Recently companies have vigorously introduced the mentor system for making organizational socialization of new employees and systematic cultivation of human resources and conducted studies of testing its effectiveness by approaching from the mentee's ...
Recently companies have vigorously introduced the mentor system for making organizational socialization of new employees and systematic cultivation of human resources and conducted studies of testing its effectiveness by approaching from the mentee's perspective. In light of this, beyond practices in existing studies, this study attempted to examine the effectiveness of mentoring programs as means for the development, maintenance, and management of competitiveness in employees with longer career and higher levels of performance who have been trained for a long period of time and with extensive efforts by companies, through analyzing the relation between the functions of mentoring and the actual effects of mentoring programs. In order to do this, the researcher conducted a questionnaire survey for 200 employees playing the role of a mentor in the S domestic company which is managing formal mentoring programs, regarding the relation between the functions of mentoring perceived by them and the actual effects of mentoring programs, and based on the collected data, performed correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis, resulting in the following findings.
First, of the functions of mentoring, career related functions and the effects of mentoring programs have higher levels of statistically significant-positive relationships. In light of this, it can be recognized that the more mentoring's functions of supporting and functions of career management such as exposure and introduction, guidance, protection, and assignment of challenging tasks, the more effects of mentoring programs such as enhancing organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and career commitment showed among organizational members.
Second, of the functions of mentoring, socio-psychological functions and the effects of mentoring programs showed statistically significant-positive relationships. It can be recognized that the more mentoring's functions of accepting and supporting and socio-psychological functions such as counselling and friendship-development, the more effects of mentoring programs such as enhancing organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and career commitment showed.
Third, of the functions of mentoring, the role function and the effects of mentoring programs were found to have positive relationships. Accordingly, it can be recognized that the more mentoring's role function, the more effects of mentoring programs such as enhancing organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and career commitment showed among organizational members.
Fourth, as a result of examining the effect of the functions of mentoring on organizational commitment, it was revealed that of functions regarding career, the protection function has a significant effect, and among personal characteristics, age and whether or not working in the same department of their mentors have a meditating effect.
In addition, as a result of examining the effect of the functions of mentoring on job satisfaction, it was revealed that of functions of careers, the exposure and introduction function and the guidance function have a significant effect, and of mentors' personal characteristics, whether or not working in the same department of their mentees has the mediating effect on the relation between the exposure and introduction function and job satisfaction.
As a result of examining the effect of mentoring functions on career commitment, it was found that of functions regarding career, the exposure and introduction function has a significant effect on career commitment, and of mentors' personal characteristics, years of mentoring has the mediating effect on the relation of the supporting function and the exposure and introduction function to career commitment.
As a result of examining the overall effect of mentoring functions on the effects of mentoring programs, it was revealed that of functions regarding career, the exposure and introduction function and the protection function have a significant effect, and of mentors' personal characteristics, whether or not working in the same department of their mentees has the mediating effect on the relation between the exposure and introduction function and the effects of mentoring programs.
Putting the results together, it can be understood that the functions of mentoring perceived by mentors participating in formal mentoring programs and the actual effects of mentoring programs have significantly positive correlations, indicating significant influences. Given the positive effects of the mentor system on mentors, these results suggest that the mentor system can be utilized as a useful strategy of human resource management for companies. In addition, from the perceptive of companies which manage formal mentoring programs, if they select and manage mentors by taking mentors' personal characteristics into consideration, it could help to enhance the effects of mentoring functions on the effectiveness of mentoring programs.