CHAPTER 7

CONCLUSIONS

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 CHAPTER 7

CONCLUSIONS

The preceding chapter discussed the resiihs of the study. The quantitative results

of the study were highUghted under the section 'research conclusions", fwo case

studies viz. Indian Oil Corporation Limited and The State Bank of India are

developed under the qualitative approach of data analysis. These two cases are

documented in the previous chapter. The present chapter gives the conclusions of

the research. It also outlines the professional learning and some key msights

during the study.

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7.1 Evoskills Model for Effective Mentoring

The following model for effective mentoring is called Evoskills model as it aims

to evolve the personal and professional skills of the mentees. The stages of the

model are as below -

Policy Statement -

The organization must be clear about the reasons for starting the mentoring

program. The vision, mission, policy statement and objectives for initiatmg

mentoring should be brainstormed among the senior management team and must

be formulated with a group consensus. This clarity will help the organization in

prioritizing its efforts, allocating resources and in strategizing the process. The

vision, mission, policy statement and objectives need to be formulated before

initiating the process. The same must be well documented and most importantly

communicated to all the stakeholders of the process. The stakeholders of the

mentoring process include the senior management team, the HR. the mentors and

the mentees, the line managers (including mentees' bosses), the non-mentored

employees and the facilitator or process owner.

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Identification of Mentors and Mentees -

The mentoring process aims to benefit the organization, the mentees and the

mentors. It is imperative that the mentors and mentees are identified

appropriately. The organization can select all senior managers as mentors.

Excluding a few senior managers from the list, may lead to bitter feelings, unrest

and negativity leading to more complications than benefits. At the same time,

attempts should be made to help the senior members of the organization realize

that mentoring is a developmental tool and not a "KRA" on their appraisal format.

Ideally, it should be a voluntary activity and not be imposed on the employees.

The organization should project the process in such a way that all the members

should feel like getting involved with the same. However if any manager wishes

to not become a mentor, his/her choice should be respected. Thus identification

of mentors can be on the basis of their seniority and personal inclination, fhe

process should be projected as not only having a benefit to the mentees and the

organization but also as benefiting the mentors. The mentors can derive immense

satisfaction by interacting with the junior employees, can gam peer recognition

and can also directly benefit by enhancing their own image within the

organization as an effective leader/mentor.

Mentees can be identified on the basis of their developmental needs. A personal

development plan template can be used to identify which of the junior employees

should be allocated to which mentor based on the needs and goals of the mcnlee.

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Though it is not necessary that the mentor and mentee be from the same

geographical location, but it would certainly help if they are in close physical

proximity. In cases where the mentors and mentees are at distant locations, it is

essential that they meet and get to spend time with each other before the

commencement of the process, like during the training program. One mentor

should not be allotted more than three mentees.

Training Mentors and Mentees -

It would be unfair to assume that all mentors and mentees would know what is

expected of them and would have the necessary skills and attitudes to perform

their roles. A two-day training workshop can sharpen the skills, attitudes and can

coach the mentors-mentees on what is expected of them. A discussion on basic

do"s and don"ts in mentoring, active listening skills, giving and receiving

feedback, basic counselling skills, clear communication skills and importance of

empathy and positive attitudes are some important aspects of this training.

Getting Started with Mentoring -

After the mentors and mentees have been identified and trained, the mentoring

process commences. If an organization places high importance on documentation

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and is systems-driven, then a mentoring contract can be signed between the

mentor and the mentee. This contract will explicitly clarify the expectations, role

responsibilities, goals, time duration and other details of the mentoring

relationship. In the initial stage of the mentoring process, it is recommended that

the mentors and mentees meet in an informal setting. The organization can

organize an evening 'get-together' where all mentors and mentees can come

together to get to know each other. The subsequent meetings can be held in the

mentors' office or in common places like company cafeteria, conference rooms,

sports club etc. Though mentors and mentees both have to take equal efforts to

'break the ice', the primary responsibility of rapport building lies with the mentor.

