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Article Evaluation

The Wikipedia source on "Workplace mentoring," establishes the concept of education through guidance in a working environment. It provides definition to two forms of "workplace mentoring," formal and informal mentoring. Although they are each different types of environments, one may experience in a workplace, the page does not go in depth in elaborating on what defines the process formal or informal mentoring. The page can be enhanced by increasing the training that is included under both forms including how management decides what form is best. The page could also be enhanced by adding the comparing of benefits between the two forms of workplace mentoring. Defining what qualifies an employee as "seasoned," could help explain the classification of the title. Similar to other Wikipedia sources, the Workplace mentoring page could provide examples of well respected companies who use each form and an example of someone who does not.

Workplace Mentoring can also be considered a skill or tool to a working environment because it is considered training. Many departments benefit from mentoring because it involves cross training. Workplace mentoring has many benefits because it can expand the knowledge of the "seasoned" employee by enabling new thoughts and ideas. Under formal mentoring, the benefit that carries is that you can mold an employee to run things the way they presently without bringing in too many changes. One of the challenges informal workplace mentoring experiences is that the new employee does not receive the full training they might need for the position. Informal training has become more popular among the workplace because they might not have enough employees to do the official training or they may not have the budget to do the training. Therefore, informal training is the route they defer to for new employees. One example of informal mentoring is a new startup company who does not yet have the experience of their employees to offer a formal mentorship. Therefore, they are left to rely on each other to learn along the way which can take time in order to build the workplace. A company for instance could start with two people and eventually grow. However, within the company's first few years, there is not enough experience to qualify a formal mentorship and are left to informal training.

Mentoring formally sometimes does not work for all areas especially with related or "chain" companies. There often can be language barriers with literal language and culture. What works for one place may not work for another place and therefore formal training my not be effective for certain areas. Formal training sometimes comes from outside sources and what works for them. Both parties cannot succeed with different backgrounds unless there is one system that follows across the workplace. There will also always be different styles of mentoring despite there being only two categories. When different cultures migrate to the United States, there is a tendency for those new employees to be accustomed to their own ways and may have limited English. This means there is additional language mentorship and the mentor must be prepared for all types of situations that could come their way.

In today's world, formal training is best method because you are trained for all situations and cultures that is presented. While informal training has become more common in the workplace due to the convenience and cost, there is still room for error. As a result, this could cost the workplace more, due to the amount of error that can occur. In the end, the type mentoring is based on the needs, preferences and wealth of the company.

Annotated Bibliography

Short, T. W. (2014). Workplace mentoring: An old idea with new meaning (part 1). Development and Learning in Organizations, 28(1), 8-11. doi: http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.txstate.edu/10.1108/DLO-09-2013-0077

In this article about Workplace mentoring, Short discusses the approaches and strategies that go into this old concept. One of the main strategies discussed is the relationship of engagement between employee and customer satisfaction. Although the idea of workplace mentoring has been around for a while, the concept tends to reappear as a new idea very often. Another main idea that is featured is the task to adjusting to change through the mentoring. Typically, workplace mentoring brings change to the person learning especially if they have come in with no experience in that particular work field. The article goes into detail describing how workplaces differ from others. Every workplace has their own strategies and organizational issues they each face. The article continues on to describe workplace projects that can develop through the mentoring.

Short, T. W. (2014). Workplace mentoring: An old idea with new meaning (part 2). Development and Learning in Organizations, 28(2), 3-6. doi:http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.txstate.edu/10.1108/DLO-11-2013-0086

Part 2 of the author's idea presents the research side to the growth that happens in workplace mentoring. The article describes that workplace mentoring may not be for all working environments. Each environment faces their set of benefits and challenges compared to other workplaces. Short uses the Australian Rail as an example of industry that experiences generation changes and shortages. A certain generation group can have an effect on a workplace causing major changes for new generations to come.

Wu, Y. (. (2008). Social skill in the workplace: What is social skill and how does it matter?(Order No. 3371108). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (304518062). Retrieved from http://libproxy.txstate.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.txstate.edu/docview/304518062?accountid=5683

This article goes into depth on the necessity of having social skills in a workplace. Not only are they required in the workplace itself but in the process of the mentoring process. In order to fully have an effective mentor experience, there must be a foundation of communication. Wu further describes why it is crucial to workplace and the difference that it makes. The social skill analysis includes social presentation and social scanning for example to provide a definition of concepts and demonstrate how they each differ .

Emelo, R. (2011). CREATING A NEW mindset: Guidelines for mentorship in today's workplace. T + D, 65(1), 44-49. Retrieved from http://libproxy.txstate.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.txstate.edu/docview/846785033?accountid=5683

In this article, it describes guidelines to which many people today consider to fit the concept of workplace mentoring. It fully grasps the idea of a "new mindset," and how minds can change over this topic and process. What once was considered workplace mentoring may not entirely hold the same meaning it once was.