CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

In the past decade there has been an increasing awareness among many organizations, including small and medium-sized companies, of the value of mentoring and its impact on the performance of the organization. In the some organizations, mentoring has been used as an alternative method of career development. The concept of mentoring has become a popular and fashionable method of management development particularly in the USA since the 1970s. This has been reflected in the amount of literature produced in the USA proclaiming the benefits of the formalized mentoring relationship for the mentor, the mentee and the organization, the significance of a mentoring relationship for the advancement of women and, of late, the possible shortcomings in the mentoring relationship. Interest in mentoring as a management tool recently spread to Britain, with the formal introduction of the concept in some company management development programmes. A recent publication, Networking and Mentoring A Womans Guide, by Dr. Lily M Segerman Peck pronounces the virtues of mentoring for all women seeking career development.

For Further Details Contact: +91-9962179698 044-26821138 www.lacrosstechnologies.org

1.2 NEED FOR THE STUDY

The need for a mentor is greatest early in a career, when limited experience most benefits from wise counsel. As Robert Conray (Chairman of Goldman, Sachs International) observed (Wilens, M, 1989). Mentoring is a critical part of our business Most people come here right out of school, and they really learn the investment banking business by being put together with senior professionals. Ironically, junior employees often fail to see the need to cultivate a mentor, for many young workers are in a process of establishing their own identity independently from their parents. Having recently moved out of their parents home physically and psychologically and cut the strings of dependence, they are striving to be masters of their own destiny. Suggesting the need for a mentor implies another dependence relationship, where ones wishes are at risk of being subordinated to anothers again. Nevertheless, the need for a mentor to guide, enrich and, perhaps, expedite career progress remains. The mentor offers not only the wisdom of experience but also another perspective and a sounding-board. The inexperience and impetuousness of youth may lock on to a good idea, not realizing the downside risks or wider ramifications. Haste and the desire for rapid advancement may need to be tempered. Assistance with work from ideas to the availability of resources is a more traditionally recognized benefit of a mentor relationship. And the possibility that the mentor may become a nominator or even a sponsor of career opportunities may be a fortuitous pay-back for the mentor/mentee. Indeed, both must gain from the relationship if it is to be sustained. The mentor may benefit by using idle resources, ideas and energies. The act of nurturing the mentor/mentee may become a new source of pride, accomplishment and positive feedback. Sometimes the mentors otherwise lackluster career prospects may have discouraged effort. The eagerness and appreciation of the understudy may renew and revitalize the mentors contribution in other career aspects.

1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY: The scope of the study is the HR executives in the software companies certified with PCMM certificate and also the HR executives in the non software organization were in mentoring concept is practiced so as to study their perception on mentoring and its benefits to the organization and the profession, since the HR executives are the one who design and co ordinate the mentoring program. Hence the main scope of this study is as such that with the responses of the respondents the reader could know about the effectiveness of the mentoring programme.

1.4 OBJECTIVES 2. To study the HR executives perception on mentoring. 3. To study the impact of mentoring on the organization and the profession.

1.5 Research Methodology

Introduction: As every organization is facing competition in order to strive in the market, henceforth they are now focusing on the human resources in the organization to achieve their goals, by equipping the human resources with required skills, experience and knowledge through mentoring programs. So the research is conducted as an opinion study on mentoring among the HR executives in order to study the usefulness of mentoring for the organization and the profession. Statement of the Problem: The name mentoring itself signifies its importance for the human resources in the organization to develop their personal and professional career. Hence the youths who join the organization with lots of expectation feel uncomfortable or else find difficulties in handling the pressure situation arising out of their job. So an experienced person in the name of mentor should sculpt out the talents and skills that a youth requires in the organization in order to handle the entire show put around his shoulders. Of late, in the organizational context, mentoring as a practice is gaining prominence. This study is an attempt to study the perception of HR executives towards mentoring in terms of its impact for the organization and profession. Many software companies have started using this concept in their workplace formally. But not almost all the software companies are practicing mentoring formally except the PCMM Level 5 companies. Also it is evident that not only the PCMM certified companies are practicing mentoring but also the other non software organizations are also practicing the mentoring concept in a more informal manner. Also the mentoring programmes are not practiced very effectively to the core without knowing the results that it might produce in the organization. Hence in India only very few companies use it and when it comes to Chennai countable number of companies use this concept in a very effective manner.

Operational definition/ Clarification of terms: 1. Mentoring: Mentoring is a collaborative, mutually beneficial partnership between a mentor (who possesses greater skills, knowledge or experience) and a mentee (who is looking to enhance his or her knowledge, skills and experience). 2. Mentor: A trusted advisor, teacher, counselor, someone usually senior in rank or position to the individual being mentored 3. Mentee: A Mentee-someone usually junior in experience to the Mentor, whose education and training is of vital concern to the Mentor 4. Natural Mentoring: In our lives we had knowingly and unknowingly. Remember the time you had a great role model in school or college, who was your senior and great at a sport you were keen on or was a students union representative in the forefront of public events. The time you spent hanging around your role model learning the ropes so that you could some day achieve your goals through applying lessons and learnings you got through observing and interacting with them. In other words a natural mentoring occurred through friendship, collegiate, buddy ship and an informal relationship. 5. Formal Mentoring: It is only since the early 1970s that mentoring became a formal component of many organizations. Organizations initiated the designing and introduction of planned and structured mentoring programs, with a defined, articulated purpose and formally defined processes and roles. Hence this kind of planned and structured mentoring program in an organization is said to be an formal mentoring. 6. Informal Mentoring: Informal mentoring is where in the mentor himself reaches out to the mentee to share his experience and knowledge by which the mentee could develop personally and professionally in their career. In this type of mentoring program the relationship between the mentor and the mentee exists for a along period of time and are very effective and rewarding.

Research Design: Research design is a blue print for the collection and measurement of the data. It involves an overall picture of what the researcher will do, right from the formulation of the problem, to its implication and the analysis of the data. The research design adopted by the researcher is Descriptive Research Design. This methodology involved in such design is mostly qualitative in nature producing descriptive data. Universe: The universe is the totality of units from which the sample is selected or derived. The universe of this study is all the HR executives from all cadres of the software and non software organization. Sampling Technique: The adopted technique for the purpose of the research is Simple Random Sampling technique. Sample Size: For the purpose of this study, the size of the sample is 60. Pre- Testing: Pre- testing was done during the month of December 2008, on 10 percent of the sample size (i.e. from 60 samples). Based on the pre-testing minor changes were made in the questionnaire. Source of Data: The data for the research is collected by both the primary and secondary source. The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire and by mailing of the questionnaire and the secondary source of data collection is through books and magazines and also through the internet.

Tools of Data collection: The main tool used for collecting the data from the respondents is through the questionnaires. Components of the Tool: The components of the tool are as such that the questionnaire consists of 33 questions, of which some seven questions were focused on the personnel profile of the respondents. While the next set of questions were mainly focused on the objective of the research and so the questions were divided into two parts. The first part consists of 13 questions, which was framed to know the HR executives perception on mentoring while the second part also consists of 13 questions on the impact of mentoring, which was framed to know the impact of mentoring on the organization and profession. Actual collection of data: The actual collection of data was done during the period of January to February 2009 in order to collect the responses from the 60 respondents. Analysis and Interpretation: The analysis and interpretation of the data collected is done through the SPSS package (i.e. statistical package for social sciences). Limitations: As every researcher has various limitations during their research work, the researcher also had various limitations and the foremost and important limitation was during the collection of data because the respondents for the research were the HR executives and getting the responses from these HR executives was a daunting effect since they were busy with their schedule and the researcher had to follow up regularly and get the responses.

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE

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2.1 REVIEW OF LITERATURE Introduction: Every human being wishes to lead a peaceful life. But sooner or later one will live through at least sometimes of stressful situations. This many a times becomes unavoidable due to problems of varying nature. Very often people try to their best to live through difficult times. They also encounter multiple sources of awful situations. In such a state that entire one need is a shoulder to cry. People with strong mindset will take continuous measures aiming at resolving the problematic situations. On the other hand, there are also people with very weak mindset for whom even the ordinary demand of life becomes stressors. The same situation may also put oneself in a position, in which he is not able to discharge his duties effectively, when it comes to personal as well as professional self. Worse will become the situation if their performance is not up to the expected level in the workplace because each organization wants to be different from others to capture the market. To do so they always look in for efficient performers. Employers look forward to the well being of the employees, both physical and mental. By taking into account all the essentials that are needed for a business to prosper, business organizations have considered the maintenance of employee well being as a must. They try to remove various hurdles encountered by them to perform better. These hindrances were acting as a terror to organizations, as there are possibilities of employees performance getting affected due to this. It was at this time, the concept of mentoring found its way into organizations. It is only since the early 1970s that mentoring became a formal component of many organizations. Organizations initiated the designing and introduction of planned and structured mentoring programs, with a defined, articulated purpose and formally defined processes and roles. Organizations of all kinds as diverse as academic, business, social and volunteering, have introduced the mentor program for multiple reasons. Educational or academic mentoring 11

was aimed to help mentored individuals improve their overall academic achievements. Career mentoring was used to facilitate the mentee identify career goals and explore opportunities to improve long term career development. Personal development mentoring facilitated the identification of developmental needs ways to address them. Mentoring also started to offer emotional support to the mentored during times of personal or social stress and provided guidance for decision making. It also served to improve performance, help mentees adapt to cultural change, answer questions and provide insights. By far the most popular trigger that seems to have set off the initiation of a mentoring program is the need to induct new entrants into the organization. This need cuts across industries and size of organizations, ranging from high tech to pharmaceutical, public or private sector. Concept of Mentoring: The origin of mentoring can be traced back to homers odyssey where mentor, an elder from Ithaca, was asked by odyssey to become guide advisor and teacher to his son Telemachus when he was away fighting the Trogen wars. Mentor was actually the goddess Athena goddess of wisdom. She had assumed mentors form and was a wise and capable teacher to Telemachus.The meaning of mentor has evolved through the ages and mentor is now regarded as someone who is wise counselor, a sponsor, a guide, a facilitator, a coach, a teacher and a role model. In the Indian context the most successful mentoring relationship is the one between Krishna and Arjuna, where we see Lord Krishna as Arjunas mentor guiding him, giving him teachings to apply to win the war, not taking decisions for him but providing him with principles and imparting wisdom, allowing Arjuna to make mistakes, but most importantly, contributing to Arjuna being the greatest warrior. The famous depth psychologist, Carl Jung held the opinion that myths were a guide that enabled a person journey to wholeness. The fantastic details encountered in myths had to be sifted through to get to the core message. Using this perspective we can strip away the

