THE IMPACT OF MENTORING SCHEME ON STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY- A CASE STUDY OF FIDELITY BANK PLC NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION
“Mentoring is a process for the informal transmission of knowledge, social capital, and the psychosocial support perceived by the recipient as relevant to work, career, or professional development; mentoring entails informal communication, usually face-to-face and during a sustained period of time, between a person who is perceived to have greater relevant knowledge, wisdom, or experience (the mentor) and a person who is perceived to have less (the protégé)”. {en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentorship}
Historically, the root of the practice can be traced to the Ancient Greek time. The word was inspired by the character of Mentor in Homer’s Odyssey where the goddess Athena takes on the appearance of an old man to guide young Telemachus in his time of difficulty.
Mentor has been adopted in English as a term meaning someone who imparts wisdom to and shares knowledge with a less experienced colleague.
There are two broad types of mentoring relationships: formal and informal. Informal relationships develop on their own between partners. Formal mentoring, on the other hand, refers to a structured process supported by the organization and addresses to target population.
Mentoring has found application in School and communities, Health, Business, religion, Correctional facilities etc. The focus of this study is on corporate mentoring program.
Corporate mentoring programs are used by mid to large organization to further the development and retention of employees. Mentoring programs serve a variety of specific objectives including acclimation of new employees, skills development, and employee retention and diversity enhancement.
NEW HIRE MENTORSHIP
New-hire mentoring programs are set up to help new employees acclimate more quickly into the organization. In new-hire mentoring programs, newcomers to the organization (protégé) are paired with more experienced people (mentors) in order to obtain information, good examples, and advice as they advance. It has been claimed that new employees who are paired with a mentor are twice likely to remain in their job than those who do not receive mentorship {Kaye, Beverly; Jordan-Evans (2005). Love Em or Lose Em: Getting Good people to Stay. San Francisco Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.p.117.}
These mentoring relationships provide substance for career growth, and benefit both the mentor and mentee. The mentor gets to show leadership by giving back and perhaps being refreshed about their work. The organization receives an employee that is being gradually introduced and shaped by the organization’s culture and operation because they have been under the mentorship of an experienced member. The person being mentored networks, become integrated easier in an organization, get experience and advice along the way {Pompper, D.; Adams, j. (2006)”Under the microscope: Gender and mentor-protégé relationships”. Public Relations Review (Science Direct) (32):309-315.}
In the organizational setting, mentoring usually “requires unequal knowledge”. (Bozeman, B; Feeney, M.K. (October 2007). Toward a useful theory of mentoring: A conceptual analysis and critique. Administration & Society 39(6):719-739.).
HIGH-POTENTIAL MENTORSHIP
High potential mentoring programs are used to groom up-and-coming employees deemed to have the potential to move up into leadership roles. Here the employee is paired with a senior level leader for a series of career-coaching interactions.
A similar method of high-potential mentoring is to place the employee in a series of jobs in different areas of an organizations structure, all for small periods of time, in anticipation of learning the organizations structure, culture and methods.
Many agencies run formal stand-alone mentoring programs to enhance career and interpersonal development. Formal mentoring programs have structure, oversight, and clear and specific organizational goals. Agencies implement formal mentoring programs for different purposes. Some of these purposes include:
•    To help new employees settle into the agency
•    To create a knowledge sharing environment
•    To develop mission critical skills
•    To help accelerate one's career
•    To improve retention
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In order to ensure that the Fidelity Bank Mentoring Scheme is rendered in line with international best practice owing to the numerous benefits of the program to various organizations that have adopted and domesticated  it to fit their training and enculturation needs of the new hires, it is imperative to assess the impact of the mentoring scheme on staff development and productivity in Fidelity Bank Nigeria Plc.
1.3   PURPOSE OF STUDY
 This study seeks to examine the impact of the mentoring scheme on staff development and productivity in Fidelity Bank Plc where a formal mentoring program has been adopted. The study will establish the effectiveness of the scheme using standard evaluation methods, reveal the challenges and proffer solutions to the observed impediments.
The study will test all the specific goals of formal mentoring scheme as it applies to Fidelity Bank Plc such as impact on:
    New employees’ adaptation to Fidelity Bank culture
    The creation of knowledge sharing work environment
    The development of critical skills to achieve the mission and vision statement of the Bank
    Employee career growth
    Improve staff retention and job satisfaction
1.4    RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The classification and specification of hypothesis constitute a part of the entire. In existence, there are different types of hypotheses which include “explanatory Hypothesis: these are rational propositions which strongly imply or explicitly state that the existence of, or change in one variable causes, influences, or lead to an effect on another variable” ( Eheduru, 1990:30). The course of this study, explanatory hypotheses was applied on the impact of mentoring scheme on staff development and productivity a case study of Fidelity Bank Plc. The following questions were evaluated for the purpose of this study.
i.    Will clearly defined goals and objectives of the program ensure success of the scheme?
ii.     Will the mentor-mentee relationship have a significant impact on the scheme?
iii.    Will the mode of communication and time use be of any value on the scheme?
1.5   SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY
The importance of this study to Fidelity Bank Plc is to draw attention to the challenges of the scheme, identify ways to improve on it by making valuable recommendations. The Human Resources unit of the bank will have access to independent scorecard of the scheme and proceed to fine tune the program. Other similar organizations willing to adopt the scheme will also find the outcome of the study relevant and valuable.
1.6    SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The survey was carried out across all locations of Fidelity Bank Plc with a mentee. The Human Resources Coordinator of the scheme identified two suitable streams of mentees on the revised mentoring scheme. The electronic questionnaire was circulated using the bank network and result collated. A minimum of 136 questionnaires was administered to mentees.
A census survey was conducted across the network and qualified individuals identified, using the following targeting criteria:
1-individuals currently in the bank mentoring scheme
2- the length of stay on the scheme
3-the relationship with the mentor
.     1.7    LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The initial reluctance by the Human Resources unit to use the bank program and network, coupled with the limited number of staff on the new mentoring scheme were the major cause of delay and limitations of the study.