Mentoring in Professional Associations Mentoring in Professional Associations
How associations and networks can run mentoring with volunteer members.
What this presentation covers
What this presentation covers
What this presentation covers
Developmental networks
Help members build a network
Higgins and Kram see mentoring as several relationships, not one.
- Range contacts across firms and roles
- Tie strength people who will pick up the phone
What mentees gain
Mentoring helps careers, but modestly
A meta-analysis found career benefits, but small effects on outcomes like pay.
- Career satisfaction benefits found
- Pay small effect
Formal and informal pairs
Formal pairs need extra care
Informal protégés fared best; formal ones mostly did not differ from either group.
- No mentor 284 people
- Formal mentor 53 protégés
- Informal mentor 212 protégés, more support
Why volunteers mentor
Volunteers give for six reasons
The Volunteer Functions Inventory measures six motives, with five items each.
- Values care for others
- Understanding learn, use skills
- Social be with others
- Career career benefits
- Protective ease their own troubles
- Enhancement personal growth
Matching motive and role
Give mentors what they came for
Volunteers whose experience matched their motives were more satisfied and planned to stay.
- Motive
- A role that serves it
- Satisfied, staying
Asking at sign-up
Ask about motives when mentors join
Counting matches across all six motives predicted outcomes better than motives alone.
- Why they want to mentor
- What they hope to learn
- Whom they would like to meet
- How much time they can give
Recruiting mentors
Aim each recruiting message at one motive
In a lab study, messages matched to a reader's motive persuaded better.
- Values a chance to give back to the field
- Understanding staying sharp by teaching others
- Career meeting the field's next generation
What mentors gain
Tell mentors what they gain
Mentors were more satisfied with their jobs and more committed than non-mentors.
- Career mentoring linked to career success
- Psychosocial support linked to commitment
- Role modeling linked to job performance
Reach across firms
Use the reach only a network has
Members can find a mentor outside their own employer, beyond any one firm.
Sources
The research behind this presentation
- Higgins, M. C. & Kram, K. E. (2001) Reconceptualizing mentoring at work: A developmental network perspective Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 264-288
- Allen, T. D., Eby, L. T., Poteet, M. L., Lentz, E. & Lima, L. (2004) Career benefits associated with mentoring for protégés: A meta-analysis Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(1), 127-136
- Chao, G. T., Walz, P. M. & Gardner, P. D. (1992) Formal and informal mentorships: A comparison on mentoring functions and contrast with nonmentored counterparts Personnel Psychology, 45(3), 619-636
- Clary, E. G., Snyder, M., Ridge, R. D., Copeland, J., Stukas, A. A., Haugen, J. & Miene, P. (1998) Understanding and assessing the motivations of volunteers: A functional approach Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(6), 1516-1530
- Stukas, A. A., Worth, K. A., Clary, E. G. & Snyder, M. (2009) The matching of motivations to affordances in the volunteer environment: An index for assessing the impact of multiple matches on volunteer outcomes Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 38(1), 5-28
- Ghosh, R. & Reio, T. G. (2013) Career benefits associated with mentoring for mentors: A meta-analysis Journal of Vocational Behavior, 83(1), 106-116
Start with the mentors' motives
Ask why they volunteer, then shape the role around the answer.