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divinity associated with Krishna so that we get a picture of the real Krishna and his relationship with Arjuna. In our lives we have had many mentors knowingly and unknowingly. Remember the time you had a great role model in school or college, who was your senior and great at a sport you were keen on or was a students union representative in the fore front of public events. The time you spent hanging around your role model learning the ropes so that you could some day achieve your goals through applying lessons and learnings you got through observing and interacting with them. In other words a natural mentoring occurred through friendship, collegiality, buddy ship and an informal relationship. Definition of Mentoring: Mentoring is a process that involves two individuals where the individual with more experience guides and counsels the individual with less experience to grow professionally and personally in her career. These two individuals have a one-to-one relationship that can be either informal or formal. Mentoring is often a two-way process where both mentee and mentor can benefit. It can happen anytime during a persons career such as starting a new job in a new organization, starting a new job within an organization or starting a new career. It is important that the mentor and the mentee have a good relationship where there is trust. Also Mentoring is a collaborative, mutually beneficial partnership between a mentor (who possesses greater skills, knowledge or experience) and a mentee (who is looking to enhance his or her knowledge, skills and experience). Definitions on Mentor and Mentee: MENTOR: A trusted advisor, teacher, counselor, someone usually senior in rank or position to the individual being mentored MENTEE: A Mentee--someone usually junior in experience to the Mentor, whose education and training is of vital concern to the Mentor 13

The person who is guiding the less experienced person is called the mentor and the less experienced person requiring guidance is called the mentee. A mentor may be senior or more experienced to the mentee.The mentor may be someone who works in the same organization or a professional working in a different organization. The mentor is seen as a transitional figure in a mentees development by providing individual attention and support for the mentee. Most mentoring progammes are more common, there exists group mentoring (more than one mentor per mentee); and team mentoring (more than one mentee per mentor). An individual can also hire a professionally trained mentor to provide mentoring services for a fee. Due to technological advances, mentoring is not bound by geographical boundaries. With telementoring, mentees can communicate with their mentors via email, telephone and the Internet. Implementation of Mentoring Programs in Organizations: The purposes of implementing mentoring programs in the organization are as follows:

Induction, to help new recruits, trainees or graduates settle into the organization; Skills Enhancement, to enable skills to be passed on in the workplace by experienced, highly competent staff to others who need to acquire specified skills; Career Development, to help staff in the planning, development and management of their careers and to help them become more resilient in times of change, more selfreliant in their careers and self-directed learners;

Affirmative Action, to assist women and minority groups to redress the imbalance at higher levels in organizations, provide support and help overcome barriers that often block their progress;

Leadership and Management Development, to encourage the development of competencies more easily gained through example, guided practice or experience than by education and training;

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Education Support, to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Formal education or training is complemented by the knowledge and the hands-on experience of a competent practitioner;

Organizational Development and Culture Change, to share the values, vision and mission of the organization. To communicate and work on a one-to-one basis to develop required changes; and

Customer Service, to model desired behaviors, encourage the development of competencies, motivate for service quality, and above all to cultivate the right attitudes.

Staff retention

Mentoring is also about Building and securing our knowledge capital Building relationships Motivating our employees

Mentoring can include: counselling skill development idea generation support encouragement guidance advice supervision reflection criticism

TYPES OF MENTORING PROGRAMMES: Mentoring can take many forms. Below are the six types, listed by Nankivell, according to the mentees perspective. They are: 15

Mentoring for management skills help as a manager Mentoring for professional support and development- help cope and develop within current post Mentoring for career development- help gain promotion and move on Mentoring for specific skills coaching Mentoring for new recruits- help in getting to know the organization Mentoring for professional contacts- help in networking and reduce professional isolation

TYPES OF MENTORING RELATIONSHIP: It is helpful to know and recognize the four kinds of mentoring relationships: Supervisory Mentoring Situational Mentoring Formal Mentoring Informal Mentoring

Supervisory Mentoring All good supervisors mentor their subordinates to a degree, but usually only in regard to their current job. Due to time constraints, it is increasingly difficult for supervisors to devote the time needed to mentor all their subordinates, and if they cant spend equal time and dedication with each subordinate, perceptions of favoritism can occur and morale can deteriorate. Also, supervisors today are often not "subject matter experts" in the career field of all their subordinates. Another consideration it can be difficult or awkward for people to talk openly and honestly with their boss or another person in their chain of command if the issue is difficulty on the job or the desire to explore job changes. The most important thing to remember is that all good supervisors do mentor their subordinates to a degree. We recommend that as leaders, supervisors encourage outside mentoring partnerships and allow employees the time to work on them.

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Situational Mentoring Situational mentoring is the right help at the right time provided by someone when a mentee needs guidance and advice. It is usually short term addressing an immediate situation but can transition to a more long term connection. Formal Mentoring Formal mentoring has four characteristics: 1. It has a beginning and an end. 2. It has a method for no-fault termination. 3. It has some type of formal matching process (such as the ONE DOT MENTORING PROGRAM). 4. It has one or more checkpoints, such as a meeting at mid-point in a one year mentoring connection during which the partners can discuss how the connection is going and reset goals or terminate Informal Mentoring This partnership usually occurs when one person (the mentee) seeks another for career advice or to be their career guide. It can also occur when a person (the mentor) reaches out to someone they know could benefit from their experience. These relationships tend to grow over a long period of time and are very effective and rewarding. Experience, skills and a genuine desire to help are more valuable assets in a mentoring relationship than age or position. Open and assertive communication and the trust of both parties are essential. Both partners in the mentoring relationship benefit. Learning must be a lifelong process and one of the most effective ways to learn is to assist in the development of others. The best teachers learn much from their students, counselors constantly learn from clients and partners in any successful relationship grow and develop along the way. 17

STAGES OF MENTORING RELATIONSHIP There are several ways of conceptualizing the stages of the mentoring relationship. In this section we introduce four models that have been advanced to describe the stages of the mentoring relationship: The mentor protg relationship model; The chronological model; The life cycle model; The career development model.

The models only describe ideal-typical mentoring relationships; actual mentoring relationships will vary from these types. However, such models do provide programme managers with a language for discussing what is likely to happen during the course of the mentoring relationship in training sessions and during mentor support group meetings. Mentor-Protg relationship model One of the earliest approaches was based on adult mentoring in a corporate context, the socalled Mentor-Protg relationship model (Gray, 1986). This model was the foundation for Gays discussion of the continuum of mentoring behaviors. The relationship can pass through four levels, suggesting that as the competence and experience of the mentee grows, then so does the equality between them and their mentor: Level 1: the mentee has limited experience and displays little competence. In this situation the mentor may act more in a teacher role and assume greater direction for what happens in and between mentoring meetings. Level 2: the mentor acts as a guide to the mentee, based on greater experience and expertise. Level 3: the mentor acknowledges the mentees growing competence and experience and facilitates a more equal contribution during meetings. Level 4: the mentor and mentee are both engaged in learning from each other and there is a relationship of equals. 18

Chronological model A more common approach to discussing the stages of the mentoring relationship is to take a chronological view. Here the stages can range from three to eight. At its simplest there are there obvious stages to a successful relationship, which mirror the familiar stages of group formation. Stage 1: forming and storming includes the first meeting, developing trust and rapport, making an agreement and some testing out of each other. Students who lack trust in adults owing to their previous experience may test out the commitment of their mentor through appointments, not returning calls, making unreasonable requests or being sullen in meetings. Stage 2: norming and performing includes the bulk of meetings where goals are set, reached and reviewed and a good relationship is formed. Some relationships may become stuck at stage 1, because of a poor match, prior damage to the students capacity to trust adults, students being stuck at the testing out stage or dropping out of school for a variety of reasons. Stage 3: closing the relationship when targets have been achieved, the mentee has developed and become more independent as a learner. The life cycle model At its most complex, some writers elaborate on the stages of mentoring and compare it to life or relationships. For example, the so-called Mentoring Life Cycle Model has eight stages (Swansea College not dated): Stage 1: gaining commitment to the mentoring process (conception). Stage 2: getting involved through selection and matching (giving birth). Stage 3: getting together at the initial meeting (babyhood). Stage 4: getting to know each other at the start of the relationship (childhood). Stage 5: working together to action-plan and address issues (adolescence).

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Stage 6: learning together that involves mutual learning and development Stage 7: looking back together on what has been achieved through the relationship Stage 8: saying goodbye when goals have been achieved and it is time to move on

(adult maturity ) (old age). (death). A ninth stage of rebirth or redefinition could be added for all those mentoring pairs that decide to continue meeting as friends after the end of the formal mentoring scheme (Kram, 1985). Other writers would argue that it is not possible to define a stage model to which complex mentoring relationships will conform. For example, after initial enthusiasm there may be lulls or stages of irrelevance when initial objectives appear to have been achieved. The career development model One of the main aims of mentoring is for career development. The Mentoring Action Project (MAP) coordinated by the Institute of Careers Guidance between 1995 and 1997 explored the potential of one-to-one mentoring in career guidance for disengaged young people (Ford, 1998). The Map project produced a six-stage model for career development through mentoring. agencies. steps. Stage 3: mentoring to improve self-awareness includes reflecting on and learning from past behavior, determining more positive behavior and relating past and future behavior to the expectations of others, including employers and learning providers. Stage 4: mentoring to improve self-image including helping the client to recognize achievements, providing opportunities for the young person to succeed, and celebrating, recording and accrediting success in non-formal situations. 20 Stage 2: mentoring to improve social and life skills includes time keeping, appearance, coping strategies, to overcome barriers to progress, mini-action plans and phased Stage 1: mentoring for survival included helping to meet the basic needs of the

mentee (health, family relationships) and supporting the mentee in negotiations with other

Stage 5: mentoring for career exploration included initial and continuing assessment, Stage 6: mentoring for career management included support in decision making,

computer-aided and psychometric testing, learning tasters and short internships. action planning and implementing action plans, ongoing support and follow up, while passing the initiative gradually to the young person. MENTORING PROCESS Establishing a Rapport. (initiation) Direction Setting. (getting established) Progress Making. (development) Moving on. (finalizing/maintenance)

Establishing Rapport Tasks Exchange views on the extent of the relationship agree a way of working together Set up way of calling meetings ,frequency, duration

Dynamics-this phase can be characterized as impatience to get going politeness testing out and challenging

Skills requirement -Mentor may need to: be open to hints and unarticulated wishes or concerns be clear about what needs are establishing and open about what can be left out achieve rapport 21

Direction Setting Tasks- Mentor and the mentee will learn about the mentee style of learning clarify focus of the meetings /work begin work/meetings

Dynamics- Characteristics issues may include over inclination to shut down on possibilities for diagnosis

Skill requirement: Set objectives Give feedback

Progress Making Task identify new issues and ways of working

Dynamics Dealing with the change in the relationship or the mentees circumstances Reviewing and adapting the relationship

Skills requirement Monitoring the progress of the learner relationship review and renegotiation recognize achievements/objectives attained 22

Moving On Tasks Move to a degree of maintenance

Dynamics Major recognition and continuation evaluation and generalization

Skills Orchestrate a good ending Think through and generalize learning Establish Friendship

MEETING PARAMETERS Duration of meetings: The parameters of mentoring meetings are the basis of all mentoring relationships, including their duration, frequency and location. The case studies give examples of many different models regarding contact time between mentors and mentees. This depends on the form of mentoring the aims and objectives, decisions made by programme managers and the agreement made by the mentor and mentee. For example the UK Mentoring Strategy Group, in a position paper submitted in 2000 to the DFEE on business mentoring, suggested that a minimum level of contact was 12 hours over six months, in other words a one-hour meeting every two weeks.

