The Role of Mentorship in Management

RUNNING HEAD: DISSERTION PROSPECTUS

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 18

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

Dissertation Prospectus

Introduction

. IndustrialEmployee 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helps employees to be updated on the current technological changes thus preventing them from being obsolete and outdated.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 employee training can give rise to a situation that may negatively impact the performance and quality of services and goods offered (Cummings & Worley, 2014). Industrial Employee training has the potential to equip employees with the necessary skills for performing tasks. However, external factors such as the environment may impact employees’ behavior (Aquinis & Kraiger, 2009), and in order for a successful training program to be implemented, the condition of the workplace environment must be stable (Donovan & Benko, 2016). . 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.  Eby et al. (2015) found that when co-worker support is evident in the workplace, it can function as a replacement for mentoring in terms of predicting organizational citizenship behavior—the reason being that co-workers essentially act as mentors. Likewise, Dalton, Davis and Viator (2015) have shown that external mentoring can help positively stimulate employee attiduesattitudes; however, they do not address the specific relationship between employee mentorship and supervisors.effect that mentoring can have in workplace environments where stress is a major situational factor for workers. If situational factors are critical to whether or not a training program will be successful, the factor of stress which is something that cannot always be eradicated from the workplace is a variable that needs more attention in terms of how it relates to mentorship. Kram and Hall (1989) indicated that mentoring may help individuals to cope with stressful workplace environments, but their study pertained particularly to environments where corporate trauma (i.e., corporate shake-ups, downsizing, etc.) was an issue. For an organization where no traumatizing event is apparent, stress can still be an issue, particularly if the demands of the job are high (Thomas & Lankau, 2009). Additionally, Kim, Im and Hwang (2015) have shown that mentoring can help to reduce stress in some ways among workers in the hotel industry (i.e., by boosting job satisfaction and commitment), but that it does not always eliminate stress in other ways (i.e., stress related to role conflict, role ambiguity and turnover intention).  A gap still exists with respect to understanding the nature of this relationshiphow mentoring can be used to reduce the effect of workplace stress on employees. 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. (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.  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: Good. This section is better in describing how motivation to learn is related to transfer. Comment by Annette Towler: Good job in including Eby’s research. However you need to be precise. State what exactly they have found and shown. For emaple, have they shown that mentoring is important for transfer? Comment by Annette Towler: HI Ani. More work is needed on identifying the gap. It needs to be more precise. First, consider what has been shown. Then, discuss what has not been shown and why it is important to focus on this gap. It is not clear to me what is the research question based on the relationship between employee mentorship and supervisors. It needs to be more precise

Background of the Problem.

Organizational research reveals that social learning has both positive and negative influential effects on employees (Derks, Duin, Tims & Bakker, 2015). Many organizations are coined withinembrace 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 mentoringTo be competitive, 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 alignedlined with the organizational goals and objectives.  Comment by Annette Towler: This phrase needs reworking.

As a gap exists with respect to understanding how mentoring can reduce the effect of workplace stress on employees, this study aims to identify the relationship between mentoring, stress, motivation and management in the Digital Age. The current state of literature shows that there is a lack of research that has focused on how mentoring can enable effective learning for employees in a stressful workplace environment (O’Brien & Beehr, 2016). More research is needed to understand the full effect of mentorship in stressful workplace environments (Lomas, Medina, Ivtzan et al., 2017).  Likewise, considering how the world has changed during the Digital Age, it is important to also consider how remote management factors into the relationship between mentorship, stress reduction of new employees and their motivation to learn by having their needs met during the training process. Comment by Annette Towler: Please describe the theory and use relevant citations.Annette TowlerAni. You need to use the new dissertation prospectus template. In order to move forward myself and the methodologist need to give rubric scores and the new template contains the tables.

Two theories that are relevant to this issue are social learning theory and motivation theory. Motivation theory was developed by Maslow (1943) who applied a hierarchy of needs model to his theory of human motivation. Maslow (1943) showed that individuals in order to become self-determining had to have their basic needs met first—needs that included such factors as security, social relationships, esteem and so on. This theory is relevant because it suggests that managers should be attentive to the needs of new workers in order to help them integrate more fully and cope with the occupational stressors that are part of the workplace environment (Lazaroiu, 2015).

SThe social learning theory was developed by Bandura (1977) and explained that behavior is learned from observation of one’s environment. It is relevant to this study because it provides an approach to understanding how mentorship can play a role in assisting new workers looking for an example of how they can cope with stressors. It is vital in explaining how employees learn work attitudes and the behaviors they possess. TNevertheless, 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.

Comment by Annette Towler: Hi Ani. I think this is your gap! You need to incorporate this into the first section of your prospectus.

