An Approach to human resource development by mentoring; An exploratory study

Abstract

This study was conducted for pursuing the following two objectives ; The first one is to investigate individuals’ mentoring behavior in Japanese work organizations. The second one is to evaluate an intervention program aimed at increasing mentoring behavior in work organizations.

A total of 100 white collar workers responded to the questionnaire which was designed for measuring mentoring behavior. The results indicate that mentoring behavior is commonly performed by persons working in Japanese work communities, and that mentoring behavior has positive relations with the mentor’s length of service and status in the company. The intervention was conducted for total 33 female clerical workers through a series of mentoring seminar. They generally showed positive reactions toward the intervention program.

Finally, we pointed out the necessity of the additional reseach for examining antecedent and consequential factors of mentoring behavior. We also need to develop more effective intervention program based on the evaluation of the present program.