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Frequency of meetings: The frequency of meetings is a second key variable determining the amount of contact time. Greater frequency is generally recommended at the start of programmes while relationships are being established, but frequency may reduce towards the end, when mentees needs have been largely met or they are increasingly independent. Some schemes do have relatively infrequent meetings, say every three weeks, and problems can occur when a meeting is missed and there is then sometimes a six-week gap between meetings. This tends to undermine the entire mentoring relationship. The problem that some mentors have in keeping to their time commitment is a major cause of the failure of mentoring relationships. Inevitably, mentoring programmes for at-risk students tend to be much more intensive and generally take place weekly or more frequently. Similarly mentoring which focuses on the development of basic skills needs to happen on a weekly basis. For example, the National Mentoring Pilot Project required two-weekly meetings between the higher education student mentors and their secondary-school mentees. However, some programmes, for example those for gifted and talented students, may thrive on non-intensive contact. Some writers have observed that when the focus of the mentoring is the development of skills, then mentoring pairs meet more frequently and over a longer period of time (Songsthagen and Lee, 1996). Where the mentoring is more concerned with befriending and sharing interests, however, meetings tend to be less frequent and there are more terminated relationships. Location: The issue of the location is tied to the problem of child protection, and the degree of police checking and screening which has been applied to mentors. Many student-mentoring programmes are site-based in the school, because this allows for greater levels of teacher supervision. Students are also then not involved in traveling to unfamiliar destinationsoften at the end of the school day-with the inherent risks that this brings. Schools often have space problems, so that it is difficult to afford mentors and mentees the privacy to 24

engage in confidential conversations. Many business and community mentoring meetings take place in the school hall or library at the end of the school day. However, business mentoring programmes often yield greater benefits to students in terms of their employability and self-confidence when mentees travel to meetings at their mentors workplace (Miller, 1998). Community-based mentoring requires more rigorous approaches to mentor and mentee support and supervision than site-based programmes, although meetings are often held in community centers where is some measures of supervision. CODES OF PRACTICE Some programmes have developed codes of practice to guide the behavior or mentors in the programme. An ethical code of practice for mentoring provides extracts from a code of practice that formed part of draft Occupational Standards for a National Vocational Qualification in Mentoring in the UK (Wood and Reynard, 2000). This code is addressed to both mentors and their mentees. However, the US example shown provides a code of practice aimed at mentors. An ethical code of practice for mentoring The mentors role is to respond to the mentees developmental needs and agenda; it Mentors must work within the current agreement with the mentee about The mentor will not intrude into any areas the mentee wishes to keep private until Mentor and mentee should aim to be truthful with each other and themselves about The mentoring relationship must not be exploitative in any way, nor must it be open Mentors need to be aware of the limits of their own competence and operate within

is not to impose a personal agenda. confidentiality that is appropriate with the context. invited to do so. the relationship. to misinterpretation. these limits.

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Mentors have a responsibility to develop their own competence in the practice of The mentee must accept increasing responsibility for managing the relationship; the

mentoring. mentor should promote this development and must generally promote the mentees autonomy. Mentor and mentee should respect each others time and other responsibilities, Mentor and mentee share responsibility for the smooth winding down of the ensuring that they do not impose beyond what is reasonable. relationship when it has achieved its purpose; they must both avoid creating dependency. Either part may dissolve the relationship. However, both mentor and mentee have a Mentees should be aware of their rights and any complaints procedures. Mentors must be aware of any current law and work within it. Mentor and mentee must be aware that all records are subject to statutory responsibility to discuss the matter together, as part of mutual learning.

regulations under the Data Protection Act, 1984. George W Bush Governor of Texas, published Quality Assurance Standards for Mentoring Organizations, which were aimed at ensuring safety for mentees, support and retention of mentors and long-term operational stability for mentoring organizations. The standards represented guidelines based on what the Texas mentoring field considered to be the essential elements of any high-quality mentoring programme. The Texas quality standards also laid down quality standards of behaviors, to which mentors should subscribe. BENEFITS OF MENTORING A successful mentoring programme will benefit the mentee, the mentor, the organization and the profession. Benefits to the Mentee: Advice in career planning, personal and professional development Acquisition of new skills 26

Understanding about career development Widen networking circle Support in managing change and difficulties Boost of self-esteem and self-worth Insight into organization politics Encouragement to take up new project and responsibilities Enhanced management skills Reduce professional isolation

Benefits to the mentor: Personal satisfaction in helping another professional Development of professional skills useful such as coaching or counseling Incentive to keep abreast of professional development Exposure to new ideas and different perspective of the profession Widen professional network Career enhancement (addition to ones CV) Opportunity to give something back to the profession

Benefit to the organization: Increase productivity Improvement in managers management skills More flexible organization Staff empowerment Increased commitment from both new and experienced staff Increased understanding of the organizations goals and purpose Lower staff turnover Lower staff burnout Enhanced learning culture Leadership and successor planning 27

Benefit to the profession: Promote professional development Enhanced overall professionalism of the profession Understanding of wider professional issues and trends Promotion of a professional vision Develop professional networking and support Support to disadvantaged groups within the profession

QUALITIES AND ROLES OF A MENTEE Qualities of a Mentee: For a mentoring project to succeed a mentee should have the following qualities: Roles of Mentee: Shape the overall agenda for the relationship- know what you want. Establish realistic and attainable expectations. Be open in communicating with your mentor. Establish priority issues for action or support. 28 Humble Honest Positive attitude and enthusiastic Willing to accept different view points Eager to learn and make changes Willing to undertake new challenges Assume responsibility for you own growth and development Willing to work hard and multi-task Not cling or desperate Good communication skills especially listening skills Proactive Ability to receive feedback and act on it

Dont expect your mentor to be an expert in every facet of business. Solicit feedback from your mentor. Come prepared to each meeting to discuss issues.

QUALITIES AND ROLES OF A MENTOR Qualities of a Mentor: A good mentor plays a vital role in a successful mentoring programme.The good mentor should have the following qualities and they are as follows; Roles of Mentor: The mentor would also have to take on many roles such as: Counselor Coach and guide Facilitator Role model Listener and sounding board Advisor Catalyst Expert Teacher Friend Confident Diplomatic Discreet Willing to share and impart knowledge Patient Willing to open doors Good problem solver

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 Mentors behavior:

Goal-setter Taskmaster

One useful way of defining mentor behaviors is to identify behaviors that mentors should always, sometimes or never use (Clutter buck, 1998). Mentors should Always: listen with empathy; share experience; from a mutual learning friendship; Sometime: use coaching behaviors; use counseling behaviors; challenge Never: discipline; condemn; appraise formally; assess for a third party; supervise.

develop insight through reflection; be a sounding board; and encourage. assumptions; be a role model; open doors or sponsor.

MENTORS AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE: There are a number of potential beneficial outcomes for mentors in the development of their own emotional intelligence. Models of emotional intelligence were first developed in the 1990s (Salovey and Mayer, 1990; Mayer and Salovey, 1997 ;). Mentoring provides the opportunity to practice, improve and demonstrate various emotional-intelligence skills and capabilities, such as Interpersonal capabilities, such as emotional self-awareness, assertiveness and Interpersonal skills, such as empathy for the feelings of others, ability to

self-reliance; establish a mutually beneficial personal relationship and taking social responsibility; Mood and optimism the abilities to maintain hope in adverse situations and to generate happiness in oneself and others Although emotional intelligence is most likely to be a concept understood in a business context and therefore appreciated by mentors from business, these outcomes are likely to be of benefit to a much wider range of mentors. 30

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships (Golem an, 1990). EI has been popularized in the United States and United Kingdom through the work of Daniel Golem an (1995), which was based on earlier work by Mayer and Salovey (1997), who put forward a four-part models: Perceiving and recognizing emotions: to recognize how you and others around you Assimilating and using emotions: the ability to generate emotion to reason using Understanding emotions: the ability to understand complex emotions and emotional Managing emotions: the ability to manage emotions in yourself and others.

are feeling. this emotion. chains, or how emotions follows transitions from one stage to another.

Hay McBer model The approach to EI most associated with Daniel Golem an (1995) is the so-called Hay McBer model, which divides EI into personal competence, or how we manage ourselves, and social competence, or how we manage relationships. Personal competence is subdivided into self-awareness and self-management, and social competence is subdivided into social awareness and social skills. EI is of growing interest to employees as the model suggests that self-management and social skills flow out of social awareness and selfawareness. In other words people who demonstrate a lack of social or self-awareness in interviews or assessment centers are likely to have relatively poor social and selfmanagement skills. They are key features of employability, but they are also highly relevant to mentoring. The most effectiveness could be used as a criterion for screening out would- be mentors at an early stage. The various elements of the Hay McBer model of EI are as follows: Self awareness includes: Emotional selfawareness: recognizing ones emotions and their effects; 31

 concerns; abilities; -

Accurate self-assessment: knowing ones strength and limitations; Selfconfidence: a strong sense of ones own worth and capabilities. Self- management includes: Self-control: keeping disruptive emotions and impulses under control; Adaptability: flexibility in adapting to changing situations or barriers; Conscientiousness: demonstrating the capacity to manage oneself; Trustworthiness: showing integrity, consistent behavior and maintaining Initiative: the readiness to act; Achievement orientation: the drive to reach high standards set by oneself. Social awareness includes: Empathy: understanding others and taking an active interest in their Service orientation: meeting the needs of other people; Organizational awareness: empathy at an organizational level. Social skills includes Leadership: inspiring and guiding individuals and groups; Influence: being able to use interpersonal influencing skills; Developing others: sensing others development needs and progressing their Change catalyst: being able to initiate and manage change; Communication: sensing clear and convincing messages.

confidentiality;

Mentoring offers opportunities for mentors to develop their own EI and this can be used as a selling point in recruitment. Mentors can also develop the EI of their mentees through the mentoring process. This can also be seen as a contribution to improving the mentees employability, as EI is viewed as a desirable set of traits for future employees. 32

