Relational Mentoring Episodes as a Catalyst for Empowering Protégés

Abstract

We take empowerment from tasks to relationships by introducing the construct of psychological empowerment in the context of mentoring episodes. We introduce a new perspective for examining psychological empowerment, derived from a protégé's perceptions of relational impact, developmental meaning, interpersonal competence, and relational self-determination arising out of relational mentoring episodes. Empowered protégés are expected to be more proactive in their careers. By applying an empowerment perspective to relational mentoring, we propose a conceptual model to investigate critical interpersonal processes and to discover more about how developmental relationships work. Finally, our aim is also to further our theoretical understanding of relational mentoring episodes. This new direction holds exciting implications for career scholarship, human resource development (HRD) practitioners, and employees.

Meaning in Mentoring: More Than Meets the Eye/“I”

“…This initial phase of our work was facilitated by the existence of several systematic reviews of the corpus of mentoring research. These reviews include Allen et al (2008), Ghosh (2013), Fullick-Jagiela et al (2015), and Janssen et al (2016) and the comprehensive handbook of mentoring research edited by Ragins and Kram (2007).…”

“…Mentoring is a perennially popular personal and career development method (Ragins & Kram, 2007) that has recently burgeoned as a formal HRD intervention within organizations (Corner, 2014; Ghosh & Reio, 2013). However, informal mentoring has also become important in light of the growth of fluidity of work (Petriglieri, 2011) and the associated boundaryless careers (Fullick-Jagiela, Verbos, & Wiese, 2015). These changes in employment patterns have increased the importance of less structured and nonformal workplace learning methods (Hamlin & Stewart, 2011; Mizzi & Rocco, 2013).…”

“…In a comprehensive review of more than 200 mentoring studies, Allen et al (2008) found almost universal reports of mentoring having only beneficial outcomes. For example, Fullick-Jagiela et al (2015) noted the empowerment associated with mentoring, and mentoring gurus Ragins and Kram (2007) reported the “appeal of mentoring as a . .…”

“…Identity theorizing is highly developed in the organization studies literature and is also used in the adult learning and educational literatures (e.g., Cameron & Grant, 2017), and the importance of identity formation in mentoring is widely acknowledged (e.g., Janssen et al, 2016; Muir, 2014; Mysyk, 2008). However, despite Ragins’s (1997) observation that identity was a fruitful area for further mentoring research, nearly 20 years later, Fullick-Jagiela et al (2015) noted “the extent to which mentoring relationships contribute to a protégé’s sense of professional identity has not been examined thoroughly” (p. 498).…”

The academic portfolio: Validation of the learning journey

“…Use of the AONL indicators parallels the use of the standardized CanMEDS Résumé which radiology students use to demonstrate proficiency in their roles. [18] 2.5 The program evaluation process: Continuous quality improvement A continuous quality improvement (CQI) plan is used by the School of Nursing to review courses assigned in a 2-year rotation. Professional Development Course A and Professional Development Course B both undergo review every two years.…”