Mentoring Discussion Forum
Thursday June 7, 2001
9:30 - 12:00 PM
Foothills Laboratory, Room 1022
Tim Killeen (DIR)
Dave Carlson (ATD)
Tom Windham (UCAR)
Maura Hagan (HAO)
Steve Dickson (DIR)
Maurice Blackmon (CGD)
Al Cooper (ASP)
Bob Roesch (HR)
Cheryl Cristanelli (HR)
Terry Woods (HR)
QUESTIONS DISTRIBUTED TO PANEL BEFORE FORUM:
(The following questions were not addressed individually at the forum, but were meant to help guide the discussion)
GENERAL QUESTIONS:
Should all supervisors be mentors?
How do ECS (Early Career Scientists) identify and work with a mentor?
Are there potential problems with making mentoring a required portion of the evaluation process? If so, do the benefits outweigh the problems?
How successful is informal mentoring such as teas, science discussions, etc.?
QUESTIONS FOR HR AND TIM KILLEEN:
What programs currently exist to promote mentoring at NCAR?
What is involved in the new mentoring plan?
If training is part of this plan, will it be made mandatory?
What are your thoughts on assigning each Early Career Scientist a mentor other than their immediate supervisor?
What are your thoughts on the implementation of the 5-year plan in the evaluation process this year? Was it successful?
Are good mentors being recognized?
QUESTIONS FOR DTF PEOPLE:
What are the strategies set forth by the Diversity Task Force for improving mentoring?
QUESTIONS FOR TOM WINDHAM AND MAURA HAGAN:
What makes the SOARS program so successful?
Does its success have to do with how much attention is given to this program?
POTENTIAL NEEDS OF EARLY CAREER SCIENTISTS (ECS)
what is the role of a mentor in addressing these needs?
ECS need help to work effectively in the scientific community. In particular, it is helpful for ECS to have guidance with respect to designing and implementing research projects, writing scientific papers, presenting research at meetings, writing proposals, and participating in other professional service activities (committees, etc.).
ECS need help in navigating the NCAR appointment system.
ECS need to gain visibility across NCAR.
Some ECS with interdisciplinary interests may require special mentoring needs, such as more than one mentor.
ECS need help in assuring they have adequate resources.
It is important for Associate Scientists and Project Scientists who express interest in attending meetings/conferences to get those opportunities.
ECS may need help in developing qualities required for scientific leadership.
SUMMARY OF FORUM:
For the first 30 minutes Dave Carlson presented a summary of the Diversity Task Force guidelines on mentoring. The full Diversity Task Force (DTF) report is online.
A summary of the mentoring plan can be found in the report at the above web address.
Summary of Dave Carlson's presentation:
The Diversity Task Force (DTF) has a mentoring plan in which mentoring is defined as a professional relationship where an experienced person (mentor) agrees to share their knowledge and wisdom to support the goals of another person (protégé). The DTF believes it is necessary to recognize the importance of personal and professional growth for all employees, and it is beneficial to the institution as well as to the individuals to have good mentoring available. The DTF mentoring plan states that there is evidence for higher career and pay satisfaction, and self-esteem for the individual when a mentoring plan is in place. This in turn benefits the organization with increased employee productivity, enhanced organizational commitment, and lower levels of turnover. There is evidence that while mentors are helpful to white males, they are essential for women and ethnic minorities who pursue careers in the sciences.
The goals of the DTF mentoring plan are to provide learning opportunities for all participants, increase the networking and visibility of protégés, and provide role models and career assistance to protégés. With such an approach, protégés will be prepared for the next step in their careers and will be capable of contributing more effectively to UCAR. The DTF has developed strategies for effective mentoring in their plan:
1) Model existing activities in particular, informal group activities.
2) Establish new programs to complement the ongoing activities. Three programs initiated or to be started are the Early Career Scientist Forum, group mentoring, and intergenerational mentoring.
3) Training for the mentoring programs.
The Early Career Scientist Assembly has been formed and several discussion forums have been conducted. The group mentoring program has yet to be established, but it will consist of several mentors for each protégé, will cut across divisional boundaries, and can work within job groups. The intergenerational mentoring will take advantage of employees who are near retirement to tap into their wealth of knowledge and experience to serve as mentors, or to help with mentor training.
Mentoring training will be designed to help the mentor- protégé relationship in many ways including to identify ways to help a person reach their full potential, to build and improve communication skills for both the mentor and the protégé, and to help develop one's own mentoring style. The DTF report suggests NCAR needs a rich array of training, both introductory and advanced. Not all senior staff are good mentors, and training opportunities could be implemented for developing mentoring skills within an enhanced UCAR Staff Development Program.
Dave Carlson also discussed the need for an institutional evaluation of the mentoring plan. If the plan is working, will it be obvious? Dave summarized by emphasizing that the focus of the DTF is on mentoring and diversity, and mentoring is key in many improvements in the workplace.
Summary of Tom Windham's presentation:
After Dave Carlson's presentation Tom Windham gave a presentation describing the SOARS (Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science) program and its success. His presentation can be found at this web address.
The goal of the SOARS program is to create a direct 'pipeline' to bring ethnically diverse students into careers in the atmospheric and related sciences. The success of the program is due to the participants and the influence of particular activities. Success is also due to the fact that careful thought has been given to the program goal and its objectives.
Tom believes mentoring programs should respond to the organizational goal (i.e. the program has to evolve with the organization). What does mentoring mean to our organization? Its meaning involves helping young people recognize themselves as scientists.