ARTICLES ON MENTORING Some articles relating to mentoring have been published in the Human Capital magazine, of which one article is on reverse mentoring and the other article is all about why is business taking to mentoring, wherein the author talks about the leading companies with reference to their usage of mentoring and its usefulness. The issue of article on mentoring in the Human capital magazine in the Dec2002 issue says about- Organizations with mentor programs need to transition to an advanced level, rather than remaining at the stage of having the induction and assimilation of new hires. Successful examples from Wipro and Glaxo SmithKline demonstrate that mentoring can be used as effectively to develop leaders. Wipro Information Technologies mentor program was set up with the aim of easing a new joining employees entry into the organization. The incumbent is attached to a more experienced employee who guides him through in becoming an integral part of Wipro by understanding the work culture and informal norms and systems at work. However, in Wipro, the new joinee is defined as one who has been in the organization for at two years. The scope of the program is to help the employee to under stand the finer points of internal systems and processes. It also serves better planning for achieving short term objectives and promoted inter functional interfacing. Compare that to the Glaxo SmithKline Beechams reason for introducing a mentor program six years ago facilitating a new entrant or a promotee to manage periods of transition. GSK sees the mentor program as a tool for inculcating a living by the GSK essentials, i.e., developing self and others. It is also an essential means for transmitting culture. In Wipro, the HR Department plays key role in the facilitation of the program and the program has as its base a Leadership Mentoring Agenda. The Leadership model at Wipro outlines leadership qualities on which a 360 degree feedback gives input about a potential mentor. All individuals scores are benchmarked against corporate scores and the best of the lot are invited to volunteer to be mentors. In short people scoring high on leadership qualities qualify as 33

mentors. Mentees in the Wipro context are employees who have been in the organization for at least two years. Wipro is perhaps the only organization hosting a Mentor Portal which has complete details on types of mentoring and a list and details of mentors for leadership/ project management. One can find a variety of articles and case studies on mentoring and even chat sessions on best practices. The portal plays an integral part in e-enabling the start of a mentoring relationship. Whereas Glaxo Smith Kline Beecham, which has the oldest mentor program, describes it as a way of life, instrumental in developing and retaining a skilled workforce. It also sees the program as contributing to developing leaders and helps create conditions for cultural change. An integral part of the mentoring process is the mentoring board that is a committee comprising of the management team members with a purpose of supervising the process. The mentoring board is mainly responsible for mentor identification, review and corrective actions (every six months) and supervision of mentoring process. It also ensures that mentoring is a formal performance objective of the mentor. Also the various key factors that lead to impacting success are Anchor the program Select the right mentor Communication Start small Periodic evaluation and review

In the case of anchor the program, GSK has a recognition system that allows the best mentor for the year to be identified by the organization. The recognition system seems to serve as a method for anchoring the program. In the case of Wipro, feedback on the leadership qualities seems to serve as an anchor for ensuring the emergence of mentors. The portal visibilising the profiles of mentors and allowing the mentee to choose their mentor also serves as an anchor. Another key anchor is the visibility that the organization gives to the program. Key leaders of 34

the organization are custodians of the program, they actively monitor its effective implementation, take corrective actions and support the program by being present at key events concerning the program. Investment in the program in the form of training and development of mentors and mentees, linking it to key business related parameters (e.g. technology and leadership), are other ways to reinforce the significance of mentoring. Whereas select the right mentor is nothing but ensuring to select the right profile of mentors, criteria for selection are aligned with the purpose of the programs and the triggers that initiate the program Communication is nothing but to communicate the system throughout the organization using formal system. The communication of the system within the organization should be planned for an extended period of time. Start small is nothing but start in small steps may be identify your crucible within the organization where you will experiment and initiate the program. Periodic evaluation and review helps if you have laid down some criteria to benchmark the success of the program. A periodic review on pre determined timeliness and a sharing of the results of the review lends credibility to the program. Ensuring corrective steps based on the review ensures its longevity. Hence it is apparent that the common trigger for mentoring is the need to induct and assimilate new entrants into culture, technology, processes and systems. A result envisaged from the program is to be able to create leaders in the organization who will in turn mentor the other new entrants.

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REVERSE MENTOING Changing context in IT companies: Even in relatively tough times, Indian IT companies have managed to clock about 20-30% annual growth rates with rates of 30-50% being quite common. With attrition being moderate (around 20%), the absolute number of new entrants in a typical Indian IT company is huge!

The youth and gender mix is changing drastically. We should not be surprised, as this trend simply replicated itself along the lines of overall demographic shift. But, surely compared to the average age of US - IT worker, the Indian IT profession in the same role is at times younger by almost 10 years! Also, the Indian IT industry attracts a healthier (around 20%) ratio of women as compared to many others. The trend is towards becoming cool (encouraging freedom of expression and individuality, fostering an environment of learning and fun and being multi-geographic/ multi- cultural). In keeping with the changing face of the workforce, a multitude of new people issue ate cropping up. Since organization cant survive as an isolated entity in the ecosystem, there is an ongoing struggle to keep pace with the rate of social/ technological change on the outside. Companies are also struggling with the aspects of how to assimilate the new entrants effectively and efficiently into the organizational culture. culture to truly espouse the cool characteristics. While there are no Harry Potter, wands to address these issue in a single sweep, one of our clients has redefined and re-positioning their mentoring system to address some of the above issues. So now companies are experimenting with a different dimension of traditional mentoring (i.e.) the reverse mentoring The latest trend is to look at a newer dimension of mentoring. Organizations have realized that if they can combine the solidity of the existing employees experience with the exuberance of 36 Employers are also finding themselves experimenting with newer ways to keep constantly keep refining the organization

new joinees, it is potentially a powerful tool in their possession. Hence, the concept of reverse mentoring. Currently, reverse- mentoring is being tried in two situations; fresh graduate engineers as reverse mentors of existing project managers; and new lateral hires a middle level management are reverse-mentors to existing managers. In the case of fresh graduate engineers as reverse mentors, the objectives are to share knowledge of new technologies that could be used for improving personal and team productivity, bringing an attitude of having fun while learning, fostering technology innovation and to acknowledge the power of youth. On the other hand, when new lateral hires are made reverse mentors, the aim is: increased knowledge of market trends and competition strategies, increased customer orientation, market innovation and acknowledging value of varying perspectives. Structurally, the first type of reverse mentoring is a one-to-one relationship formed between the fresh engineer and the project manager that he reports to, typically for a period of three months. By design, the mentoring sessions are conducted informally, i.e. during team meetings, over email. The second type, however, has been designed to be for the first month only. The reverse mentor may potentially work with up to five protgs (one many relationship) and the sessions are conducted formally, usually as discussions or presentations. At the end of the one or three months, formal feedback is collected from both parties on the effectiveness of the program, new perspectives uncovered, impact made, etc. It is too early to pass a definitive judgment on the overall health of this initiative, although many successes have been reported.

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Disadvantages of reverse mentoring: As with traditional types of mentoring, some factors must be borne in mind while attempting to design and effectively deliver reverse mentoring programs. managers may be reluctant to be To begin with, some senior mentored by a person 10 years junior to them. Their

sensitivities need to be understood and managed while designing the program, and they must be owners of the reverse mentoring initiative. One should not do mentoring for mentoring sake. Well-defined organization objectives must precede program design discussions. These objectives may vary from one segment of the organization to the other. (e.g. for fresh college joinees assimilating the organizational culture quickly may be an imperative while at top leadership levels mentoring may be offered to develop a strategic marketing perspective).

While the level of formality may vary, each mentoring program must have a defined structure that explains the role and responsibilities of those involved, modus operandi of the interactions, escalation points if things are not working out, etc.

In their zeal, many organizations trend to go overboard with the numbers. In other words, rather than starting small (may be as a pilot in a part of a function) the big-bang approach is taken. Also, the number of protgs-per-mentor needs to be kept reasonably small for the mentor to have practical and useful bandwidth to offer (3 to 5 protgs per mentor usually works the best). People who demonstrate exceptional mentoring or protegeing skills must be publicly acknowledged. And finally, it is important to remember that mentoring does not come naturally to many of us. Organizations need to be prepared to hand-hold and guide first time mentors.

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Advantages of reverse mentoring: entrants. years). Sending signals of a high- performance agile work environment. Fostering strong personal relationships. Newer insight into market realities and competitive positioning Many fresh ideas have been generated and the organization is better Open demonstration of the fact that fresh/lateral joinees perspectives Shaking some of the existing employees out of their learning lethargy. Shifting the organizational mindset to competencies (rather than equipped to harness them. are widely respected. Dramatic increase in the sense of ownership amongst the new

(especially from the second type). In one case, the organization encourages the reverse mentor to critique its offerings wearing the customers and competitions hats! Also there is a perceptible increase in organizations energy and fun levels. Identification of new tools for improving personal productivity and HR received many suggestions on improvements (e.g. how to mine for mining the internet. online communities for recruitment, sharing new trends in workplace clothing, new ways of rewarding employees).

MENTORING: DEFINITION AND ITS DEVELOPMENT Ancient method of Mentoring: In spite of the variety of definitions of mentoring (and the variety of names given to it, from coaching or counseling to sponsorship) all the experts and communicators appear to agree that it has its origins in the concept of apprenticeship. In the days when the guilds ruled the commercial world, the road to the top in business began in an early apprenticeship to the master craftsman, a trader, or a ships captain. This older, more experienced 39

individual passed down his knowledge of how the task was done and how to operate in the commercial world. Intimate personal relationships frequently developed between the master (or mentor) and the apprentice (or mentee), especially as the apprentice acquired skills and began to substitute for his mentor. Marrying the masters daughter became an accepted means of providing career progression and retaining key skills with the firm. Industrial Revolution and Mentoring: The Industrial Revolution altered this emphasis, demanding large numbers of recruits which swamped personalized attention. Apprenticeship often degenerated to the stage where it involved depersonalized mass training in technical areas. Within the large corporation there grew up informal, often hidden methods of passing on the experience of old timers to young recruits. At the lower levels, a supervisor might keep an eye on a promising employee. Senior managers might identify a potential high-flyer and provide him with confidential advice and encouragement. Therefore, although the term may not have had currency, mentoring was nonetheless at work. The problem with this informal arrangement, which is now commonplace throughout the business world, is that it can be highly arbitrary. The mentor may choose a mentee because he is related, because he reminds him of himself 20 years before, or for any other of a dozen reasons that have no relationship to actual or potential performance. Promotion often becomes unduly influenced by old boy networks that operate by invitation only. Sometimes referred to derisively and with some truth as a corporate godfather, the mentor may exert a power of suffrage and extract fealty. Mentoring Relationship: Discussion of the pros and cons of the mentoring relationship began with one Ralph M Stodgill who referred to the mentor in the late 1960s as an ambiguous authority figure. Daniel Levinson, 10 years later, in a study of 40 mentoring relationships, described him as a mixture of parent and peer. His primary function is to be a transitional figure in a mans development. He calls mentoring one of the most complex and developmentally

