Transcript Organizational Mentoring

The Effects of Salesperson
Mentoring on Multi-Faceted Job
Satisfaction
2011 Global Sales Science Institute Conference – Milan,
Italy
Nathaniel Hartmann (Purdue University)
Brian Rutherford (Kennesaw State University)
Scott B. Friend (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
G. Alexander Hamwi (Missouri State University)
Order of Presentation
 Research Motivation
 Importance of Mentorship & Satisfaction
 Gap Analysis
 Literature Review
 Theoretical Support
 Mentoring & Job Satisfaction
 Hypothesis Development
 Research Method
 Sample
 Results
 Discussion
 Implications
 Future Research
Research
Motivation
Importance of Mentorship
 Salesperson performance and turnover
(Galvin 2001; Wilson et al. 2002)
 Job satisfaction (Brown and Peterson 1994; Netemeyer et al. 1990; Sager et al. 1988)
 Mentoring programs (Hegstad and Wentling 2004)
 Mentoring
 Job satisfaction within non-sales setting (Collins 1994; Ensher et al. 2001; Fagan and Walter 1982; Underhill
2006)
 Absenteeism and turnover (Viator 1991)
 Loyalty and organizational commitment (Colarelli and Bishop 1990; Mendleson et al. 1989)
 Financial and human resource costs
Gap Analysis
 Sales context
 Non-sales literatures suggests relationships (Allen et al. 1997; Chao et al. 1992; Ensher et al. 2001; Underhill
2006)
 Question generalizability - source (Hawes et al. 2004; Lewin and Sager 2007; Seevers et al. 2007)
 Global salesperson job satisfaction
(Collins 1994; Ensher et al. 2001; Fagan and Walter 1982; Underhill 2006)
 Fail to capture true complexity of salesperson job satisfaction (Churchill et al. 1974)
 RQ1: Does mentoring have an impact on the seven facets of job satisfaction within the
 RQ2: Does the source of the mentoring relationship have an impact on the seven facet
Literature
Review
Theoretical Framework
 Social Exchange Theory (SET)
 Relationships based on perceived benefits and costs (Emerson 1981)
 Theoretical framework for mentoring research (Brashear et al. 2006; Brown and Sorrell 1990; Ensher et al. 2001)
 Benefits received by protégé should lead to greater satisfaction with the relationship
(Emerson 1981; Homans 1974)
 Protégés benefit from a mentoring relationship
 Receiving career-related support and access to role modeling (Scandura 1992; Scandura and Viator 1994)
 Emotional support, status, information, goods and services provided by the mentor (Foa and Foa 1974)
 Social Learning Theory
 Learn through observing attitudes, behaviors and outcomes of such behaviors (Bandura 1978)
 Modeling attitudes and behaviors (Manz and Sims 1981)
 Associations between mentoring and sales outcome variables:
 Performance, organizational commitment, intention to leave
(Brashear et al. 2006)
 Explain antecedents of job satisfaction (Mulki et al. 2006; Mulki et al. 2008; Ping 2007)
Mentoring
 Intense interpersonal relationship developed to enhance the
protégé’s career growth (Kram 1985)
 Supervisors, peers, organizational members, and individuals from other
organizations (Kram 1985)
 Provide protégés with support:
 Career-related support - career advancement support
 Mentor sponsorship, coaching, visibility, challenging assignments, protection
 Psychological support - emotional, mental and social support
 Role modeling (skill development), counseling, advice, acceptance and friendship
 Organizational mentors and external mentors
 Formal mentors - protégé and mentor within sponsoring organization
[Organizational Mentoring]
 Informal mentors –relationship w/out intervention from organization (Chao et al. 1992)
[External Mentoring]
Job Satisfaction
 Job Satisfaction - employee retention (Ladik et al. 2002; McNeilly and
Goldsmith 1991; Park and Holloway 2003)
 “All characteristics of the job itself and the work environment which industrial
salesmen find rewarding, fulfilling and satisfying, or frustrating and
unsatisfying” (Churchill et al. 1974)
 Multi-faceted salesperson satisfaction: work, pay, promotion, co-workers, company
policies, supervisors and customers
Table 1
Summary of Existing Salesperson Mentor-Satisfaction Research
Authors
Pullins, Fine, and Warren
Fine and Pullins
Pullins and Fine
Year
1996
1998
2002
Research Topic Examined
Outcomes of gender composition of mentor-protégé in peer relationships
Willingness and ability of salespersons to become peer mentors
Impact of mentoring activities on mentoring job outcomes.
Brashear, Bellenger, Boles, and
Barksdale
2006
The association between mentoring and mentor types (external mentor, organizational
mentor, and managerial mentor) and the outcomes variables performance, organizational
commitment and intention to leave
Hypothesis Development
 Mentoring and job satisfaction - non-sales setting (e.g., Allen et al. 1997; Chao et al.
