I chose sponsorship and mentoring initiatives in health care workplaces as my topic of interest in this discussion. The topic comes from the article “Sponsorship and Mentoring Initiatives Score Big at Cardinal Health” as initiated by Kristen Fyfe-Mills (2016). In this article, Fyfe-Mills (2016) addresses the importance of mentorship in the clinical setup based on a case study of a Dublin, Ohio-based facility.
Ideally, she finds that the initiatives assisted in improving the following opportunities. First, there was a general improvement in the percentage of minorities and women in leadership positions. Second, mentorship and sponsorship not only developed a widely inclusive workplace culture but assimilated new leaders, as well. Third, mentoring enhanced collaboration across the organization’s functions, departments, and geographies (Fyfe-Mills, 2016).
I agree with Fyfe-Mills (2016) that mentorship and sponsorship programs have a positive effect in the health care sector in numerous perspectives. For starters, both initiatives increase retention, satisfaction, and promotion indices through knowledge share. Shah, Nodell, Montano, Behrens, and Zunt (2011) describe mentorship as the existence of a relationship where knowledgeable employees assist in guiding their less knowledgeable counterparts. Mentors have an influential position in particular areas of expertise.
At the hospital level, mentorship aims at increasing the staff’s engagement at entry level and new program development. They provide employees with access to new and existing knowledge as a vital development resource. The provision follows the definition of a structure that can support a variety of employment skills to help meet function-oriented goals. Thus, mentors have an obligation to collect and offer relevant information to help inform talent development and decision-making skills (Shah et al., 2011).
Finally, the primary decisions involve the creation of a mentorship program are as follows. First, employers should concentrate on determining an appropriate way of enrolling mentees. Second, there is a need to formulate mentoring styles that can help drive the objective. Third, the most common connection types would include one-on-one, group, and project meet-ups. Finally, mentorship should go beyond meeting and highlight on the importance of reporting process (Fyfe-Mills, 2016).
References
Fyfe-Mills, K. (2016, June 2). Healthcare Blog: Sponsorship and Mentoring Initiatives Score Big at Cardinal Health. Retrieved from Association for Talent Development : https://www.td.org/Publications/Blogs/Healthcare-Blog/2016/06/Sponsorship-and-Mentoring-Initiatives-Score-Big-at-Cardinal-Health
Shah, S., Nodell, B., Montano, S., Behrens, C., & Zunt, J. (2011). Clinical research and global health: Mentoring the next generation of health care students. Journal of Global Public Health, 6 (3), 234–246.