40

important relationships a man can have in early adulthood. Other communicators refer to the mentor as a role model a guide, a tutor, a coach and a confidant. Aware that the mentoring relationship can be highly beneficial for those who participate, various companies on both sides of the Atlantic have sought to formalize it. Their objective is to ensure that this valuable developmental tool is used for the good of the company as a whole, rather than for a small number of favorites. A good mentoring relationship is one where mentor and mentee have mutual respect, recognize their need for personal development and have at least some idea of where they both want to go. Most successful mentoring relationships blossom into friendships that continue long after the need for tutoring has passed. Tony Milne of CEPEC at Sundridge Park Management Centre goes so far as to describe mentoring as best understood as a form of love relationship it can offer great satisfactions to mentor and mentee alike. At the same time, because it is such a personal relationship and because many people still feel it has conferred upon them special advantages, there is often considerable reluctance to be identified as a mentee. For this reason, many of examples quoted in the following chapters, though real, are anonymous. In most cases, there will be 8 to 15 years between the mentor and his mentee(s). The most common arrangement will be between a junior manager, supervisor or raw business school recruit and a middle manager. However, mentoring does occur between top management (IBM and Sainsbury are just two of many companies where the chief executive attaches a very junior manager to his office to learn the ropes of corporate governance). Mentoring may also occur between top management and middle management, particularly where promising people have risen up the hierarchy in only one function or one division of the company. Moreover, mentoring need not be a once in a lifetime occurrence. Many people experience a succession of mentoring relationships as they pass through different stages in their careers. It seems that the determined individual, who chooses his/her employers carefully and recognizes the value of a friend at the right court can usually find a mentor whether under a formal or an informal scheme. That mentor may be his/her immediate boss, mentoring frequently works better if the roles of mentor and boss are not confused, not least because the two roles can on occasion be contradictory. Hence most formal 41

mentoring schemes, and those upon which this review is focused, concentrate on the relationship between junior employee and a more senior individual above and usually to the side of his/her boss. Mentoring Process: Most of the companies have focused their schemes on potential high-flyers. Other has tried to give all new entrants at certain levels a helping hand from above. All would agree with this description of the mentoring process contained in a Harvard Business Review article in 1978: Young people shall be given their heads, to challenge the organization to grow. These young people will also have an older person in the organization to look after them in their early years to ensure that their careers get off to a good start. Out of these relationships it is hoped that the young people learn to take risks, accept a philosophical commitment to sharing and learn to relate to people in an intuitive, empathetic way. These companies have realized that employee development and career progression, particularly at management levels, can be faster and more beneficial to both the individual and the company if a more senior manager spares the time to tutor his/her juniors. Many senior executives of very large firms make a practice of being present for a few hours at junior management training courses. They recognize that close encounters with top management are an important part of induction to the management hierarchy. Mentoring, however, goes far beyond this fleeting presence. It involves an intense commitment, by both mentor and mentee, to active career development. It is demanding in time and in emotional resources. It requires exceptional and sustained effort not for a few weeks, but for a minimum of a year and on average two or three years. It is, in short, to the normal management methods what Cayenne pepper is to mixed spice.

Benefits of Mentoring: Mentoring has undergone a rapid expansion in the United States over the past seven years. The handful of companies with longstanding regular mentoring programs has been subjected to frequent and detailed scrutiny and their approaches copied by numerous other firms. Part of the appeal of the concept is that it makes use of networks and resources that 42

already exist and operate within the firm. Part is also that, in a time of increasing strain on training and development resources, anything that pushes the burden of developing managerial talent back onto the more experienced managers and away from the training department is seen as a good thing. It is also asserted (if unproven) that mentoring is a more efficient form of developing talent. One piece of supporting evidence for this is that in many cases the relationship forces the mentor to develop as well, so in effect the company is training two people for the price of one. It is also widely claimed that people who have been mentored reach senior positions, on average, two years ahead of those who have not. The price, however, should not be underestimated. The time investment by all parties involved, including the personnel department, is substantial. Once started, the process cannot be easily stopped without bringing into question the genuineness of the companys commitment to developing managerial talent. It therefore pays to prepare even a pilot mentoring scheme with great thoroughness, and to think through the degree of commitment the company the individuals likely to be involved can actually afford to give. It also pays to consider at whom a mentoring scheme is aimed. Most schemes have as their primary aim the provision of a steady supply of broadly experienced, capable middle and senior managers. Putting people through such a scheme who do not have the ability to scale the corporate heights can be a recipe for creating frustrated ambition. On the other hand, people who do not have the ability to reach middle and senior management can still benefit greatly from mentoring. A good mentoring programme should help people recognize their abilities and limitations, help them seize opportunities and come to terms with the reality of their career potential. Indeed the person destined to remain in a supervisory or junior management role may well need more personalized attention, encouragement and advice than the person who sees a clear career progression ahead of him/her. A handful of companies have therefore adopted dual mentoring programmes that cater for both kinds of employee.

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MENTORS AND THE MENTORING Mentors have been defined as higher ranking, influential, senior organizational members with advanced experience and knowledge who are committed to providing upward mobility and support to a mentees professional career (Collins, 1983; Kram, 1985; Roche, 1979). Mentoring relationships are generally long term, and are characterized by substantial emotional commitment by both parties (Shapiro et al, 1978). Mentoring is the process by which people help a protg to promote his/her personal and professional growth for organizational success. Hence the various support provided by the mentor during the mentoring program are as follows; Show support in word and deed-Building trust Constant support without interference-building self confidence A relationship of fun and cheer-building openness and warmth Provide criticism without denigrating the mentee-have a nonjudgmental attitude Support mentee in difficult tasks despite reservations-give unconditional support Help mentee to make decisions in times of personal crisis-personal counseling Search for ways to enable the mentee become aware of his limitations-encourage self awareness Mentoring also helps the organization to improve overall in various aspects; Go forward in PCMM implementation In complementing our OD Interventions Have a better employee socialization Increase our KM capabilities Improve process coordination Better interpersonal relationships Better onsite and in-house coordination

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Some of the goals of the mentoring process as per an organization is concerned are as follows; Launch pads/Support for Young Entrants. Forum for Sharing Information. Moulding for the Globalite Way- an Overall Orientation. Ongoing Non-Structured Training Programme. Understanding of Culture. Managing High Career Aspirations of Fresh Joinees. Change in Profile of Employees. Empowerment Issues. Pro-active Process for Swifter Development Supplement the ODI Bring better Interpersonal Coordination Refine Processes across the company Improve employee motivation levels

The HRs role as per the mentoring is concerned are as follows; Train the Mentor. Initiate the Programme. Introduce a Feedback Loop. Set up a Common Body to Review the Meetings of the Various Pairs. Develop a Documentation of the Process. Coaching for Mentees: their Expectations.

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2.2 COMPANY PROFILE About Company Emmett has been active in catering to the outsourcing needs of publishers and other organizations since 1992. Over the years, we have adopted a seamless partnership approach. The client organizations are always comfortable in dealing with Emmett and work as true partners; often with the feeling that this is a virtual extension of their own operations. It is our strong belief that this integration is the cornerstone of the success of any outsourcing relationship. Emmett started with only 10 professionals and today has grown to a very substantive size of 500. This growth has been made possible by robust systems and processes that lead to reliable output. We have expertise in workflow management, and in developing processes that lead to desired quality levels and achieve the lowest cost of production. Clients have often come back and told us that Emmetts reliability has led to the growth of their organization. Emmett provides Document Management, e-Publishing and Data Conversion solutions using optimal process engineering, cost-effective and flexible conversion systems. Today, Emmett is a major full-service digital content provider from India and is able to deliver digital content with 99.995% accuracy and 100% application based integrity. We have the ability to learn and scale in very short order. Large multi-million page contracts have been executed on time after achieving steep ramp-up requirements. The internal systems ensure that clients get a real time status check of their projects. Emmett has always been a profitable and growth oriented organization, leading to its longevity and prides itself as an organization that clients have learnt to trust.

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QUALITY Our long-standing experience in catering to international publishers has led to the development of quality systems that deliver robust and reliable output routinely. The systems ensure that each and every employee is committed to meeting and exceeding client objectives. We have achieved noteworthy landmarks in quality with our world-class system conforming to ISO 9001-2000 standards. Every single batch of data must be certified as per the required customer standard, prior to delivery to a client. Emmett has established an impeccable record and is known for ensuring that no defective data ever reaches the client. Emmetts Quality personnel work independently of the production team. They report directly to their respective group head, thereby enabling freedom from production pressures. Our Quality Systems include: Intermediate Audit and Final Audit. Intermediate Audit Intermediate Audit at Emmett is done to ensure the quality of the data while in production and hence to ensure the correctness during each successive stage of production. Final Audit Quality Verification is done through Audit of Final Deliverable Data. It is done to ensure the quality of the data as per the commitment to customers. We select the data samples to check the data structurally and ensure that no defective data ever reaches client.

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We can deliver digital content in any format including: XML SGML HTML PDF ASCII Palm e-Book Open e-Book Microsoft Reader Adobe Acrobat e-Book Reader Images (such as, Tiff, JPG) Our conversion solutions deliver data that is: Logically and Uniformly Structured

Consistent with the Integrity of the Original Content Enriched with Functionality and Intelligence Converted at Minimal Cost Of the Highest Quality, Reliability and On or Before Time The following is the overview of the document management solutions of some of the projects (on going as well as executed), which describes our capabilities and expertise in providing multiple solutions for electronic conversion and content management services Archival Finding Aids Legal Records Public Utility Early English Medieval Books

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CHAPTER III ANALYSIS

Table No: 1
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Respondents by Age
Age can be said in terms of years, which represents the years of existence of an individual

Age Below 30 Above 30 Total

No of Respondents 53 7 60

Percentage 88 12 100

The table above describes the distribution of respondents by their age. It can be seen from the above table that most of the respondents(88%) are in the age group of below thirty years and a little more than one tenth (12%) of the respondents are in the age group of above thirty years. Thus it can be inferred from the table that most of the respondents (88%) are in the age group of below thirty years, which means that the respondents in most of the organization are the young energetic youth generation and which means that the mentoring program is more focused on the youths in order to shape them professionally and personally in their career.

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Table No: 2 Respondents by Sex Sex Male Female Total No of Respondents 29 31 60 Percentage 48 52 100

Sex is used to differentiate the respondents through biological factors and the table below describes the distribution of respondents by their sex. It can be seen from the above table that little more than half of the respondents (52%) belong to the female sex when compared to the male sex. Hence it can be inferred from the table that the mentoring program is an affirmative action, to assist women and minority groups to redress the imbalance at higher levels in the organization and also provide support and help to overcome barriers that often block their progress.

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Table No: 3 Respondents by Designation

Designation is the level given to an individual based on the educational qualification or experience or a combination of both with certain prescribed set of departments and authority.

Designation Head HR Manager HR Assistant Manager HR Senior Executive HR Executive HR Management Trainees Total

No of Respondents 3 4 4 10 34 5 60

Percentage 5 7 7 17 56 8 100

The table above is the distribution of respondents by their designations. From the table it can be observed that majority of the respondents (56%) belong to the Executive HR cadre while a negligible amount (5%) of the respondents belongs to the Head HR cadre. A majority of the respondents belong to the Executive HR cadre and this variation in the categories and number of respondents can be attributed to the sampling technique adopted in the study, which is simple random sampling.

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Table No: 4 Respondents by Organization Type

Organization type refers to the category of organization wherein the respondents were put in. For the purpose of this study two categories of organization have been opted and they are software and non-software.

