Custom «Mentor's Within an Organization Increases Job Satisfaction» Essay Paper Sample

Executive Summary

The study sort to explore the hypothesis that mentors within an organization increases job satisfaction. The study undertook a review of the situation at the Georgetown County School District that the study intended to study. The study was undertaken at a time the organization had made some changes in management of its staff as a result of budget cuts. The staffs were undertaking furloughs days. The furloughs are meant to save the district some finances that go towards teachers and administrators remuneration. This is one the many cost cutting measures. The district is also considering increasing the class sizes and even eliminating the national bard approved supplement for certified teachers.

The George Town County School has undergone changes. The teachers' incentives are reportedly hanging in balance. The management has also been looking at how teachers can be redeployed to other working areas. The teachers are facing uncertainty with a lot of anxiety caused by the fear that the institution may be forced to retire some of its employees. The support staff also faces the same uncertainties. The district has a dynamic staff, and all have varying years of service. The district has also invested heavily in training and therefore, the staffs have varying qualifications. The teachers' tuition reimbursements have also been cut.

Though the schools has a robust policy that ensures equal opportunities for all, and comes out as an institution where the dignity of each individual employee is respected, the prevailing circumstances have led to new challenges. The institution has been undertaking education for all employees. The teachers have been enjoying an entitlement for tuition reimbursement. The district appreciates that the individual morale and job satisfaction is boasted when an individual is assigned roles that are in line with their profession. However, with the prevailing job cuts, it may be appropriate for measures to be undertaken to ensure the effectiveness of the total education system in the district. The personnel may be assigned in line with needs of the district, hence to ensure that job satisfaction is appropriately achieved. The district has a policy on confidentiality on issues related to the members of staff and the students.

The study undertook a literature review aimed at further understanding how the variables related. Twenty respondents were selected for the study. Study findings are presented in descriptive analysis. Simple tables have been used.

The study found that out of the 20 employees interviewed, 90% of appreciated the role the mentors had played in redirecting their performance and improving their job satisfaction. On further exploration, the study proved the hypothesis that mentor's in an organization improve jobs satisfaction.

The study limitation was that it was confined to Georgetown County School District. The study was also confined to a time when the school had experienced budget cuts and no comparison was made with the times the school had operated without budget cuts. The study was also limited by the tight schedule of the respondent and therefore care was taken to ensure that they had time to respond to the questionnaire put forward. As an organization, the Georgetown County School District has its unique culture hence the research finding generalization should be done cautiously.

The study derived conclusions and recommendations based on the study findings. Among the recommendation the study gave was the need to make mentor's a part of the institution program because mentoring was found to have big benefit to the organization. The mentors could be used to handle a range of problem that was directly linked to individual performance as a member of the given organization. There need to intervene especially in situations where an organization undergoes any changes and especially those with dynamic effect to the organization staff.

The study was undertaken at Georgetown County School District at a time when the organizations had undergone budget cuts. A situational analysis of the organization was undertaken. The budget cut had forced the institution to introduce furlough days so that everyone could keep their job. Due to the prevalent circumstance, no one in the institution had been accorded an increment. The other implication was that the staff members were at times required to undertake assignment in areas they were not familiar with. This had caused stress in an organization where everyone was undertaking specific role prior to the introduction of budget cuts. Some staff members were becoming stressed.

The research was guide by the hypothesis, "Mentor's within an organization

increases Job Satisfaction." A questionnaire was administered to 20 staff members and the responses were then analyzed for conclusion. The study had limitation in that it was undertaken in only one institution. The study appreciated that these district, though endowed with a diver's culture, was also unique. The study was also limited to the period that the organization was learning with a budget deficit, and hence no comparison could be done in relation to the periods with the times when the institution was learning under normal circumstances. The findings could therefore be generalized to other organizations but with caution.

The study concluded that mentors within an organization increases job satisfaction. The study recommended that the organization should mitigate the effects of the budget cuts and the associated implication on employees by ensuring that each employee benefited from a mentor who will increase his or her confidence. The study recommended mentoring was a way of increasing a staff confidence. The study recommended that the mentors should also ensure that the staff realizes that their roles are appreciated as this will increase their satisfaction. The study recommended mentor's as essential component that was enabling the institution to mitigate the effects of the budget deficits.