1992; Ensher et al. 2001)
 Global job & multi-faceted job satisfaction hypothesized in same
direction (Boles et al. 2007; Futrell and Parasuraman 1984; Johnston et al. 1988)
 H1: Salespeople with mentors will exhibit higher levels of satisfaction with: (a)
supervisors, (b) job, (c) company policy, (d) promotion, (e) pay, (f) fellow
workers and (g) customers than salespeople without mentors
 Organizational mentors may provide salespeople clearer
expectations of their role resulting in greater job satisfaction
when compared to external mentors
 Role modeling function may result in greater job satisfaction
through the influence of social learning effects on skill
development (Lankau and Scandura 2002)
 H2: Salespeople with organizational mentors exhibit higher levels of
satisfaction with: (a) supervisors, (b) job, (c) company policy, (d) promotion,
(e) pay, (f) fellow workers and (g) customers than salespeople with external
Research
Method
Research Method
 Online panel (n=647)
 n = 117 (mentor)
 n = 68 organizational mentors
 n = 49 external mentor
 CFA good model fit (χ² = 378.31, df = 231, p = 0.00, RMSEA =
0.030, SRMR = .026, CFI=1.00)
 AVE > .50 for all seven facets of job satisfaction (Hair et al. 2010)
 Reliability - Supervisor (.94), Overall (.95), Policy (.94), Promotion (.77),
Fellow Workers (.89), Customer (.88)
Sample
Results
Hypothesis
Dependent
Variable
H1a
Supervisors
H1b
Job
H1c
Company
Policy
H1d
Promotion
H1e
Pay
H1f
Fellow
Workers
H1g
Customers
Mentor / No
Mentor
Adjusted
Mean
Unadjusted
Mean
SD
Mentor
5.41
5.42
1.46
No Mentor
4.91
4.91
1.54
Mentor
5.59
5.59
1.55
No Mentor
4.92
4.92
1.46
Mentor
5.10
5.09
1.56
No Mentor
4.46
4.46
1.60
Mentor
4.57
4.57
1.64
No Mentor
3.93
3.93
1.45
Mentor
4.69
4.71
1.90
No Mentor
4.29
4.29
1.79
Mentor
5.61
5.62
1.21
No Mentor
5.35
5.35
1.21
Mentor
5.31
5.30
1.17
No Mentor
4.87
4.88
1.21
F
p=
Conclusion
10.24
0.00
Supported
20.36
0.00
Supported
15.56
0.00
Supported
17.83
0.00
Supported
4.78
0.02
Supported
4.26
0.04
Supported
12.58
0.00
Supported
Results
Hypothesis
Dependent
Variable
Mentor / No
Mentor
Organizational
H2a
Supervisors
External
Organizational
H2b
H2c
Job
Company
Policy
External
Organizational
External
Organizational
H2d
Promotion
H2e
Pay
H2f
Fellow
Workers
External
Organizational
External
Organizational
External
Organizational
H2g
Customers
External
Adjusted
Mean
Unadjusted
Mean
SD
F
p=
Conclusion
5.78
5.74
1.29
9.69
0.00
Supported
4.93
4.98
1.59
6.00
5.94
1.20
12.45
0.00
Supported
5.01
5.10
1.83
5.47
5.43
1.25
9.51
0.00
Supported
4.56
4.61
1.82
4.79
4.27
4.76
4.31
1.59
1.68
2.94
0.09
Not
Supported
5.17
4.07
5.13
4.12
1.76
1.93
9.61
0.00
Supported
5.79
5.83
1.10
4.80
0.67
5.36
5.37
1.32
Not
Supported
5.47
5.25
1.13
0.18
0.67
4.56
5.37
1.22
Not
Supported
Discussion
Discussion
 Demonstrate impact of mentoring on protégé job
satisfaction in a sales context
 Mentoring sig. increase in satisfaction
 Supervisor, Overall Job, Policy, Promotion, Pay, Fellow Workers,
Customer
 Organizational mentors play more important role
than external mentors in increasing salesperson job
satisfaction
 Organizational mentors sig. increase in satisfaction
 Supervisor, Overall Job, Policy, Pay, Fellow Workers
Managerial Implications
 Organizations should encourage the formation of mentorprotégé relationships within the organization to increase
salesperson job satisfaction.
 Organizational cultures that promote assumptions, values, and artifacts that
promote the development of mentoring relationships are more likely to lead to
successful mentoring relationships which increase job satisfaction and
performance (Hatch 1993; Schein 1985).
Limitations and Future Research
 Online panel data
 Sample size
 Need for additional mentoring research in sales context
 Confirms importance of mentoring on protégé job satisfaction in sales contexts
using a multi-faceted measure
 Formal vs. informal mentoring within organizations
 Types of mentor
 Peer, step-ahead, traditional
ons or Comments?
The Effects of Salesperson
Mentoring on Multi-Faceted Job
Satisfaction
2011 Global Sales Science Institute Conference – Milan,
Italy
Nathaniel Hartmann (Purdue University)
Brian Rutherford (Kennesaw State University)
Scott B. Friend (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
G. Alexander Hamwi (Missouri State University)