Organization Type Software Non- Software Total

No of Respondents 47 13 60

Percentage 78 22 100

The distribution of respondents by their organization type has been depicted in the above table. It can be observed that little more than three fourth of the respondents (78%) belong to the software organization while a little less than one fourth of the respondents (22%) belong to the non-software organization. Hence from the above table it can be inferred that most of the software organizations are now more precisely focused on the human resources working in their organization in order to enhance the human resources capabilities to adjust to the organizational culture and environment and work towards the task assigned to achieve the organizational goals without any pressure.

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Table No: 5 Respondents by Experience

Experience may be explained as the years of service that a person has put in a organization or a field. In this context the years of experience refers to the years of service that the respondent has put in the field of study (i.e.) in the present organization.

Experience Below 2 years Above 2 years Total

No of Respondents 34 26 60

Percentage 57 43 100

The table above shows the distribution of respondents by their years of experience in the present organization. From the table it can be inferred that majority of respondents (57%) fall under the experience level of below two years while little more than two fifth of the respondents (43%) fall under the experience level of above two years. Thus it is evident from the table above that a majority of respondents belong to the experience level of below two years because mentoring focuses on the new entrants so that the experienced person in the organization guide the new entrants to attain the tasks and skills so as to handle the roles and responsibilities assigned in a more matured manner.

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Table No: 6 HR Executives Perception on Mentoring

Perception on Mentoring Positive Negative Total

No of Respondents 11 49 60

Percentage 18 82 100

The table above depicts the distribution of respondents on their perception about mentoring. From the table it can be inferred that most of the respondents (82%) have negative opinion on mentoring while little less than one fifth of the respondents (18%) have positive opinion on mentoring. Thus it can be inferred that most of the respondents irrespective of their age, sex and experience have negative perception about mentoring.

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Table No: 7 Age Vs Perception on Mentoring

Age as a factor influences the perception about mentoring. As age increases the perception among the executives in the younger and middle age group about mentoring differs and which is the main objective of drawing this table.

Perception on Mentoring Age Below 30 Above 30 Total Positive 11 (21) 0 (0) 11 (18) Negative 42 (79) 7 (100) 49 (82) Total 53 (100) 7 (100) 60 (100)

Figures in parenthesis represent percent. The table above depicts the distribution of respondents by age and perception on mentoring. The above table shows that in the age group of below thirty, little more than three fourth of the respondents (79%) have negative perception on mentoring while little more than one fifth of the respondents (21%) have positive perception. In the age group of above thirty, all the respondents (100%) have negative perception on mentoring. When comparing the respondents of both the age group it is evident that more negative perception is among the respondents in the age group of above thirty and positive perception exists among the respondents in the age group of below thirty. Thus it is evident from the table that a majority of respondents irrespective of the age category have negative perception about mentoring.

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Table No: 8 : Sex Vs Perception on Mentoring Perception on Mentoring Sex Male Female Total Positive 6 (21) 5 (16) 11 (18) Negative 23 (79) 26 (84) 49 (82) Total 29 (100) 31 (100) 60 (100)

Figures in parenthesis represent percent. Chi- Square Value = 0.208 Degree of Freedom= 1 The main purpose of doing this cross tabulation between sex biological factor and perception on mentoring is to find out whether there is significant difference in perception on mentoring among the sexes. The table above shows the distribution of respondents by sex and perception on mentoring. The table above depicts that among the male respondents, little more than three fourth of the respondents (79%) and little more than one fifth of the respondents (21%) have negative and positive perception on mentoring respectively. While among the female respondents it is evident that most of the respondents (84%) have negative perception while little less than one fifth of the respondents (16%) have positive perception. When comparing it is evident that negative perception exists highly among female sex while positive perception is high among the male respondents. . Thus it can be inferred that positive responses about mentoring exists among male HR executives because they feel that it encourages the development of competencies are gained more easily through example, guided practice or experience than by education or training. Since the table value is higher than that of the calculated value it can be concluded that there is no significant difference in perception among the respondents of different sex about mentoring. Insignificant at 0.05 level

Table No: 9
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Organization Type Vs Perception on Mentoring Perception on Mentoring Organization Type Software Non-Software Total Positive 11 (23) 0 (0) 11 (18) Negative 36 (77) 13 (100) 49 (82) Total 47 (100) 13 (100) 60 (100)

Figures in parenthesis represent percent. Organization type also plays a vital role in defining the mentoring concept and hence the perception about mentoring can vary depending upon the organization were in the respondents are put up in. The table reflects the distribution of respondents by organization type and perception on mentoring From the table above it can be observed that among software organization, little more than three fourth of the respondents (77%) have negative perception while little less than one fourth of the respondents (23%) have positive perception. In the non software organization all the respondents (100%) have negative perception. When comparing it is evident that respondents in software organization have positive perception while negative perception is high among non software respondents. This negative perception on mentoring among the non software organization is due to the certification and the policy of the organization were in the concept of mentoring is not followed, but not widely all the software organizations are following mentoring except the PCMM Level-5 certified companies.

Table No: 10
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Designation Vs Perception on Mentoring Perception on Mentoring Positive Senior Executive & Above 1 Senior Executive HR (5) Executive HR& 10 Management Trainee (26) Total 11 (18)
Figures in parenthesis represent percent. * Yates Correction has been done. Chi-Square Value = 4.7 Degree of Freedom= 1 The perception on mentoring may also vary from the point of the post or cadre that an individual may hold in their respective organization. Also the cadre depends on the experience that an individual might posses irrespective of his designation. Hence the main objective of framing this cross tabulation is to find out whether there is difference in perception about mentoring among the respondents in the different cadre or designation. The table above reflects the distribution of respondents by designation and perception on mentoring. The table shows that in the senior executive and above senior executive HR cadre, almost all the respondents(95%) have negative perception while a negligible amount(5%) have positive perception on mentoring. In the executive HR and management trainee cadre, little less than three fourth of the respondents (74%) have negative perception while little more than one fourth (26%) have positive perception. When comparing it is evident that in the executive HR and management trainee cadre positive perception is high while among the senior executive and above senior executive HR cadre negative perception is high. This high prevalence of negative perception among the higher designated respondents is because 59 Significant at 0.05 level

Designation

Negative 20 (95) 29 (74) 49 (82)

Total 21 (100) 39 (100) 60 (100)

they feel mentoring is used as a tool for new recruits in helping them to get to know about the organization. Hence it is evident that there is significant difference in perception about mentoring among the respondents in the different cadre or designation, since the calculated value is higher than the table value.

Table No: 11: Experience Vs Perception on Mentoring

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Perception on Mentoring Years of Experience Below 2 years Above 2 years Total Positive 5 (15) 6 (23) 11 (18) Negative 29 (85) 20 (77) 49 (82) Total 34 (100) 26 (100) 60 (100)

Figures in parenthesis represent percent. Chi-Square Value = 0.690 Degree of Freedom= 1 The perception on mentoring may also vary from the point of the experience that an individual might posses in the respective organization. Hence the main objective of framing this cross tabulation is to find out whether there is difference in perception about mentoring among the respondents in the different experience level. The table above reflects the distribution of respondents by experience and perception on mentoring. From the table above, respondents with experience of below two years have most of their respondents (85%) with negative perception while little more than one tenth (15%) have positive perception. Among the respondents with experience of above two years little more than three fourth (77%) and little less than one fourth (23%) have negative and positive perception respectively. While comparing respondents in the experience of below two years negative perception is high and the positive perception is high among respondents with experience of above two years. Hence it is evident that there is no difference in perception about mentoring among the respondents in the different experience level, since the calculated value is less than the table value. Insignificant at 0.05 level

Table No: 12
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Benefits to the Organization Benefits High Low Total No of Respondents 12 48 60 Percentage 20 80 100

Kussen states that, An organization is a group of individuals coordinated into different levels of authority and segments of specialization or the purpose of achieving the goals and objectives of the organization. Hence the table above reflects the distribution of respondents based on their perception on the benefits for the organization. From the table it is seen that one fifth of the respondents (20%) feel that mentoring is highly beneficial to the organization while most of the respondents (80%) feel that mentoring has low benefit to the organization. The positive changes are that it increases the productivity in the organization, enhances the learning culture and also increases the commitment from both new and experienced staff.

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Table No: 13 Age Vs Benefits to the Organization Benefits to the Organization Age Below 30 Above 30 Total High 12 (23) 0 (0) 12 (20) Low 41 (77) 7 (100) 48 (80) Total 53 (100) 7 (100) 60 (100)

Figures in parenthesis represent percent. Age as a factor influences the perception about mentoring. The table above depicts the distribution of respondents by age and their perception on the benefits for the organization. The cross tabulation above depicts that little more than two fourth of the respondents(77%) below thirty years of age feel mentoring has low benefit while little less than one fourth (23%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial to the organization. All the respondents (100%) in the age group of above thirty years feel mentoring has low benefit to the organization. While comparing it can be seen that respondents above thirty years of age feel that mentoring has low benefit to the organization while respondents below thirty years of age feel mentoring has high benefit. Thus it is evident that a majority of respondents irrespective of the age category have negative perception about the impact of mentoring on the organization.

Table No: 14 : Sex Vs Benefits to the Organization

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Benefits to the Organization Sex Male Female Total High 4 (14) 8 (26) 12 (20) Low 25 (86) 23 (74) 48 (80) Total 29 (100) 31 (100) 60 (100)

Figures in parenthesis represent percent. * Yates Correction has been done. Chi-Square Value = 1.765 Degree of Freedom= 1 The main purposes of doing this cross tabulation between sex biological factor and benefits to the organization is to find out whether there is significant difference in opinion about the impact of mentoring on the organization among the sexes. The table above shows the distribution of respondents by sex and their opinion on the benefits for the organization. The cross tabulation above depicts that most of the respondents(86%) of male sex feel mentoring has low benefit while little more than one tenth (14%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial to the organization. Vast majority of the respondents (74%) in the female sex feel mentoring has low benefit to the organization while little more than one fourth (26%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial. While comparing it can be seen that male respondents feel that mentoring has low benefit to the organization while female respondents feel mentoring has high benefit because they feel that it empowers the staff of the organization, improves the managers management skill and also had made the organization more flexible. Since the table value is higher than that of the calculated value it can be concluded that there is no significant difference in perception among the respondents of different sex about mentorings impact on the organization. 64 Insignificant at 0.05 level

Table No: 15: Organization Type Vs Benefits to the Organization Benefits to the Organization Organization Type Software Non- Software Total High 11 (23) 1 (8) 12 (20) Low 36 (77) 12 (92) 48 (80) Total 47 (100) 13 (100) 60 (100)

Figures in parenthesis represent percent. * Yates Correction has been done. Chi-Square Value = 2.72 Degree of Freedom= 1 Organization type also plays a vital role in defining the mentoring concept and hence the opinion about the impact of mentoring on the organization can vary depending upon the organization were in the respondents are put up in. Hence the main objective of doing this cross tabulation is to find out whether there is difference in perception about mentorings impact on the organization among respondents in the different organization. The above table reflects the distribution of respondents by organization type and perception about the impact of mentoring on the organization. The table above depicts that little more than three fourth of the respondents(77%) in the software organization feel mentoring has low benefit while little less than one fourth (23%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial to the organization. Almost all the respondents (92%) in the non software organization feel mentoring have low benefit to the organization while little less than one tenth (8%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial. While comparing it can be seen that respondents in non software organization feel that mentoring has low benefit to the organization while respondents in software organization feel mentoring has high benefit. This negative opinion on mentorings impact on organization among the non 65 Insignificant at 0.05 level

software organization is due to the certification and the policy of the organization were in the concept of mentoring is not followed, but not widely all the software organizations are following mentoring except the PCMM Level-5 certified companies. It can be stated that there is no difference in perception about mentorings impact on the organization among the respondents in the different organization, since the calculated value is less than that of the table value.