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.

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 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 addressedon new workers’ abitlity to cope with the stress of the workplace environment, this study can close the gap in understanding of how mentoring can be effectively used in stressful organizations.  As the existing evidence suggests that such mentorship programs enhance knowledge transfer which ultimately improves employee productivity, integrating the aspect of social learning and motivation theory 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: Overall, the writing is stronger but it still needs some clarity in places. Please submit your prospectus to Thinking storm because you get 10 free hours through your tuition.

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: Good review of mentoring history.

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 (Sanderson, Bruk-Lee, Viswesvaran, Gutierrez & Kantrowitz, 2016). A stressful environment requires mastering these skills, and they can be acquired through mentorship (Laustsen & Brahe, 2018).  Comment by Annette Towler: These last two sentences need support from research. Draw on the psychology literature to discuss the importance of situations on transfer.

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?  Comment by Annette Towler: Ani. Your first research question is good and is related ot the gap. For research question 2, why not just focus on another aspect of training effectiveness such as motivation to learn. The second research question is very broad and it is difficult to see how you can test it. Same for RQ#

Hypothesis 1: Mentoring from a supervisor is related to skill transfer to employees within a stressful work environment.

Null Hypothesis 1: Mentoring from a supervisor is not 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.

R2:  What are the new ways of mentoring employees in today’s workplace environment with respect to address issues related to stress, worker attitudes, and remote management? To what extent are managers able to motivate new employees to learn on the job by meeting their needs during mentorship?

Hypothesis 2: Managers are able to motivate new employees to learn on the job by meeting their needs during mentorship.

Null Hypothesis 2: Managers are not able to motivate new employees to learn on the job by meeting their needs during mentorship.

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

                         of organizational goals and objectives? Does remote management impact the degree to which mentorship can be effective in helping new workers cope with stress?

Hypothesis 3: Remote management does impact the degree to which mentorship can be effective in helping new workers cope with stress.

Null Hypothesis 3: Remont management does not impact the degree to which mentorship can be effective in helping new workers cope with stress.

The variables include: stress, motivation and remote management.

Significance of the Study

The need for more research on the extent to which mentorship is effective in transferring skills to new employees in stressful workplace environments has been identified by O’Brien and Beehr (2016) and Lomas et al. (2017). This study aims to help close the gap in understanding with respect to this issue while also incorporating the factors of motivation and the needs of new employees and whether remote management in the Digital Age plays a part in the issue as well.

As motivation theory (Maslow, 1943) and social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) both provide a basic approach to the phenomenon of mentorship and skill transfer, examining this phenomenon with respect to the variables of employee needs (motivation), stress (the situational environment), and remote management (a reality of the Digital Age workplace) will help to build on these theories and advance them in a direction that is relevant to the current culture of organizational activity today. The framework afforded by these two theories will help to address the issues identified by Noe (2010), Kendzia and Bjorck (2018), and Rosenthal and Zimmerman (2014), all of whom have shown a need for a better understanding of how employees can be more effectively trained in today’s workplace environments. By looking at the factors of stress, motivation, and digitization specifically with respect to how they impact the transfer of skills to new workers, this research will have practical applications for organizations as well.

The practical application of this research is that it may offer new insights for managers as to how they can better develop mentorship programs when onboarding new employees so that the workers can 1) have their needs met so that they are properly motivated to learn, 2) learn ways to cope with the stress that comes with the job, and 3) obtain support even in non-traditional worker environments such as distance-based workplaces wherein remote management is utilized.

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 quantitative research design will serve best in obtaining various statistics, as it provides a concrete statistical window into the effectiveness of mentoring in addressing the issue of stress for new workers, as Janssen, Tahitu, van Vuuren and de Jong (2016) have shown is needed. To understand the extent to which mentorship is effective in transferring skills to new employees hired to work in stressful occupational situations, quantitative data is required. . For instance, to find out the impact of employees’ skills on productivity, statisticalfigures will be obtained from surveys , 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. Correlational analysis will show the extent of the relationship between mentorship and the ability of new workers to cope with stress, mentorship and motivation, mentorship and remote management effectiveness. As Anderson, Sweeney, Williams, Camm and Cochran (2018) note, quantitative analysis helps to build the foundation for empirical and evidence-based research that can be used by professionals looking to facilitate necessary changes in the real world workplace environments. 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 isa 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 attitudesmotivation, and remote management.  From the information obtained via survey, identifying the impacts of employee mentorship will be easy from making inferences and 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.  Comment by Annette Towler: Try to avoid slang - ‘ a waste of time’ Comment by Annette Towler: The method section needs work. You need to identify the measures that you plan to use for your study.