One of the goals of a good mentoring plan is to maintain interest and improve performance. People do not learn well under high anxiety, so it is important to identify the comfort zone of the protégé and the mentor, together with the organization. It is important to have everyone moving toward the same goal. Learning is a social practice, so another goal is to create an environment conducive toward this social context. In the SOARS program, several mentors are responsible for the success of a protégé. There are four types of mentors for each protégé: research mentor, writing mentor, community mentor, and peer mentor (a description of each type can be found at the above web address). More important than what a mentor does is who a mentor is.
Summary of panel discussion:
After Tom Windham's presentation, open discussion with the panel was encouraged. One question directed to Tim Killeen was about how the implementation of the five-year plan in this year's annual evaluations proceeded, to which he responded that it was too early to comment on this plan. Tim also pointed out that the five-year plan wasn't designed as a replacement for effective mentoring, but it is one component of professional development. In developing an effective mentoring program we also have to change a culture. One question from the audience was how the five-year plan is supposed to help support staff such as Associate Scientists. Tim's answer to this question was that everyone has to recognize personal aspirations, and the five-year plan will be a document that can be used to negotiate expectations.
Other concerns raised by audience members included the following question: if one's immediate supervisor is not a good mentor, what steps can be taken to find one? A suggested solution was to have a pool of mentors accessible to everyone. The following point was also raised- every supervisor cannot be expected to be a mentor, and this led to discussion about what role the supervisor should play in career development. Supervisors, at the very least, need to support their staff in career development, and in some situations, may also play the role of mentor.
DISCUSSION WITH HUMAN RESOURCES ABOUT DEVELOPING A MENTORING PLAN FOR NCAR (AS PART OF THE CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM)
In trying to develop a career development program, which includes a mentoring plan for the organization, HR is in the process of meeting with focus groups throughout NCAR to get input from employees about what they want/need. HR recognizes that one model is not going to work for everyone, but they hope the focus groups will shed light on what the employees' needs are. Some time was allocated for HR to use the audience as one of their focus groups, first distributing questions, and then discussing them. Here is a summary of that process (in rough format- just like the brainstorming proceeded):
Questions that were distributed:
1. What skills, resources, trainings, contacts, behaviors, etc. does a new scientist need to have, or have access to, to be successful?
2. What does the word 'mentoring' mean to you?
3. When you think of an effective mentor, what skills/qualities do they process? (Behaviors, knowledge, values, who should/could be a mentor, who should not, etc.)
4. What is the role of the 'protégé'? (Behaviors, values, etc.)
5. What would an effective mentoring program look like to you? (Resources, trainings, contacts, knowledge areas, trainings, what does the relationship look like, etc.)
6. Would an orientation specific to new scientists be helpful to you? Describe what type of information/topics/trainings should be included.
7. If you could identify one thing that would enhance your effectiveness in your job/career, what would that be?
Below are some of the thoughts regarding these questions. They may not represent all that was discussed, but they provide some material for future discussions.
1. Skills, resources, training, contacts, behaviors needed for a new scientist
a. Need a small committee in organization as an information resource
b. Networking
c. Scientists would like to have the detailed matrix describing job categories to know what is expected of them and how they can get promoted
d. Scientists would like to have a crib sheet of resources
2. Definition of mentoring
a. A mentor is someone within your discipline who can help you on your path to success
b. Provide guidance on writing proposals, on how to get papers published
c. A supervisor makes use of the scientist to achieve job/career goals, while a mentor helps the scientist achieve individual goals and life goals
3. Skills/qualities of an effective mentor
a. Someone supportive, able to share knowledge and identify pitfalls
b. Provide road maps, navigates protégé through organization
c. Supervisor may not be a good mentor
d. Mentors can be a 'parachute' for protégé
e. Mentor cares about scientist; is invested in person's success; builds in fun as part of total life
4. Role of protégé
a. It is the employee's responsibility to pursue mentoring
5. Ingredients of a mentoring program
6. Orientation for new scientists
a. Believe that an orientation is needed
7. One item that would enhance your job effectiveness
8. Other
a. Nice to have money to attend conferences
b. Groups other than scientists can be mentors
c. Role of supervisor should include providing structure
d. Scientists would like to have the detailed matrix describing job categories to know what is expected of them and how they can get promoted
e. Individuals need help from the organization, their mentor, and their supervisor
Near the end of the forum, Al Cooper outlined some initial mentoring activities for new scientists. First he defined three functions of mentoring:
1. Make it possible to do job better -> this would be the responsibility of the supervisor
2. How to advance through organization -> this would be partly the supervisor's and partly the mentor's responsibility
3. How does organization help the scientists be want he/she wants to be è this is the responsibility of the mentor
Al Cooper would like input for designing an orientation for new scientists
The initial plan would be to have a committee meet with one scientist once per month. This would be a lunch meeting. One person from the committee, which consists of about 4 people, would be the primary mentor and would be responsible for scheduling the lunch meetings.
The elements of this mentoring activity include:
--Training for mentors
--Training meetings to exchange information
--Assessment and feedback
--Responsibility on BOTH sides (protégé as well as mentor/committee)
--Communication, interpersonal skills, interpersonal orientation
--Rewards for mentors
--Have a clear picture of intention
The vision/purpose of this mentoring activity is to foster personal relationship beyond supervisors- ones that effectively match the development interests of individuals with UCAR's overreaching goals, practices, and opportunities. This mentoring activity will begin even before formal mentoring training can take place.