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Table No: 16 Designation Vs Benefits to the Organization Benefits to the Organization Designation Senior Executive & Above Senior Executive HR Executive HR& Management Trainee Total High 4 (19) 8 (20) 12 (20) Low 17 (81) 31 (80) 48 (80) Total 21 (100) 39 (100) 60 (100)

Figures in parenthesis represent percent. * Yates Correction has been done. Chi-Square Value = 0.113 Degree of Freedom= 1 The perception on mentoring impact on the organization may also vary from the point of the post or cadre that an individual may hold in their respective organization. Also the cadre depends on the experience that an individual might posses irrespective of his designation. Hence the main objective of framing this cross tabulation is to find out whether there is difference in perception about mentorings impact on the organization among the respondents in the different cadre or designation. The table above reflects the distribution of respondents by designation and perception about the impact of mentoring on the organization. The table above depicts that most of the respondents (81%) in the senior executive and above senior executive HR cadre feel mentoring has low benefit while little less than one fifth (19%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial to the organization. Most of the respondents (80%) in the executive HR and management trainee cadre feel mentoring have low benefit to the organization while one fifth (20%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial. Hence it can 67 Insignificant at 0.05 level

be inferred that of the distinctive cadre, respondents in both the cadre have more or less the same opinion about mentorings benefit to the organization. Hence it is evident that there is no significant difference in perception about the impact of mentoring on the organization among the respondents in the different cadre or designation, since the calculated value is higher than the table value.

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Table No: 17 Experience Vs Benefits to the Organization Benefits to the Organization Years of Experience Below 2 years Above 2 years Total
Figures in parenthesis represent percent. * Yates Correction has been done. Chi-Square Value = 0.581 Degree of Freedom= 1 The perception on mentoring may also vary from the point of the experience that an individual might posses in the respective organization. Hence the main objective of framing this cross tabulation is to find out whether there is significant difference in perception about mentorings impact on the organization among the respondents in the different experience level. The table above reflects the distribution of respondents by experience and perception about the impact of mentoring on the organization. The table above depicts that little more than three fourth of the respondents(76%) in the experience of below two years feel mentoring has low benefit while little less than one fourth (24%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial to the organization. Most of the respondents (85%) in the experience of above two years feel mentoring has low benefit to the organization while little less than one fifth (15%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial. While comparing it can be seen that respondents in the experience of above two years feel that mentoring has low benefit to the organization while respondents in the experience of 69 Insignificant at 0.05 level

High 8 (24) 4 (15) 12 (20)

Low 26 (76) 22 (85) 48 (80)

Total 34 (100) 26 (100) 60 (100)

below two years feel mentoring has high benefit because they feel that it ensures the development of technical and behavioral skills core to business among the staffs in the organization. Hence it is evident that there is no difference in opinion about the impact of mentoring on the organization among the respondents in the different experience level, since the calculated value is less than the table value.

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Table No: 18 Benefits to the Profession Profession High Low Total No of Respondents 17 43 60 Percentage 28 72 100

Morris L.Cagan says that A profession is an avocation whose practice is founded on an understanding of the theoretical structure of some department of learning or science, and upon the abilities accompanying such understanding. These understandings and these abilities are applied to the vital practical affairs of man. The practices of profession are modified by knowledge of a general nature and by the accumulated wisdom and experience of mankind, which serve to correct the errors of specialism. The profession, serving the vital needs of man, considers its first ethical imperative to be altruistic service to the client. Hence the table above reflects the distribution of respondents based on their perception on the benefits for the profession. From the table it is seen that little more than one fourth of the respondents (28%) feel that mentoring is highly beneficial to the profession while vast majority of the respondents (72%) feel that mentoring has low benefit to the profession. The positive changes are that it enhances the overall professionalism of the profession and also helps in understanding wider professional issues and trends among the professions.

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Table No: 19 Age Vs Benefits to the Profession Benefits to the Profession Age Below 30 Above 30 Total High 16 (30) 1 (14) 17 (28) Low 37 (70) 6 (86) 43 (72) Total 53 (100) 7 (100) 60 (100)

Figures in parenthesis represent percent. * Yates Correction has been done. Chi-Square Value = 1.257 Degree of Freedom= 1 There are various professions in an organization as a whole and with reference to this individual might be working in different profession and age as a factor influences the perception about mentoring. As age increases the perception among the executives in the younger and middle age group about mentorings impact for the profession differs and which is the main objective of drawing this table The table above depicts the distribution of respondents by age and their perception on the benefits for the profession. The cross tabulation above depicts that vast majority of the respondents(70%) below thirty years of age feel mentoring has low benefit while little less than one third (30%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial to the profession. Most of the respondents (86%) in the age group of above thirty years feel mentoring has low benefit to the profession while little more than one tenth of the respondents (14%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial. While comparing it can be seen that respondents above thirty years of age feel that mentoring has low benefit to the profession while respondents below thirty years of age feel mentoring 72 Insignificant at 0.05 level

has high benefit. Thus it is evident from the table that a majority of respondents irrespective of the age category have negative opinion about the impact of mentoring on the profession. Since the calculated value is less than that of the table value, it can be concluded that there is no statistical significance between age and opinion about the impact of mentoring on the profession.

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Table No: 20 Sex Vs Benefits to the Profession Benefits to the Profession Sex Male Female Total High 8 (28) 9 (29) 17 (28) Low 21 (72) 22 (71) 43 (72) Total 29 (100) 31 (100) 60 (100)

Figures in parenthesis represent percent. Chi-Square Value = 0.015 Degree of Freedom= 1 The main purposes of doing this cross tabulation between sex biological factor and opinion on mentoring is to find out whether there is significant difference in perception about the impact of mentoring on the profession among the sexes. The table above shows the distribution of respondents by sex and their perception on the benefits for the profession. The cross tabulation above depicts that vast majority of the respondents(72%) of male sex feel mentoring has low benefit while little more than one fourth (28%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial to the profession. Vast majority of the respondents (71%) in the female sex feel mentoring has low benefit to the profession while little more than one fourth (29%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial. Hence it can be inferred that respondents in both the sex have more or less the same opinion about mentorings benefit to the profession. Since the table value is higher than that of the calculated value it can be concluded that there is no significant difference in perception among the respondents of different sex about mentorings impact on the profession. Insignificant at 0.05 level

Table No: 21
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Organization Type Vs Benefits to the Profession Benefits to the Profession Organization Type Software Non- Software Total High 17 (36) 0 (0) 17 (28) Low 30 (64) 13 (100) 43 (72) Total 47 (100) 13 (100) 60 (100)

Figures in parenthesis represent percent. The above table reflects the distribution of respondents by organization type and opinion about the impact of mentoring on the profession. The table above depicts that little less than two third of the respondents(64%) in the software organization feel mentoring has low benefit while little more than one third (36%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial to the profession. All the respondents (100%) in the non software organization feel mentoring have low benefit to the profession. While comparing it can be seen that respondents in non software organization feel that mentoring has low benefit to the profession while respondents in software organization feel mentoring has high benefit. This negative opinion on mentorings impact on profession among the non software organization is because all HR executives in these organizations dont have an idea of the impact of mentoring because mentoring is not either followed or practiced so as to know the impact of mentoring, but these respondents are conceptually well versed in the concept of mentoring.

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Table No: 22 Designation Vs Benefits to the Profession Benefits to the Profession Designation Senior Executive & Above Senior Executive HR Executive HR& Management Trainee Total High 2 (9) 15 (38) 17 (28) Low 19 (91) 24 (62) 43 (72) Total 21 (100) 39 (100) 60 (100)

Figures in parenthesis represent percent. * Yates Correction has been done. Chi-Square Value = 6.03 Degree of Freedom= 1 Significant at 0.05 level

The opinion on mentorings impact on the profession may also vary from the point of the post or cadre that an individual may hold in their respective organization. Also the cadre depends on the experience that an individual might posses irrespective of his designation. Hence the main objective of framing this cross tabulation is to find out whether there is difference in opinion about mentorings impact on the profession among the respondents in the different cadre or designation. The table above reflects the distribution of respondents by designation and opinion about the impact of mentoring on the profession. The table above depicts that almost all the respondents(91%) in the senior executive and above senior executive HR cadre feel mentoring has low benefit while little less than one tenth (9%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial to the organization. Vast majority of the respondents (62%) in the executive HR and management trainee cadre feel mentoring has 76

low benefit to the organization while little less than two fifth (38%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial. While comparing it can be seen that respondents in the senior executive and above senior executive HR cadre feel that mentoring has low benefit to the profession while respondents in the executive HR and management trainee cadre feel mentoring has high benefit. Hence it is evident that there is significant difference in opinion about the impact of mentoring on the profession among the respondents in the different cadre or designation, since the calculated value is higher than the table value.

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Table No: 23 Experience Vs Benefits to the Profession Benefits to the Profession Years of Experience Below 2 years Above 2 years Total
Figures in parenthesis represent percent. Chi-Square Value = 0.624 Degree of Freedom= 1 The opinion on mentorings impact to the profession may also vary from the point of the experience that an individual might posses in the respective organization. Hence the main objective of framing this cross tabulation is to find out whether there is difference in opinion about mentorings impact on the profession among the respondents in the different experience level. The table above reflects the distribution of respondents by experience and opinion about the impact of mentoring on the profession. The table above depicts that little more than two third of the respondents(68%) in the experience of below two years feel mentoring has low benefit while little less than one third (32%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial to the organization. Little more than three fourth of the respondents(77%) in the experience of above two years feel mentoring has low benefit to the organization while little less than one fourth (23%) feel mentoring is highly beneficial. While comparing it can be seen that respondents in the experience of above two years feel that mentoring has low benefit to the organization while respondents in the experience of below two years feel mentoring has high benefit because they feel that 78 Insignificant at 0.05 level

High 11 32 6 23 17 28

Low 23 68 20 77 43 72

Total 34 (100) 26 (100) 60 (100)

it enhances the overall professionalism of the profession and promotes the professional vision among the profession. Hence it is evident that there is no significant difference in opinion about the impact of mentoring on the profession among the respondents in the different experience level, since the calculated value is less than the table value.