In the initial phase itself, the mentor will ensure that mutual goal are set and the

mentee perceives tangible value addition in the mentoring process so that further

interest and commitment is created and the process in sustained. If the mentee

does not view the process as a great platform for learning, the mentoring process

may die a natural death. Hence it is crucial that mentors create a positive

experience for the mentees in this stage of the process.

Process in Action -

In this stage of the mentoring process, the mentor and mentee have already

established a working relation and have struck a common chord. The mentors

mould the personality and shape the perspectives of the mentees. They act as role

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models and set an example for mentees to Ibllow. A significant learning will

happen in this stage of the mentoring process, where the mentee will learn to

observe and imitate the mentor's behaviour. This will happen only if the mentor

is in the good books of the mentee and the mentee is convinced that he would like

to become like his mentor someday. The mentor has to ensure regular meetings

and goal attainment of the mentee. It is the primary responsibility of the mentor

to call for regular meetings and ensure that he is available for his mentee's

development.

Evaluation of Mentoring Effectiveness -

The mentoring process can be evaluated with an aim to check whether the

objectives of the program have been achieved or not. If yes, to what extent and if

not, what were the hurdles. The mentors and mentees will engage themselves on

a quarterly basis for a formal self-evaluation and evaluating the mentee and

mentor respectively. This feedback will be treated confidential and areas for

improvement will be identified. Apart from this, there can be quarterly separate

"mentor meets"; "mentee meets": and "mentor-mentee meets".

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7.2 General Conclusions

In days gone by. young men would seek a 'guru' to acquire wisdom and learn the

ways of the world. The guru-Shishya relationship is now seeing a new high-tech

revival in the mentoring system. Mentoring is one of the oldest means of human

development. It can be traced as far back as the Stone Age when older members

of the tribe or clan taught youngsters how to hunt, gather or prepare food and fight

off enemies. Selected young members were trained by talented cave artists,

shamans and healers to ensure that these skills were perpetuated.

Today many firms realize the importance of attracting and retaining highh'

skilled, quality employees as a necessary component of their competiti\e

advantage. fIR practitioners are busy developing innovative tools to sustain a

talented workforce. One such tool that is gaining popularity in the corporate

world is Mentoring. Mentoring is an efitctive technique to retain the talented

workforce (Radha Mohan Chebolu, 2005).

Mentoring is the process by which a loyal wise and helpful friend, teacher,

protector or guide uses his/her experience to show a person how to overcome

difficulties and avoid dangers. The original perception of a mentor - a 'he" rather

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than 'she" was a protector, which explains the use of the medieval term "protege"

(literally 'the protected one') to describe the mentee.

Throughout history, there have always been individuals, scattered throughout all

societies, who invested personal time to help others achieve more than they would

have without that assistance. Some of these relationships have gone down in

history like Socrates and Plato. Haydn and Beethoven and Freud and .lung, fhe

fathers of western philosophy regarded the transmission of experience as nothing

more than a moral duty. Socrates, for instance, declared that knowledge is the

most valuable thing a person can have and that it must be shared for the good of

the community.

Formal mentoring programs are most likely to fail when mentors and mentees are

assigned to each other and participation is not voluntary (Kram, 1988). In fact.

Taibbi (1983) claimed that a mentorship could fail to develop if it is imposed on

the individuals involved. The limited success of mandated mentoring might be the

result of a lack of knowledge and training on the part of the mentors, not a result

of resistance. There is also some recent research suggesting that the quality of a

relationship and a mentee"s satisfaction with a mentorship are more important

than the mere existence of a mentorship (Ragins. Cotton, & Miller. 2000). To

avoid unsuccessful formal mentoring arrangements, organizations can offer the

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employees an option of choosing their own mentors and thus keep the process

informal.

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7.3 Professional Learning

1. Conceptual Framework of Mentoring: As a part of the literature review,

I accessed many national and international journals using online database

sources like EBSCO. I have studied more than 180 research papers of

international standards. Reading and studying these white papers enabled

me to broaden my knowledge base about this subject Mentoring.

