Introduction
The management in diversity is recognizing the individual differences and thereby encompassing the acceptance and respect. Organization considers each of its working individuals as unique and thereby respects their individuality. The individuals could differ on many fronts such as ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, age, physical abilities, socioeconomic status, religious beliefs, political views, gender, and other ideologies. The goal of the Human Resource Management (HRM) is to respect these differences and nurture the working environment in a safe and positive manner (Sparrow, 2012).
Problem Statement
HRM tries to go beyond the simple differences, and instead it celebrates the different dimensions of diversity. Management in Multinational Enterprises (MNE) is seen as a vehicle for institutionalization of equality. However, there are certain challenges observed in any given organization. The major challenges are experienced from the employee’s perspective and hence, we need to install appropriate mentoring systems so as to achieve the desired performance within the organization. The thesis of this paper shall focus upon determining the effectiveness of mentoring in any given business.
Methods and Procedures
In order to analyze the given problem, this paper has adopted the method of meta-analysis of previous researches. As per this method, I have tried to identify the major hurdles to the performance achievement within the organization. As per the challenges faced by the employees and their respective mentors, I have included recommendations to overcome these challenges within the context of the given organization.
Challenges within the organization
The HR Department of the organization had identified language as one of the barriers within the organization. People working together might be speaking different languages, and this factor can prove to be a hurdle to success. They might not be able to communicate properly and this might affect the project performance and the final outcome. For example, a company which is operating in many foreign locations will be having employees speaking different languages. Now, if a team in one country is not able to communicate with another team in another country, due to language barriers and lack of multilingual translators, the project performance and final outcome will be affected.
Mentoring leads to Improved Customer Satisfaction
The key objective of mentoring is to improve customer satisfaction. For this purpose, we need to identify certain parameters that will help us achieve this objective. The set of those parameters include – (i) transparent culture (ii) collaborative support amongst all the employees (iii) effective communication within the organization (iv) implementation of appropriate technologies (v) higher degree of openness amongst the staff members (vi) appropriate leadership (vii) providing better opportunities to all the employees and (viii) motivating employees through rewards and recognitions. It is important to have a proper mentoring program at the given workplace so as to achieve all these parameters. Mentoring of employees helps to keep a close watch on the performance within the context of the organization. As a result we will be able to make necessary changes as per the required modifications. In addition, we can even suggest the employees to work with different approach and different strategy in order to improve the performance.
Advantages and Effectiveness of Mentoring
Mentoring is a technique that will help us to achieve the objectives of the organization. After careful inspection of the performance of all the employees, the mentor will be assigning his mentees with specific tasks and responsibilities. He will be organizing teams and classifying all the employees into different teams on the basis of their skills and as per the requirements of the given project (Srivastava & Thakur, 2013). With such efforts, the productivity levels and efficiency will eventually increase within the entire organization.
Recommendations
Role of a Manager as a Mentor
The mentor needs to design strategies with a view to – (i) complete the project within the given time (ii) utilize all the resources optimistically (iii) delivering the several phases of the project by aligning to the needs of the people (iv) maintaining the cash flow balances in order to avoid any sort of crisis in between the work (v) providing effective teams for achieving high performance in the project and (vi) complying with all the specifications and guidelines of the organization that are related to such projects.
The mentor needs to weigh more on leadership and innovation. Leadership is a process in which it first gathers the masses together and then influences all of them through different courses of action, so that they get encouraged to move toward a common goal (Srivastava & Thakur, 2013). Once the tasks are assigned to all the employees, they need to obey the guidelines of their mentor and thereby work within the given framework. However, they should be given the rights to express their views and opinions over any subject of matter. By considering such opinions, mentor and the senior management can look into the matter and can thereby take decisions accordingly. At the same time, it is important to consider the environment variables which can play a bigger role in enhancing the effectiveness of a mentor and his mentees.
Promoting Mentoring Programs
The top-level management needs to motivate all the employees by rewarding them with bonuses as well promoting them to higher positions. This will increase the job satisfaction levels of the employees. They will feel more encouraged and as a result will improve upon their productivity levels. Working in teams and having a healthy competition will mutually benefit all the employees working in the given organization.
