Assessing the impact of demographic variables on mentoring-managerial effectiveness relationship

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between mentoring, managerial effectiveness and demographic variables. Being in a mentoring relationship offers a low-cost experiential learning, encourages diversity and inclusion, helps in expanding professional associations and boosts engagement. The use of mentoring programs can achieve this to a larger extent by making managers effective. Design/methodology/approachThe study was administered on 350 middle-level managers, representatives of five private sector banks in Delhi/NCR. Variables in the study were assessed using validated instruments. Descriptive statistics, t-test, correlation and hierarchical regression were used for data analysis. FindingsThe study depicts that mentoring has a positive and significant impact on managerial effectiveness. The research contributed in establishing that the demographic variables (gender and marital status) positively moderate the relationship between mentoring and managerial effectiveness. Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the knowledge base and skillfulness of the young mangers are taken care by the way of organizational training, mentoring relationships complement it with added focus on personal directions to deal with minutiae of organizational processes. Mentors provide a critical linkage to an organization’s competitive advantage by helping expanding connections and networks of employees, and thereby, enhancing productivity which directly affects profitability. Managers and policymakers should chart out the mentoring plans, keeping in perspective the demographic variables, specially the gender of the mentee and the marital status. Originality/valueThis is a pioneer study contributing to the present reserve of knowledge and understanding of the subject by contextualizing the impact of demographic variables on mentoring and managerial effectiveness in Indian private sector banks.

Type A/B personality, work–family, and family–work conflict: The moderating effects of emotional intelligence

“…Second, we used a measure of Type A–B personality specifically designed for the Indian context (Dhar & Jain, 2001). We found that the measure had strong reliability and its use in other studies has demonstrated similarly strong reliability (Madan & Srivastava, 2017). We argue that our measure speaks to the need to utilize measures in organizational psychological and behavioral research (Gelfand et al, 2017) we are conscious that its use may limit the generalizability of our findings to Western contexts.…”

“…There is a tradition of using Western developed measures in an Eastern context however this is widely criticized (Gelfand et al, 2017) and researchers have highlighted the need to develop measures that better fit the context (Aycan, 2005). The Dhar and Jain (2001) measure of Type A–B personality is widely used in India and its psychometric properties are considered effective (Madan & Srivastava, 2017). We argue that it is a more valid measure of Type A–B personality given the cultural context of our study and we believe that it has effective application to other Asian contexts with strong collectivist cultures.…”

A Model for Strengthening Mentors: Frames and Practices

“…Clearly providing opportunities to strengthen mentors’ abilities to work across social identity differences is critical. While the importance of mentors’ ability to work with mentees of different social identities is well established [ 16 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ], mentors as leaders also need this capacity strengthened. The framework of multi-dimensionality offers mentors support in strengthening their ability to work across dimensions of diversity in social identities, enhancing their capacity to build inclusive workplaces.…”

Glass ceiling – An illusion or realism? Role of organizational identification and trust on the career satisfaction in Indian organizations

“…It is essential for organizations to realize that mentoring, whether formal or informal, could lessen the perceptions of glass ceiling. Madan and Srivastava (2017: 380) propagate that ‘organizations need to make special efforts for providing mentoring opportunities to women and propagate the cross-gender mentoring relationships at various social events in the organization’. The reason being when women managers in higher levels communicate their experiences and viewpoints, this will not only boost other women employee’s diligence and skill development, inspiring them to aspire for higher positions, but will also help establish a support system in place.…”