EMPA Mentor Program

As students are asked to nominate a mentor at the time of application, you will need to be familiar with the EMP mentor program to ensure that you select a suitable mentor and that your mentor is well informed about the role they are agreeing to take up. Please read this material and discuss it with your prospective mentor before finalising your application.
Introduction

INTRODUCTION

The mentoring program was introduced following the EMPA review led by Andrew Podger AO. The review identified concerns about work/life balance and recommended that agencies be encouraged to support students through the use of internal mentors.

Agencies sponsoring students in the EMPA program are now asked to ensure that each student has access to an encouraging and constructive mentoring relationship during their time on the program. It is intended that each EMPA student should be engaged with a more senior manager from their agency in a formally recognised mentoring relationship which will complement rather than replicate the student’s existing informal friendships, collegial networks and management relationships. It is envisaged that the mentoring relationship will add another dimension of agency support and help prevent student isolation during a demanding period.

A good match between student and mentor involves a number of factors, high among them the student’s own choice of a mentor. (See below for the key criteria to consider in selecting a mentor).

WHAT IS DISTINCTIVE ABOUT MENTORING?

A successful mentoring relationship relies on the development of openness and mutual trust between the parties– providing a setting in which a broad range of concerns and interests can be addressed.
Research shows that mentoring works best when the mentor is not involved in managing the individual’s performance. This frees up both parties from a focus on everyday work performance to take a broader and longer-term view of the individual’s development and provides an independent space for reflection. For these reasons it is recommended the mentor is not the student’s immediate manager.

WHAT DOES MENTORING INVOLVE?

Mentoring offers the student support during an intensive study period in which they are continuing to fulfil a demanding management role. While the idea of mentoring EMPA students originated from concerns about work-life balance, a combination of concerns and interests most relevant to the particular student can be addressed. These may include:

  • Managing workload and conflicting pressures
  • Achieving a balance between work-life-study
  • Expanding their thinking and developing a strategic perspective
  • Applying their new learning to their own agency context
  • Increasing their knowledge of the wider organisational context or a particular topic/field
  • Reflecting on their skills, strengths and areas for further development
  • Gaining greater insights on day to day management
  • Seeking a different, balanced perspective/ honest feedback
  • Receiving encouragement and putting things into perspective
  • Coaching on how to handle a particular situation/perform a particular task
  • Role modelling of positive attitudes and approaches
  • Expanding their professional networks
  • Exploring their future career direction

While the EMPA student is engaged in study directly relevant to their work, the primary focus of the mentoring relationship is not on the study itself. It is the role of the academic tutor, not the mentor, to:

  • Provide feedback on academic work, including assessment
  • Provide guidance and direction in matters relating to formal study including course selection and choice of electives
  • Facilitate key learnings from the student’s formal study

Mentors and students typically meet about every 3-6 weeks and focus on the particular individual concerns and interests the student brings forward.

KEY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING A SUITABLE MENTOR

Please consider the following criteria when selecting a mentor:

Personal choice
Selecting your mentor increases the likelihood you will make the best use of this opportunity. If you don’t know prospective mentors personally, seek suggestions from other managers, including human resources specialists.

Willingness and availability
Ensure your prospective mentor is well informed about the mentor program, willing and has sufficient availability.

Widely respected manager with good people skills
Students highly value mentors who are open, authentic, interested, supportive, accepting/non-judgemental, put an emphasis on empowerment and are able to maintain clear boundaries, including confidentiality.

Seniority
A senior manger can add extra agency support, a breadth of perspective and useful insights into the agency and its relationships with key stakeholders.

Outside your line of accountability
Choosing someone outside your management line frees both parties up to discuss a wide range of issues. If the size or structure of your agency makes mentoring by a senior manager outside your line of accountability impossible, an external mentor or a peer mentor may be more suitable.

Study experience
Former EMPA students and managers who have completed other study programs will have relevant experiences and insights about the challenges of combining work and study.

Personal experience
You may want to choose a mentor with relevant personal experience (such as being a woman manager in a male-dominated agency, being a parent of small children).

Location
Physical proximity increases the mentoring pairs’ opportunities for personal interaction. A few mentoring pairs manage across geographical distances by linking their meetings with regular interstate travel.

WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MENTORING?

Extra resources for students and mentors on conducting a successful mentoring relationship are provided by ANZSOG after acceptance into the program.

In addition, the following books and articles are useful references:

Chip R. Bell, Managers as mentors - building partnerships for learning, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, 1996.
(Focuses on the attitudes and behaviours of an effective mentor)

Chip R. Bell, ‘The mentor as partner’ Training and Development, February 2000.
(Focuses on the attitudes and behaviours of an effective mentor)

David Clutterbuck and David Megginson, Mentoring executives and directors, Butterworth Heinmann, Oxford, 1999.
(Focuses on executive mentoring, providing 22 case studies)

Patricia J. Fritts, The new managerial mentor - becoming a learning leader to build communities of purpose, Davies-Black Publishing, California, 1998.
(Explores the role of the manager as a mentor in learning organisations)

Robert Garvey, Paul Stokes and David Megginson, Coaching and Mentoring –theory and practice, Sage, London, 2009
(Explores theoretical foundations, research findings, organisational culture, program design and evaluation, approaches, power, e-development, professional supervision, goal-setting, diversity and professionalization of the field)

Harvard Business Essentials, Coaching and mentoring – how to develop top talent and achieve strong performance, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, 2004.
(Has chapters on coaching, benefits of mentoring, the right match, being an effective mentor, mentoring diverse employees, mentoring peer-to-peer and network mentoring)

W. Brad Johnson and Charles R. Ridley, The elements of mentoring, Palgrave MacMillan, New York, 2004.
(Detailed guidance for mentors describing what excellent mentors do; traits of excellent mentors; making a start, knowing yourself as a mentor, restoring things when they go wrong, matters of closure)

David Megginson and David Clutterbuck, Mentoring in action – a practical guide for managers, Kogan Page, London, 1997.
(Provides case studies of organisational mentoring initiatives and individual mentoring relationships)

Mary Beth O'Neill, Executive coaching - with backbone and heart: a systems approach to engaging leaders with their challenges, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 2000.
(A guide for mentors on executive coaching including developing presence, systems thinking and working effectively, navigating four phases of coaching and helping leaders effectively coach employees)

David A. Thomas ‘The truth about mentoring minorities: race matters’, Harvard Business Review April 2001.
(Insights from corporate America into the mentoring needs of ethnically diverse employees)