Transcript Mentoring: Strategy for Retaining and Advancing People with Disabilities Melanie Whetzel, MS JAN Lead Consultant Lou Orslene, MSW, MPIA, CPDM JAN Co-Director JAN is a service of.

Mentoring: Strategy for Retaining
and Advancing People with
Disabilities
Melanie Whetzel, MS
JAN Lead Consultant
Lou Orslene, MSW, MPIA, CPDM
JAN Co-Director
JAN is a service of the U.S. Department of Labor’s
Office of Disability Employment Policy.
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Overview
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Mentoring – What it is and isn’t
Benefits of Mentoring
Challenges of Mentoring
Strategies and Tips for Developing a Program
Elements of a Successful Program
Mentoring as an Accommodation: Examples from the
Field
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Mentoring is not…
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A job coach
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Accommodation and Compliance Series: Job
Coaching in the Workplace
http://askjan.org/topics/jobcoaching.htm
A Workplace Personal Assistance Service
(WPAS)
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Accommodation and Compliance Series:
Personal Assistance Services (WPAS) in the
Workplace
http://askjan.org/media/PAS.html
Mentoring also is not…
 Workplace Coaching
 Something managers must do for all their staff
 Takes place within the manager-employee
relationship
 Focuses on developing the individual within their
current job.
 Arises out of the need to ensure that the individual
can perform the tasks
 Relationship driven by the individual’s manager.
 Ends as individuals move on to work in other jobs
under other line managers.
United Nations Presentation “Best Practices in Mentoring: Attracting, Developing & Retaining
Your Talent” 2008
Mentoring is….
A mentor in the workplace is a person who provides
guidance to a less-experienced employee, the
mentee. A mentor may be another employee of the
company or she may be a professional from outside
of the company.
“Workplace Mentoring Primer” - http://www.askearn.org/pwm.cfm
Mentoring is a relationship between a senior person
and a junior person that enhances the junior person’s
personal learning on the job and career development.
Terri A. Scandura PhD. "Mentoring – A Review of the Science and the State of the Art"
Management Faculty Articles and Papers (2009).
Mentoring works…
 When executives of Fortune 500 companies were
surveyed, 96 percent said mentoring is an important
developmental tool, and 75 percent said it played a
key role in their personal career success.
 Seventy-one percent of Fortune 500 and private
companies use mentoring in their organizations.
 In a survey of U.S. companies with formal mentoring
programs, 77 percent indicated that mentoring
improved both retention and performance of
employees.
http://businessfinancemag.com/hr/it-s-not-your-father-s-mentoring-program
Why Mentoring?
In 2006, Gartner studied the financial impacts of a mentoring
program in Sun Microsystems (owned by Oracle). Of the 1,000
Sun Microsystems employees mentored, 25% had a salary
grade change (compared with 5% of their non-mentored coworkers), 72% of mentees were retained (compared with 49% of
employees who were not mentored), and the mentored
employees were promoted five times more often than those not
in the program. The same study also found mentors received
promotions six times more often than their peers. The retention
rate of the leaders who mentored was also 20% higher than the
retention rate of those who did not participate in the program.
“Workplace Loyalties Change but the Value of Mentoring Doesn’t.” Knowledge @
Wharton. Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, 16 May 2007.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/workplace-loyalties-change-but-thevalue-of-mentoring-doesnt/
Why Mentoring?
"Mentoring is...an integral part of developing and
retaining a diverse workforce. Federal agencies need
managers and supervisors with the skills to manage
and mentor diverse populations. Managing diversity
within the workplace means creating an environment
where everyone is empowered to contribute to the
work of the unit; it requires sensitivity to and
awareness of the interactions among staff and
between staff and leadership, and knowing how to
articulate clear expectations.
