The University of New Mexico

New Employee Mentoring Program

Mission

The mission of the New Employee Mentoring Program is to enhance the employee experience within the Division of Student Affairs at the University of New Mexico.

Objectives

  1. To assist full-time, professional new staff members with the transition to the University of New Mexico by creating formal mentoring relationships with established professionals within the Division of Student Affairs.
  2. To give established professionals an opportunity to share knowledge and experience with new professionals while gaining new insights and fresh perspectives.
  3. To increase collaboration and professional networking among units of the Division of Student Affairs.

Benefits

We believe that there will be significant benefits for the mentor, mentee, the division and the university as a whole upon implementation of this program.

Benefits for the Mentor:

  • Satisfaction gained from helping others (Cooper, 1998)
  • Share experiences and knowledge
  • Gain new and fresh perspectives from the mentee
  • Increased exposure within the division
  • Opportunity to be a part of improving the employment experience at UNM

Benefits for the Mentee:

  • Opportunity to develop a significant professional relationship (Cooper, 1998)
  • Develop a professional relationship with someone outside of their immediate unit
  • Ability to learn about other units within the division
  • Reduced role ambiguity (Blackhurst, 2000)
  • Opportunities to learn about culture and norms of the division

Benefits to the Division and the University:

  • Builds a positive organizational climate (Cooper, 1998)
  • Builds a pool of ready talent (Cooper, 1998)
  • Increased retention and job satisfaction of new and existing employees
  • Fringe benefit to help attract top employment candidates

Limitations

Creating a division wide mentoring program is not going to address every challenge that new employees face at UNM.  We recognized that there will still be employee turnover and that not all new employees will transition smoothly.  The mentor is not soley responsible for the successful transition of new employees within the division but rather serves as a resource to help assist in that transition.  We also recognize that mentor/mentee matches may not be ideal or good fits.  We have implemented a 6 month review to give mentors and mentees the opportunity to address their concerns and possibly find a match that is a better fit. Finally, we believe that this program can only be successful if it is optional for new employees. Like our student body, the employees within Student Affairs are incredibly diverse and so are their specific needs. We hope that the program will be attractive to all new hires, but acknowledge that it will not be ideal for everyone.