Table No: 24
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Impact of Mentoring Impact Organization Profession Positive 12 (20) 17 (28) Negative 48 (80) 43 (72) Total 60 (100) 60 (100)

For every action there is a reaction, similarly when a mentoring program is carried out in an organization it has various impacts and impacts might probably be for the organization and as well as for the professions working in the organization. Hence the table above reflects the distribution of respondents based on their perception on the impact of mentoring. From the table above it can be seen that most of the respondents (80%) feel that mentoring has negative impact on the organization while one fifth (20%) feel that mentoring has positive impact. Vast majority of the respondents (72%) feel that mentoring has negative impact on the profession while little less than one fourth (28%) feel that mentoring has positive impact on the profession. While comparing it is seen that respondents feel that mentoring has high positive impact on the profession and high negative impact on the organization. This is because changes at the macro level [(i.e.) organization] occurs after a prolonged period of time, while the changes at the professional level can be seen or assessed as soon as the mentoring program is completed.

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CHAPTER IV FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS & CONCLUSIONS

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4.1 FINDINGS
The findings from the research can be categorized under three headings and they are as follows; a) Personal Profile: Among the respondents it is found that most of the respondents (88%) are the young energetic youths, with most of the respondents are in the executive HR cadre and with more than half of the respondents are the young charming ladies. Vast majority of the respondents are in the software organization and with majority of the respondents are in the experience level of below two years. b) HR Executives perception on mentoring: With respect to age, only some of the respondents among the young youths had positive perception on mentoring, while the respondents in the middle age group had only negative perception on mentoring. Also the respondents with respect to sex, doesnt have any vast difference in their perception on mentoring. While majority of the respondents irrespective of their sex had negative perception and the positive responses among some of the respondents is that they feel mentoring enhances knowledge, skill and experience of the mentee. All the respondents in the non software organization had negative perception, while the respondents in the software organization had positive perception. This negative perception among the non software respondents is because the respondents have conceptually heard about the concept, wherein they havent practically observed the mentoring process carried out in the organization. Also it is evident that in the executive HR and management trainee cadre positive perception on mentoring is high while among the senior executive and above senior executive HR cadre negative perception is high. This high prevalence of negative 82

perception among the respondents of senior executive and above senior executive HR cadre is because they feel mentoring is used as a tool for new recruits in helping them to get to know about the organization. Also it could be found that respondents in the experience of below two years have high negative perception and the positive perception on mentoring is high among respondents with experience of above two years. This high prevalence of positive perception among the experienced HR executives is because they know the importance of the mentoring and it is only the HR who plan, co ordinate and organize the programme in their organization. Thus it can be inferred that most of the respondents irrespective of their age, sex and experience have negative perception about mentoring, while some respondents have positive perception on mentoring. The positive perception about mentoring is that the program is focused on customer service, to model desired behaviors, encourage the development of competencies, motivate for service quality and above all to cultivate the right attitude and also they feel that the mentoring is focused on to enhance knowledge, skill and experience. c) Impact of Mentoring: Generally mentoring has various benefits, but for the purpose of this study only benefits for the organization and profession have been chosen. Respondents feel that mentoring has high positive impact on the profession and high negative impact on the organization. This is because changes at the macro level [(i.e.) organization] occurs after a prolonged period of time, while the changes at the professional level can be seen or assessed as soon as the mentoring program is completed.

Benefits for the organization:

83

 Among the sexes the male respondents feel that mentoring has low benefit to the organization while female respondents feel mentoring has high benefit because they feel that it empowers the staff of the organization, improves the managers management skill and also had made the organization more flexible. With respect to age the respondents in the young age group feel that mentoring is highly beneficial while all the respondents in the middle age group feel that mentoring has low benefit to the organization. The respondents in non software organization feel that mentoring has low benefit to the organization while respondents in software organization feel mentoring have high benefit. This positive opinion on mentorings impact on organization among the respondents in the software organization is that they feel mentoring ensures a low rate of attrition- tool for retaining their valuable human assets. Also respondents in the distinctive cadre have more or less the same opinion about mentorings benefit to the organization. Of which most of the respondents feel that mentoring has low benefit to the organization while rest feel it is highly beneficial to the organization. The respondents in the experience of above two years feel that mentoring has low benefit to the organization while respondents in the experience of below two years feel mentoring has high benefit because they feel that it ensures the development of technical and behavioral skills core to business among the staffs in the organization. Overall the respondents feel that mentoring has low benefit on the organization, while fewer respondents feel that mentoring is highly beneficial to the organization. Benefits for the profession:

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 The majority of the respondents with respect to that of the age feel that mentoring has low benefit to the profession, while some feel that mentoring is highly beneficial to the profession. The respondents in both the sex have more or less the same opinion about mentorings benefit to the profession and while the respondents in the senior executive and above senior executive HR cadre feel that mentoring has low benefit to the profession while respondents in the executive HR and management trainee cadre feel mentoring has high benefit. The respondents in the experience of above two years feel that mentoring has low benefit to the organization while respondents in the experience of below two years feel mentoring has high benefit because they feel that it enhances the overall professionalism of the profession and promotes the professional vision among the profession. Overall the respondents feel that mentoring has low benefit on the profession, while fewer respondents feel that mentoring is highly beneficial to the profession. The positive benefits are that it enhances the overall professionalism of the profession and also helps in understanding wider professional issues and trends among the professions.

4.2 SUGGESTIONS

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An area which calls for attention is that mentoring is used for induction purpose. It is in this area more than half of the respondents feel that mentoring programme implemented in their organization is for induction purpose. Hence the mentoring schedule not only should be used for induction but after once the induction is over for the new entrants, these budding professions must be assigned with a senior executive in the organization so that the professionals might gain the knowledge and experience from his boss or supervisor and excel in his career. So this might surely lower the turn over rate in the organization and also the commitment level of the professionals in their work also increases. The mentoring programme also in most of the organizations is not followed in a formal way. Hence the mentoring program should be carried out in a formal way so that every human resources/ professions in the organization have an opportunity to be part in the mentoring program and being mentored by his supervisor or boss and by this the discrimination in the workplace can be averted and by this the professions could be developed as leaders, who will in turn mentor the other new entrants. Also it increases the understanding of the organizations goals and purpose among the professionals in the organization. Hence mentoring must be followed in an effective manner since it has various benefits and hence the HR executives must see to it that the programme is carried out with a guiding structure, objectives, desired outcomes and a review mechanism.

4.3 CONCLUSION

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From the study it was found that almost no HR executives were being mentored and found that the HRs were the one to plan, execute and implement the mentoring programmes. Also it was found that the HR overall had negative perception on mentoring but they also felt that mentoring enhances the knowledge, skill and experience of the professionals working in the organization and this was the positive sign that shows the effectiveness of the mentoring. Also the study reveals that the HR feel that mentoring is highly beneficial to the profession when compared to that of the organization. Hence mentoring deserves special attention so that mentoring programme benefits both the organization and the profession in a more effective manner.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERENCES

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Andrew Miller, A Handbook of Mentoring Students and Young People-Effective Practice, Crest Publishing Home.

Magazines: Amita Virmani & Shalini Sarin, Human Capital, December 2008, Pages 40-45. Ajay Batra, Human Capital, December 2008, Pages 44-46. Subroto Bagchi, Business World, August 2008, Page48.

Websites: Coaching and Mentoring <http://www.coachingandmentoring.com/ccmen.htm> Mentoring Group <http://www.mentoringgroup.com/company.html> The ACRL Research Mentoring Program <http://www.lib.lsu.edu/acrl/index.html> Mentor Net <http://www.mentornet.net> <http:// www.u.arizona.edu> <http:// www.semnpic.org> <http:// www.agora.com> <http:// www.searchsecurity.techtarget.com> <http:// www.sonic.net/mtreeman/mentor/mentsupp.htm> <http:// www.aa.ifl.edu/aa/affact/ummp/mentoring.htm>

QUESTIONNAIRE This study is being undertaken as part of MSW thesis. Please give your spontaneous responses to the questions taking into consideration the mentoring process that is 89

undertaken in your organization. Confidentiality of responses and respondents will be strictly maintained. General Profile: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) Name Age (in years) Sex Name of the Organization Designation Years of experience in this Organization Period of being mentored (If Applicable) HR Executives perception on Mentoring: 8) Mentoring is a collaborative, mutually beneficial partnership between the mentor and the mentee. a) Strongly agree 9) b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree : : :20-30/ 31-40/ 41-50/ 51& above : Male/ Female : : :

Implementation of mentoring program in your organization is for induction purpose. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

10)

Mentoring program in your organization is implemented as an affirmative action, to assist women and minority groups to redress the imbalance at higher levels in organization. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

11) Mentoring program in your organization is focused on customer service, to model desired behaviors, encourage the development of competencies, motivate for service quality, and above all to cultivate the right attitudes. 90

a) Strongly agree

b) Agree

c) Disagree

d) Strongly disagree

12)

Mentoring done in your organization is to enhance knowledge, skill and experience of the mentee. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

13) Mentoring program in your organization is formal with a time limit. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

14) Mentoring relationship in your organization is carried out in an informal way (.i.e.) the mentor himself reached out to the mentee to share his experience. a) Strongly agree 15) b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

Mentoring relationship in your organization is situational mentoring (.i.e.) usually short term, providing right help at the right time. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

16)

Mentoring program carried out in your organization has a guiding structure, objectives, desired outcomes and a review mechanism. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

17)

Work place environment in your organization is condusive for designing and implementing planned and structured mentoring programs. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

18)

White-space time is provided for transference of ideas and imprinting of those ideas in the recipients mind during the mentoring process in your organization. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

91

19)

Mentoring process in your organization is work-place based and structured with agenda driven interactions. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree.

20)

Regular / continuous feedback is given to the mentee during the mentoring process in your organization. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

Impact of Mentoring: A) Benefits for the Organization: 21) Mentoring has increased the productivity in your organization. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

22) Mentoring has improved the managers management skills in your organization. a) Strongly agree 23) b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

Mentoring has empowered the staff in your organization. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

24)

Mentoring has increased the commitment of both new and experienced staff in your organization. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

25)

Mentoring has increased the understanding of the organizations goals and purpose among the staff in your organization. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

26)

Mentoring has enhanced the learning culture in your organization. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

27)

Mentoring has lowered the staff turnover and burnout in your organization. 92

a) Strongly agree

b) Agree

c) Disagree

d) Strongly disagree

28) Mentoring has developed leaders in your organization, who will in turn mentor other new entrants. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

B) Benefits for the Profession: 29) Mentoring has enhanced the overall professionalism of the profession. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

30) Mentoring has increased the understanding of wider professional issues and trends. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

31) Mentoring has promoted the professional vision. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

32) Mentoring has developed professional networking and support. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

33) Mentoring provides support to the disadvantaged groups within the profession in your organization. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree

93