“Workplace Mentoring Primer” - http://www.askearn.org/pwm.cfm
Benefits to the Employee
 Orients the employee to the organization
 Helps the employee learn about and adjust to the culture
 Introduces and connects the employee to other
professionals
 Serves as a sounding board for and providing feedback
 Encourages the employee to pursue his or her own
professional goals
 Assists the employee with mastering a particular skill-set
to maximize job performance
http://www.askearn.org/pwm.cfm?pg=pwm_what_is_mentoring
Benefits to the Mentor
 Gain personal and professional satisfaction
 Gain recognition from their peers and the company
 Improve their interpersonal skills
 Have an opportunity to focus energy outside of
themselves
 Gain a deeper understanding of other employees’
experiences
 Are prepared for taking on greater responsibilities and
leadership roles within their company
Pardini (2006)
Benefits to the Employer
 Expands leadership abilities and understanding of
diverse workers
 Improves awareness of personal biases, assumptions
and identifies areas for improvement
 Extends collaboration among employees from
different generations and cultural backgrounds
 Creates a culture of acceptance and inclusion
 Attracts, supports, and retains talented employees
 Improves performance, motivation, and accountability
Challenges
 Providing inadequate direction
 Taking advantage of greater power
 Dealing with conflicting demands
 Dealing with conflicting advice
Challenges
 Lacking commitment
 Crossing boundaries
 Discovering a mismatch between mentor
and mentee
 Breaching confidentiality
Types of Mentoring
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Traditional One-to-One
Peer Mentoring
Professional Networking
Group Mentoring
Virtual Mentoring
http://www.askearn.org/pwm.cfm?pg=pwm_what_is_mentoring
Types of Mentoring
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Reverse Mentoring:
Flash Mentoring:
Cross-Group Mentoring
Cross-Generational Mentoring
Cross-Agency Mentoring
http://www.askearn.org/pwm.cfm?pg=pwm_what_is_mentoring
Characteristics of a Good Mentor
 Willingness to commit time
 Sincere interest in helping another employee
or job seeker
 Strong interpersonal communication skills
 Willingness and patience needed to provide
guidance, coaching, and constructive
feedback
 Sensitivity to cultural diversity and personal
differences.
Characteristics of a Good Mentee
 Good organization
 Focus on what the mentee can learn from the mentor
 Willing to share strengths that they can provide to the
mentor in exchange for invaluable career advice
 And, business oriented with an agenda or a list of
discussion points for every meeting with the mentor
This is the secret of what makes the most effective
mentoring relationships work and last – it’s all about
exchange.
Goals for a Successful Mentoring Program
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Improving managerial competency
Improve leadership
Improve time to proficiency for new hires
Retain and transfer knowledge
Create an inclusive, diverse culture
Retain talent through a long-term
relationship
http://www.eremedia.com/tlnt/how-to-measure-the-effectiveness-of-your-mentoringprogram/
Strategies for a Successful
Mentoring Program
 Gain commitment from key
stakeholders
 Show the benefits to the organization,
mentee, mentor
 Identify critical success factors and
possible barriers
 Define roles and establish ‘learning
contracts’
Strategies for a Successful
Mentoring Program
 Choose mentor and mentee
partnerships carefully
 Select key person as Program
Coordinator
 Market the mentoring program
 Set clear goals, performance measures
and evaluation processes
Evaluating Your Program
Metrics
 Increase in number of participants
 Behavior within the program
 Outcomes at an organizational level
http://www.eremedia.com/tlnt/how-to-measure-the-effectiveness-of-your-mentoringprogram/
Evaluating Your Program
Methods:
 Analytics
 Reports
 Surveys
http://www.eremedia.com/tlnt/how-to-measure-the-effectiveness-of-your-mentoringprogram/
Examples from the Field
Example 1:
 Employee with autism
 Fast food restaurant
Examples from the Field
Example 2:
 Employee with an intellectual disability
 Country club
Examples from the Field
Example 3:
 Employee with autism
 Large office setting
Examples from the Field
Example 4:
 Employee with a mental health
impairment
 Retail department store
Examples from the Field
Example 5:
 Individual with severe social anxiety
 Landscape business owner
Additional Resources
 The Business Case for Workplace Mentoring
https://millionwmentors.wordpress.com/2015/
01/22/the-business-case-for-workplacementoring/
 Federal Workplace Mentoring Primer EARN
http://askearn.org/fed-fwm.cfm
 The Modern Mentor In A Millennial Workplace
http://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2014/0
9/11/the-modern-mentor-in-a-millennialworkplace/
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Additional Resources (cont.)
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Best Practices Guide in Mentoring Youth with Disabilities
https://www.disability.gov/resource/best-practices-guidein-mentoring-youth-with-disabilities/
Disability Mentoring Day (DMD)
DMD is a large-scale national effort coordinated by AAPD
to promote career development for students and jobseekers with disabilities. While DMD has been and
continues to be officially launched the third Wednesday of
each October during National Disability Employment
Awareness Month (NDEAM), the foundation of the
program has expanded from a one-day event to a yearround initiative across the country.
http://www.aapd.com/what-we-do/employment/disabilitymentoring-day/
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Questions?
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