and allow employees to become more motivated to work. Mentoring has been shown to help employees learn on the job and adapt in a positive way to their roles (Eby et al., 2015; Jyoti & Sharma, 2015; O’Brien & Beehr, 2016), but Although there is little evidence on how mentoring from the supervisors’ perspective is related to employee training (Lomas et al., 2017). By examining the effect of mentoring from the supervisors’ perspective, the gap in understanding regarding the relationship between employee mentorship and supervisors can be addressed. , As tthe existing evidence suggests that such mentorship programs enhance knowledge transfer which ultimately improves employee productivity, i. Integrating the aspect of social learning in mentorship training backs the above argument since it provides a platform in which learning occurs in a social context and purely through observation and direct instruction (Noe, 2010). This is especially necessary as the Digital Age has arrived and changed the way supervisors and workers interact, with digitization impacting communication flows and increasing the prevelance of remote management (Kendzia & Bjorck, 2018). Comment by Annette Towler: There is a lot of research on mentoring. Please cite this research and then state how your study contributes to the research on mentoring through the gap that you have identified.

Social learning dates back to the 19th Century when Homer’s Odyssey used mentoring to pass on his management skills to his employees (Rosenthal & Zimmerman, 2014). Over time, many commentators have insisted on different ways of social learning. However, one aspect that stands out is that mentoring process is critical in the learning process as Smith (2017) puts it “a particular mode of learning.”

According to Crow (2011) mentoring is a “specific socialization tool” and that both the protégé and the mentor need to be engaged in the learning process. The central theme between Crow and Smith is that they emphasize that mentoring is a form of learning which coincides with Bandura’s social learning theory (1977) which proposes that social learning entails learning from other people through the behavior modeling process. While investigating on the concept of social learning the element of socialization sounds most relevant in an organizational setting, and that is why mentoring acts as the social glue that holds the group members together through sharing common interest and goals. With the changing environment, several new learning methods emerge. There is need to cover all these processes in order to improve social learning theories. Every time a new idea is presented, new skills are learned. To acquire the latest techniques, an individual has to observe or be trained. Based on Bandura’s theory, individuals will learn these skills by seeing what their fellows do. But, will these apply to the entire organization? No. It might only apply to recruits since they have the opportunity to learn from the present crew (Bell, Tannenbaum, Ford, Noe & Kraiger, 2017). This also calls for the need to fill in the gap between the old research and the present through the provision of updated materials to the managers as well as employees. By providing the latest information on how to train employees, this research will be able to provide more details on social learning. Comment by Annette Towler: Please include relevant citations. There is a recent research on social learning theory within the employee training literature.

Problem Statement

Although there is an existing evidence suggesting a positive correlation between employee mentoring program and training transfer, it is not known to what extent mentoring from supervisors is positively related to employee training transfer within any stressful work environment. Stressful work environment requires the application of skills such as multitasking and prioritizing tasks. A stressful environment requires mastering these skills, and they can be acquired through mentorship.

Research Questions

Phenomenon 1: Mentorship from supervisors is associated with the transfer of skills to employees in the work environment.

R1: To what extent is mentoring from supervisor related to skill transfer to employees within a stressful work environment?

Phenomenon 2: With the changing business environment as a result of more digitization in the workforce which has led to an increase in remote management, the way the transfer of skills is done has changed in the stressful work environment. Comment by Annette Towler: How has transfer of training changed?

R2: What are the new ways of mentoring employees in stressful workplacesin today’s workplace environment with respect to address issues related to stress, worker attitudes, and remote management? Comment by Annette Towler: This seems like a very broad question. Just narrow it and align it with previous research question. You might want to consider other dvs such as stress, attitudes etc.

R3: Do mentoring employees provide a significant improvement to the attainment

of organizational goals and objectives?