2. Application of Research Methodology': Studying a 100 marks subject

•Research methodology' and applying this subject into practice are

slightly different things. 'fhough having a good knowledge was

imperative, the application of subject was a great learning experience in

itself. Forming research objectives, formulating hypothesis, developing

questionnaires, doing an exhaustive literature review, choosing the

appropriate data processing and analysis technique, developing case

studies and synchronizing all these efforts in the form of a research report

are the various aspects of research methodology that I have learnt.

3. Application of Statistical Tools: Using statistics for data analysis was

one of the biggest learning in my journey of Ph.D. I have used two tools

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 viz. unpaired t test (for pilot testing ol~ the questionnaire) and chi square

testing of hypotliesis for the final data analysis.

4. Computer Applications Skills: I have learnt to use excel sheet during the

data entry and data processing of my raw data. Though 1 was quite

familiar with the 'Microsoft word' program of computers. I had not used

any opportunity to utilize the "excel program' of computers. I'his was a

major learning.

5. Ability to Do 'follow ups': Following-up is an important skill especially

when you depend on others for professional activities. I realized and

understood the meaning of the phrase, "Patience is a virtue" in true spirit

during my follow-ups with business organizations for access into their

respective companies for data collection. 1 wrote to at least 20 companies,

heard from around 8-10 and actually got permission to conduct my data

collection in only two out of these. I have religiously followed up with all

the other companies and have travelled from Mumbai to Pune in the hope

of getting the official permissions for data collection. I have followed up

local companies and have visited them in person umpteen numbers of

times but in vain. The learning here is to not get disappointed inspite and

despite the futile efforts.

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6. Build Perspectives: Another important skill was to learn to look at things

from other people's perspectives and to learn to respect opinions. 1

developed this skill of building perspectives through interactions with

seniors from the various companies 1 have interacted with. It was a

thoroughly eye-opening experience.

7. Connect to People: It is a myth that research is a solitary activity and

makes people withdraw from social settings. People tend to believe that

researchers are individualistic who like to work in isolation. 1 recognized

and accepted this quickly that connecting to people is an important skill or

knack any researcher must learn. Whether it is for approaching senior

managers for permissions for data collection, or approaching middle (or

junior) managers as respondents or interaction with intellectuals for their

guidance, whatever it be, connecting to people is indispensible.

8. Reading Habits: I have always known that reading is a "good habit" but 1

wouldn't have known it is such a satisfying or fulfilling experience had it

not been my Ph.D. research. I learnt to read research papers, books,

magazines and even newspapers.

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9. Perseverance: Perseverance is a virtue, especially when it comes to data

collection. Some executives did report a reluctance to fill in the

questionnaire because of the length of the questionnaire. Further given the

busy schedule the executives have on the job, it was difficult and time

consuming to collect data and the entire process was stretched over 12

months. Here was the trait of Perseverance that I learnt as a researcher.

10. Scientific Mindset: This was the biggest professional learning for me. I

have benefited by training my mind to question everything around me. I

tend to apply logic and rationale to everyday life situations and people

around me have recognized and appreciated this positive change in me.

11. Learning not to Plagiarize: Another important professional learning

was to learn not to plagiarize. I used the Wanda and Smith model of

mentoring effectiveness in my pilot study and was glad to receive

permissions from these authors (based in US). I also wrote to Dr. Udai

Pareek seeking his kind permission to use MAO-B and was very

encouraged to receive his positive reply.

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Working on a PhD is a long drawn process intending to train the scientific mind.

It will help me develop different ways of looking at things and will certainly add

to my personal and professional development thereby enhancing my credibilit\

and effectiveness as a teacher, trainer and coach. An IIM-Lucknow professor.

Debashish Chatterjee in his book. 'Ignite the fire in your heart' says that "Life has

only one goal - to express itself". I want to express my life through my work. m\

research, and my studies. 1 choose to devote my life to this quest for knowledge

and this thirst for learning. My aim to learn through a doctoral program has given

me a direction, a purpose. I am holistically prepared to have my share of

disappointments, frustrating occasions, unmet targets and hardships, and many

hurdles in my path, but to sail through all these and emerge as a vvinner is m>

ultimate calling.

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