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.

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 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

Quantitative Analysis

Quantitative research will be conducted using the survey method as the key source 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 given surveys to which they will provide answers using the Likert scale, with answers ranging from 1-5.  

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 of the researcher’s home state.  Corporations will be approached by contacting the HR offices of the corporations in person and seeking permission to conduct the study. 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.  

Comment by Annette Towler: Please be more specific of how you will draw your sample from the population of interest. You state a 25 mile radius but is this within your state? How will you approach corporations? Comment by Annette Towler: This final paragraph is unnecessary. Just focus on the relevant points stated in the prospectus template rubric tables

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.  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

An inductive content analysis dataCorrelational analysis approach will be utilized by creating categories to test the research questions. Responses will be measured using the Likert scale. 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

Ethical concerns that might arise during the data collection process include privacy issues, the issue of informed consent, and the issue of site permission. The issue of privacy will be addressed by ensuring that data is not shared with third parties and that the rights of participants are fully recognized. This means that no names of participants or identifying characteristics will be taken or recorded. Every participant will be assigned a code number so that all data is recorded for the code number assigned the participant. Data will be maintained in an encrypted file to protect the information from being obtained by third parties.

Informed consent will be obtained from all participants. The study, its purpose, and their role in the study will be explained to the participants by way of a form letter attached to the survey that will be distributed on-site. The form letter will state that by taking the survey, the participant agrees that he or she has understood the purpose of the survey and how data will be used by the researcher and consents to participating in the study.

The issue of site permission will be addressed by explaining the purpose of the study to the HR directors of the various sites where permission is requested. This will ensure that the researcher and the participants have the necessary approval for proceeding with the study.

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

Aguinis, H., &Kraiger, K. (2009). Benefits of Training and Development for Individuals and Teams, Organizations and Society: The Business School of Colorado. The Annual Review of Psychology, 60 (3), 451-477.

And Sustained Professional Development. Corwin Press.

Anderson, D. R., Sweeney, D. J., Williams, T. A., Camm, J. D., & Cochran, J. J. (2018). An Introduction to Management Science: Quantitative Approach. Cengage learning.

Andre, T. (2014). Advances in Human Factors in Training, Education, and Learning Sciences: Proceedings of the AHFE 2017 International Conference on Human Factors in Training, Education, and Learning Sciences, July 17-21, 2017, The Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Armstrong, M. (2009). Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (11th Ed.). London: Kogan Page.

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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.

Chiaburu, D. S., & Harrison, D. A. (2008). Do peers make the place? Conceptual synthesis and meta-analysis of coworker effects on perceptions, attitudes, OCBs, and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(5): 1082-103.

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

Janssen, S., Tahitu, J., van Vuuren, M., & de Jong, M. D. (2016). Coworkers’ Perspectives on Mentoring Relationships. Group & Organization Management, 1059601116669641.

Kim, S. S., Im, J., & Hwang, J. (2015). The effects of mentoring on role stress, job attitude, and turnover intention in the hotel industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 48, 68-82.

Kram, K. E., & Hall, D. T. (1989). Mentoring as an antidote to stress during corporate trauma. Human Resource Management, 28(4), 493-510.

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370.

Laustsen, S., & Brahe, L. (2018). Coping with interruptions in clinical nursing?a qualitative study. Journal of clinical nursing.

Lazaroiu, G. (2015). Employee Motivation and Job Performance. Linguistic and

Philosophical Investigations, 14, 97.

Sanderson, K. R., Bruk-Lee, V., Viswesvaran, C., Gutierrez, S., & Kantrowitz, T. (2016). Investigating the

nomological network of multitasking ability in a field sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 91, 52-57.

Thomas, C. H., & Lankau, M. J. (2009). Preventing burnout: The effects of LMX and mentoring on socialization, role stress, and burnout. Human Resource Management, 48(3), 417-432.

[Message clipped]  View entire messageAni 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 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, 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. 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). 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: Please delete the section that I have highlighted. It iAnnette Towler

Background of the Problem.

Organizational research reveals that social learning has both positive and negative influential effects on employees. 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. For them to achieve this, vision mentoring has to be provided to the employees. 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. 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.

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. Although there is little evidence on how mentoring from the supervisors perspective is related to employee training, the existing evidence suggests that such mentorship programs enhance knowledge transfer which ultimately improves employee productivity. Integrating the aspect 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).

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. 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.

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, the way the transfer of skills is done has changed in the stressful work environment.

R2: What are the new ways of mentoring employees in stressful workplaces?

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

Both 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 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. From the information obtained via observation, interviewing and observation, identifying the impacts of employee mentorship will be easy from making inferences. 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.