1. Situational Analysis

Various factors have led to decrease in productivity at St, Georgetown County School District. The budget cuts have led to situation in which no one has gotten an increase. The staff job satisfaction cannot be addressed through pay increase as a reduced budget would imply further staff cuts. The organization has remained with no option but to search for avenues through which the diminishing staff morale is improved in the face of the working environment that is challenging. The staff morale remains important to the quality of service that the staff gives to the institutions clients, both in the long-term and short-term.

The budget cut have led to a state training opportunities for the staff members are no longer available. Training budget is one of the items that are easily targeted for cuts or even elimination due to the budget cuts. Without training, the employees have not been able to enjoy improved working lives. The employees have been taking furlough days so as to ensure no one loses his/her job. The staffs taking off days, often referred to as furlough, without pay are doing so on rotationally bases. Furloughs have had advantages in that the staff members can to retain their jobs.

In this organization, there has been restructuring in that the duties of staff on compulsory leave have to be undertaken be other members. The employer is also able to cut on cost as a way of mitigating job cuts. This has also affected the organizations internal culture and teamwork. The duties of the absent staff have to be undertaken by the other staff members. The staffs have suffered stress from work expectations, which has further reduced their work morale. Workload has increased and the staffs' members have not been able to deliver especially in jobs that they have not been used. Due to the budget cuts, however; the organization has found furloughs to be appealing, as a stop gap to the prevailing circumstances.

Budget cuts have led to decrease in training. Some employees have undertaken jobs or assignment that they had no prior knowledge on how certain thing works. The employees have thus faced challenges in handling the students, textbooks, and giving out tests. This has been exemplified by the diverse culture in which the employees are expected to work in.

The situation at the institution has is of concern because the delivery of services by the staff toward the students will depend on the job-satisfaction. The organization has to continue striving to achieve its objective. In the face of changing circumstances, ways of ensuring that appropriate results are achieved needs to be sought. The students should be considered as the intended beneficiaries who should be cautioned from the prevailing circumstances that may interfere with the smooth learning of the schools. Each individual success and satisfaction counts for the success of the county school. Mentoring comes out handy as a technique that combines theory and practice.

2). Hypothesis: Mentors within an organization increases Job Satisfaction.

Mentoring is useful to Georgetown County School District in providing guidance and insight to others. This is especially important to the employees that are required to perform roles that they had never performed before due to reorganization. The mentoring process avails avenues through which knowledge; guidance and even insight necessary in handling a situation is created. The organization make use of its own employees in a situation which those endowed with experience and knowledge on organization operation can avail this to the benefit of the employees as they are expected to perform certain chores. Through mentoring, the employees can understand situation when things can go wrong or something is not working as expected. Through mentoring the employees can be able to handle understand complex and difficult situations that they are likely to encounter in the course of fulfilling their duties.

The Georgetown County School District has been undergoing difficult times and this situation has forced it to assign its employees work that they had no prior knowledge. The organization should therefore have trainers who will play an effective role in mentoring the employees. The situation at Georgetown County School District has resulted from budget cuts.

With the staff in the organization undertaking jobs that they have previously not been exposed to, they have faced various difficulties, and this has in turn increased stress. The organization expects the employees to play their roles effectively, hence it should be appreciated that there are challenges and difficulty associated with this expectation. Those introduced to undertake new assignments must therefore be properly facilitated as a way of ensuring that their satisfaction with the new job increases. (Thorne, 2007).

Job satisfaction is important in determining how an individual feels content in an undertaking. The mentor should understand a culture within an organization and the needs of all including the students so as to ensure increased understanding. The mentoring should also aim at empowering the staff in their new assignment. The mentor can use various ratings to ensure that the efforts employed yields the desirable results.