Significance of the Study

Training is a necessary process for any organization which plans on improving and expanding its operations. Training enlarges human resources by enriching employees’ morale, satisfaction, and motivation, and creates role models that will guide the employees. This study is necessitated by the fact that most organizations are striving to have a competitive edge and this can be achieved if mentoring is encouraged within the organization’s boundaries. This study will help management of organizations to identify mentoring as a gap within their organizational workforce and determine how well they can align it with their strategies to be able to improve the level of training for their employees (Rosenthal & Zimmerman, 2014). The new business environment needs new strategies for success which this research will provide. For instance, when Albert Bandura was conducting his research on socialization, most technologies being used presently were not available. This paper will take care of that technological gap to ensure that strong points are brought out clearly about the transfer of knowledge and skills to employees. The research will reveal the gap between the new ways of mentoring employees to the ancient ones hence helping business firms to decide on the best ones. At some point, combining the two might work best. Nevertheless, the significance of employee mentoring using these new technologies will be brought out clearly. The world population is increasing and so are individuals’ needs. To meet these demands, production in firms need to be maximized. One way of achieving this is through training employees. There is, therefore, the need for increased awareness in the training methods which this research is able to provide based on the current business environment.

Rationale for Methodology

The qBoth the Qualitative and quantitative research designs will serve best in obtaining various statistics. For instance, to find out the impact of employees’ skills on productivity, statistical figures will be obtained from surveys questionnaires, and samples from study populations. For example, through sampling, the research will find out the number of people who have gone through mentorship in their organizations. This will be helpful in finding the percentages of individuals who have improved their skills through mentorship, those who believe that mentorship brings change, and those who think that mentorship is a waste of time, among several other estimates. The Likert scale will be used to measure the variables referred to in the survey—namely, stress, worker attitudes, and remote management. From the information obtained via observation, interviewing and observation survey, identifying the impacts of employee mentorship will be easy from making inferences and . From observation and interviewing, the research will bring out the new ways of mentoring employees by supervisors. The relationship between mentoring employees and skill transfer from supervisors will also be brought out by comparing different samples and statistical figures obtained from interviews and observation. However, this will call for qualitative analysis. Therefore, this research makes use of both the quantitative and qualitative analysis to make judgments. Comment by Annette Towler: Ani. Just use a quantitative research design. You can use surveys to collect your responses. Comment by Annette Towler: In this section, please be clear on which specific tests you will use. You just state questionnaires. You need to locate scales that measure the independent and dependent variables and refer to them in the text.

Nature of the Research Design for the Study

As this study is quantitative in nature, the design is descriptive and aims to systematically describe the characteristic perceptions of supervisors with respect to the effect of mentoring on employee stress levels, attitudes and remote management effectiveness. The Likert scale will be used to measure responses from participants and obtain statistical data to explain the relationship between employee mentorship and supervisors in today’s workplace environment.

Since the research will deal with both descriptive and calculations to respond to the research questions, quantitative and qualitative designs will be vital. For instance, to find out if mentorship has increased productivity, financial statements of firms will play a great role (Quantitative analysis). For instance, by comparing the financial statements of a company in 2014, before employee mentoring was brought into place and its current state after introducing the program, the research will show the changes. Through the use of graphs and pie charts, one can quickly draw conclusions. Observation will involve more on qualitative analysis. For instance, in giving reasons that lead to the existing extent in the employee mentorship during interviewing.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to assess the existing relationship between mentoring from the supervisor and the employee training transfer within organizations as a process that will improve the skills and productivity of employees. Through methods such as observation, interviewing and surveying, a clear understanding between employee’s mentorship and supervisors will be brought out. The study will also illustrate the relationship between social learning and mentoring and how the two work together. Mentoring can be seen as the process that aims at enhancing the abilities of a single individual through the help of multiple individuals (Goodyear, 2006). If the mentorship is done well, it can highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the observer, and this can result in better employee performance. Training can be seen as an effective approach that will allow mentors to adapt to the environment of the person receiving the mentorship. This study will highlight the areas where mentorship can be applied best and how it will impact the organization. It will also address the quality of the mentorship process and how training can be used to enhance the quality of the relationship between the mentor and the protégé.