Training and Mentoring for the Employees
It is important to provide appropriate training to the employees so that they can work as per the instructions provided to them. The mentoring programs conducted will address the necessary needs of training. The HR Department needs to consider these training needs and accordingly need to plan for the training programs. They will be providing employees with a set of instructions and guidelines that will guide all the employees in their respective job roles.
It is important to mentor each of them on an individual basis during such trainings. This will help us to determine the strengths and weaknesses of an individual and we can accordingly formulate strategies for each of the employees. We will assign the tasks as per the capabilities of each of the employees within the organization. Mentoring makes the task easier in carrying out all the daily operational activities of the organization.
The training and mentoring program will be providing educational materials, wherein the employees can refer to it during any time in future. This will serve like a handbook, which the employees can refer to it during any working time while at the organization (Burnouf, 2004). Further, the presentation handouts will also be given so that, they are aware of the new concepts and how they were applied in the practical situations. It is important from this training perspective that, they apply these new concepts in their daily operational activities. This will not only bring new innovative techniques at their workplace, but will also help them to improve their productivity levels.
Role and Responsibilities of a Mentor
The mentor needs to have the desirable qualities of managing and leading the team of employees. He needs to monitor the performance of all the employees right from day one. He will be assigning specific targets to each of the individuals. He also needs to motivate them on a periodic basis. This will help the employees to achieve the objectives of their assigned tasks. The mentor also needs to take into consideration the importance of timeline for the given project. He and his team need to prepare targets that will suit the timing requirements. There will be several challenges faced by him, but he needs to overcome then through his leadership skills, mentoring abilities and appropriate allocation of resources.
Mentors need to establish a standard code of ethics within the organization. The mentoring programs not only help in achieving the desired efficiency and effectiveness within the organization, but also make the employees follow all the rules on a strict basis. This will maintain the code for standard practices within the organization.
Changing Roles and Adapting to new Challenges
All the roles within the organization will be assigned to the employees on the basis of their skills, abilities and experiences. However, with changing time the roles will keep on changing. Hence, it will be the responsibility of the mentor to inculcate the skills of leadership and management within his employees. It is equally important to develop technical skills in order to become self-reliable in the respective job roles (Lewis, 2008). All the mentees will be required to adapt to the changing culture. They need to prepare them for the upcoming challenges of the future. They can utilize the methods of self-assessment in order to determine the strengths and weaknesses. This will help them to utilize their strengths and improving upon their weaknesses.
Conclusion
Mentoring can turn out to be useful for several organizations in today’s contemporary world. Mentor will keep all the employees together and will guide them in the respective job roles and in their respective assigned tasks. It is the responsibility of the mentor to avoid all sorts of conflicts within the organization. At regular intervals, the mentor will be required to motivate the employees. He needs to solve their issues and try to improve their productivity levels. At the same time, by recognizing their performances, he needs to motivate them either through providing bonuses or through providing promotions. The mentor and the mentees need to work together in order to improve their overall strategies that will help them to improve the organizational performance.
Executive Summary
It is important for the employees of the organization to work with their respective mentors. The mentors will first of all guide them and then set certain objectives for each of the employees. Mentors are aware of the organizational environment and the upcoming challenges for the future. Hence, they would be able to formulate strategies accordingly. It is important for the mentors to boost the inner morals of the employees. He needs to adopt a team-based approach and establish an emotional bond amongst all the employees of the organization. By creating the values of mutual understanding and cooperation, the mentor will be able to create a healthy working environment. The employees or the mentees at the same time need to avoid conflicts and social loafing with each other. They need to arrive at a mutual consent by respecting each other opinions and views. The process of mentoring improves the overall effectiveness of the organization, which in turn improves the performance of the entire organization.
References
Lewis, J.P. (2008). Mastering Project Management: Applying Advanced Concepts to Systems Thinking, Control & Evaluation, and Resource Allocation. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Sparrow, P.R. (2012).Globalizing the international mobility function: the role of emerging markets, flexibility and strategic delivery models.International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23 (12), 2404-2427.
Klarsfeld, A. (2009). The diffusion of diversity management: the case of France. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 25(4), 363-373.
Srivastava, S., & Thakur, M. (2013). Mentoring and Performance: Testing a Mediated Model in Supervisory and Formal Mentoring in Business Organization. International Journal of Business Insights & Transformation, 6(2), 16-35.
Burnouf, L. (2004). Global Awareness and Perspectives in Global Education. Canadian Social Studies, 38, 3.