From review, job satisfaction was found to be one of the most frequently studied variables. The reasons for job satisfaction have been found to range from personal to organizational. Job satisfaction and dissatisfaction have consequences that any organization or individual cannot afford to ignore. Many organizational conditions can be a precondition for either satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

Mentorship is what can be termed as a personal development relationship in which a more knowledgeable person takes the responsibility of assisting the less responsible person. Mentoring is useful tool to the district and entails communication. The mentor's will be more useful if proper planning is done. This will ensure that the program is not a fuzzy one but delivers the desirable results. The Georgetown County School District can benefit from a scene or where one is either a mentor or being mentored by another. Mentoring can enable the members of the district overcome the social, mental and psychological challenges. The mentor should bring about more resilient in the district thus having a direct bearing to the individual job satisfaction.

Mentoring can enable one to make necessary adjustments necessary for increased satisfaction. Dissatisfied employees were also reported as having a higher level of burnout. The mentor will help in dealing with the sense of lack of personal accomplishment. The mentor will handle situation in which the members thinks they are doing nothing of value to an organization. Satisfied employees are also likely to be healthier. Job performance is also related to job satisfaction (Spector, 56: 1997)

The mentoring process will ensure that attitude toward services delivery is reoriented and desirable. The mentor should take into account the prevailing feelings about the prevailing working relationships. Mentoring will bring about novel changes in working environment and thus productivity will increase.

Mentoring will enable the employees benefit from an environment where they can be frank and open in discussing the difficulties they are facing. In such a relationship, the employees are motivated towards the objectives and values associated with the organization.

Through mentoring, those given assignment will be able to deliver effectively and even improve leadership behaviors. The employee will hence be accorded the appropriate orientation strategy. As much as most of the employees are not newly employed, the assigned duties requires mentoring, which will affect the employees feelings and perception in a helpful way that will inurn yield job satisfaction and commitment.

Mentoring is useful in that it creates avenues where staff can give feed-back and share information. The mentor should be in a position to understand specific organizational situations. Its will provide an avenue where honest feelings are expressed and not submerged.

The mentor will also enable the employee to explore the opportunities within the organization that allows an employee to employee his diverse knowledge. The mentor will enable the employee play an important role in ensuring the schools objectives are met by increasing the staff motivation. The learning process will take root in that the employees will be able to give feedbacks relevant, practical and specific to the role they are expected to play. Through such interaction, the staff will be motivated to summarize and understand the expectations in line with what the organization is undergoing.

The staff can be able to seek further clarification. In situation which a staff member has had problem handling the students work, the mentor will share such experiences and help the staff member to cope appropriately. The mentor will provide insight into a challenging situation.

The mentor will help the staff member understand the past strategy, the present, and suggestion for future intervention. The mentor will motivate the staff member by encouraging him to move forward and navigate through the new challenges. The mentor will therefore enable the employee to integrate new experiences and learning.

The staff member will be able to make use of the opportunity for what is referred to as reflection in action. In situation in which the staffs provide honest feedback, they will benefit from constructive suggestions that will improve their delivery and morale.

The staff members should be able to benefit from a follow-up action. A mentor will therefore expand the capacity of the staff members by ensuring that competency in delivery is improved. This competence will inurn inspire competence in performance and the staff motivation will increase. The staff members will hence overcome the prevailing and the imagined obstacles hindering services delivery. The mentor should enable the staff members overcome obstacles as they occur. Mentoring will also restore the breached confidence. The staff members will be able to revaluate each situation, which will lead to improved motivation. (Zachary, 2000:142).

The mentor will help shape the perception of the staff member toward the organization. The mentor will enable the staff member to meet the current role challenges and achieve full potential. The mentoring process is a relationship that depends on interaction between two parties.

The mentoring process will be of greater use if the mentor is a person of competence in various fields so as to give insightful feedbacks. The process would also be more useful if the would be mentor understands when to engage or initiate the process, effective management of the relationships and properly manage disengagement process (Clutterbuck et el, 2004: 73).

Through mentoring, the workers are assured of their importance to the organization that in turn yields positive results on their motivation. The staff will feel more involved in decisions involving the organization. The mentor will be able to keep their expectations realistic and promote harmony in the face of new experiences occasioned by budget cut and internal reorganization. The mentor will also enable the employee to stay informed of the outcome of the assignment and this will lead to improvement and increased job satisfaction (Kail: 2007: 438).