Instrumentation

Qualitative and qQuantitative Analysisstudies.

Qualitative and qQuantitative research studies will be carried outconducted using the survey method surveys and interviews as the key sources of data. Data will also be collected from secondary sources such as managerial reports on various mentorship programs. Both employees and HR managers will be subjected to interviews duringgiven surveys to which they will provide answers to open-ended questionsusing the Likert scale, with answers ranging from 1-5. For the interviews, managers will be the major focus. Through observing how employees in an environment where mentorship is given priority, the research will be able to bring out the significance and disadvantages of the mentorship programs. Several numerical data will be obtained during the research, and this calls for the need of quantitative study techniques. For instance, through secondary materials form given companies, the research will draw a comparison of the revenues generated before and after the introduction of the mentorship program.

Data Collection Procedures

Data will be collected from randomly selected HR managers and employees. The data will be collected from 30 respondents, 10 of whom will be HR managers and the other 20 will be employees. The participant pool will be drawn from locally-based major corporations within a 25 mile radius. Site approval will be obtained prior to dissemination of the surveys, which will be sent electronically to the HR managers for distribution at the selected corporation sites. No more than 10 sites will be selected and no fewer than 5 sites. An interview with four managers will be fine for the research. The other six will be provided with the closed and open-ended questionnaires to fill. For the employees, short interviews with six members will work fine. The interview part is necessary since it will aid the research to find more details of how employee mentorship is related to the supervising managers. Comment by Annette Towler: Please state exactly how you will collect your data. You will need to specifiy a particular location and get site approval.

Another big section will be a literature review. The literature review will focus on studies associated with social learning theory, how workers are impacted by mentoring, and how the Digital Age has changed the workplace. It will entail comparing the income generation rates of the company before and after employee mentorship program was introduced. Through the managers, the research will find it easy to compare the growth rate. Once all the information has been obtained, it will be drafted and stored, ready for comparison to the other institutions which do not practice mentorship programs.

Data Analysis Procedures

A content analysis approach will be utilized in analyzing the qualitative data collected from the data collection exercise. This approach will analyze any written, verbal, or visual data collected from the exercise. However, Aan inductive content analysis data analysis approach will be utilized by creating categories of responses to mentorship satisfaction of employees and the HR managers, and their attitude towards mentorship based on the responses measured according to the Likert scale.

Ethical Considerations

As per the IRB requirements, the research will avoid coercing people into participating in the process and therefore will ensure informed consent. Any possible risks which may arise due to disclosing confidential information will be addressed by ensuring anonymity of responses to avoid any harm which may occur.

References

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Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman

Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1): 1-26.

Bell, B. S., Tannenbaum, S. I., Ford, J. K., Noe, R. A., & Kraiger, K. (2017). 100 years of training and development research: What we know and where we should go. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 305.

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Crow, G.M. (2011). School leader preparation: a short review of the knowledge base.

Dalton, D. W., Davis, A. B., & Viator, R. E. (2015). The joint effect of unfavorable supervisory feedback environments and external mentoring on job attitudes and job outcomes in the public accounting profession. Behavioral Research in Accounting, 27(2), 53-76.

Derks, D., Duin, D., Tims, M., & Bakker, A. B. (2015). Smartphone use and work–home interference: The moderating role of social norms and employee work engagement. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 88(1), 155-177.

Eby, L. T., Butts, M. M., Hoffman, B. J., & Sauer, J. B. (2015). Cross-lagged relations between mentoring received from supervisors and employee OCBs: Disentangling causal direction and identifying boundary conditions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(4), 1275.

Gebauer, J., Lowman, D., & Gordon, J. (2008). Closing the engagement gap: How great companies unlock employee potential for superior results. New York, NY: Portfolio.