Goals
and how we will get there
The EPAC considers
mentoring to be a vital component of career development and enhancement.
A strong, viable mentoring program will not only strengthen the career
potential of our architects and engineers, it is key to developing competent
and confident leaders that will be faced with the public health challenges
of the 21st century. The EPAC developed and implemented a pilot mentoring
program for USPHS architects and engineers in 1996. The pilot program
has been evaluated and modified based on input from the participants.
The revised program is now available to architects and engineers who feel
they would benefit from being a mentor or a protege. The EPAC has
developed the following goals for the Engineer Mentoring Program:
• To foster cross-organizational
communications and share institutional knowledge
• To affirm the
commitment to people and their development at every level of the PHS
• To provide
proteges with the ways and means to promote an enhanced professional
experience and upward mobility within the Public Health Service
• To provide
mentors with an opportunity to develop new skills, and see different viewpoints
These
goals can be achieved through:
Support
and Endorsement of Leadership
The Chief
Engineer and the Office of the Surgeon General fully support a strong mentoring
program
as an effective method of developing a cadre of competent, capable engineers.
Formal
Mentoring Program
Throughout the
year PHS engineers and architects will have an opportunity to apply
as proteges and to volunteer as mentors. Mentor/Protege teams will be selected
based on:
• Personnel
System (Commissioned Corps or Civil Service)
• OPDIV/Agency
• Geographic
Location
• Engineering
Experience and Abilities
• Skills,
Values, Knowledge, and Interests of the Mentors and Proteges
Mentor/Protege
teams will be provided with information on how to achieve a successful
mentor/protege
relationship. OPDIV EPAC members will serve as Mentor-Protege Advisors
to
facilitate
the teams and provide ongoing support and guidance throughout the year.
Everyday
Mentoring Activities
The Mentoring
Program components emphasize how we can make mentoring part of our everyday
activities:
•
Sharing a skill with a coworker
•
Taking time to learn about another person’s situation and provide needed
resources
•
Offering feedback to bolster morale
•
Taking responsibility for mentoring each other and seeking to find what
we need for ourselves
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Mentoring
- what is it?
Mentoring
is:
• Employees helping
each other with job and career enhancement issues.
A
mentor is:
• Someone (an
individual with varied experiences) who can assist another person with
job
and career
issues, because of their commitment to help others as they have been helped.
A
protege is:
• Someone who
is seeking help with career and job issues, who asks that another person
listen and offer information contacts, support – and most importantly,
their own experience
and knowledge.
What
can a mentor offer?
Information
about:
• A new
field or occupation that interests you
• How the
system works, both formally and informally
• Training
that is available and how to get it
• The culture
and values of the organizations you work for
• Their
experience integrating work and personal goals
• Organizational
history
• The broader
perspective on priorities and how things fit together
Contact
with:
• Individuals
inside a group you want to work for
• Individuals
in a particular field
• Professional
organizations
• Books
and other printed resources
• People
who share your interests and concerns
Support
in:
• Coaching
you to develop goals and improve your performance
• Strategizing
about how to promote yourself and your goals
• Advising
impartially about problem situations
• Counseling
you about different options to pursue
• Encouraging
you to persist and set realistic goals
• Giving
you feedback about how you come across
• Criticizing
constructively your goals and ethics
• Identifying
opportunities for visibility when appropriate
• Providing
a role model
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How
the Program Works
Information
and Application
A request for
applications for mentors and proteges is announced in the Chief Engineer’s
News Report and is posted on the PHS Engineers Web Site in the last quarter
of the calendar year. Information on the Mentoring Program goals
and objectives, benefits, administration, procedures, and time line are
also presented. Application to the Mentoring Program can be made
at any time by contacting the EPAC Mentoring Subcommittee. New employees
are informed of the program and encouraged to apply in the EPAC Welcome
Package.
Mentor/Protege
Teams
Applications
are evaluated by the EPAC Mentoring Subcommittee for compatible mentor/protege
matches. The application form provides the proteges an opportunity to identify
the experience and abilities, values, knowledge or interests they desire
in a mentor. Additionally, they articulate their goals in the mentoring
relationship. Mentors respond with corresponding information and
perspectives they would like to share. On that basis, the Subcommittee
proposes matches outside the direct chain of command. Participants
are notified and provided with the necessary materials to begin working
together.
Mentor-Protege
Meetings
Mentor-Protege
teams are encouraged to meet one hour per week. Whenever possible
the team should meet in person. However, highly motivated people
can make a mentoring relationship work using the telephone and e-mail once
the pair has met and established an initial connection. A phone call
or meeting once a month is the minimum meeting frequency to achieve meaningful
results. However, the more the team can meet, the greater the chances
of success.
Mentor/Protege
Contracts
After the first
month of meetings the teams will complete and submit a Mentor/Protege Contract
to the Mentor-Protege Advisor. The purpose of the contract is to
ensure the pair understand their responsibilities as a team, and individually
as mentor and protege. The contract also identifies six month and
one year goals the team has agreed to work towards.
Quarterly
Evaluations
Every three months
the mentor-protege team provides feedback to their Mentor-Protege Advisor. The information provided will help the Mentor-Protege
Advisor guide the team to achieving their goals and give the team the support
needed. The reports are very short and require about 5 minutes to complete.
Program
Evaluations
At the end of
the year, the mentor and protege complete a program evaluation. The
EPAC uses the information from the evaluations to identify how the Engineer
Mentoring Program can be modified to be more effective.
Building
a Mentoring Culture
Although the
program is monitored for only one year, the desired outcome is a mentor-protege
relationship that will last a life time. Engineers and architects
that have served as mentors can continue to participate in subsequent years
by serving as a Mentor-Protege Advisor for a new mentor-protege team.
As the program continues, everyday mentoring will become an integral part
of our career development strategy.
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Engineer
Mentoring Program Ground Rules
Confidentiality
is an important ground rule. What passes between the mentor
and the protege is private unless specific permission is given. The
protege needs to be mindful that the mentor may be passing on insights
and experiences which require confidentiality and discretion. The
mentor needs to be particularly conscious of casual conversations with
people known to both parties. If either party is asked how things
are going, only general answers are appropriate.
The mentor and
the protege’s supervisor may not discuss information revealed during the
mentoring process. While this is just another aspect of confidentiality,
it is particularly important that the protege know that the mentor will
not be passing information back to the supervisor. In an organization
where many mentors and proteges’ supervisors may know each other, discretion
is vital.
The mentor and
protege should try to meet 1 hour a week. It is up to the two people
to design a schedule that works well for them. These meetings can
be over lunch, outside of duty hours, or the individuals might discuss
with their respective supervisors to see if the meetings might be approved
as part of each person’s duties. It is the protege’s responsibility
to set up meetings, and to reschedule as often as necessary. Both
mentor and protege must be committed to meeting in person, or by scheduling
phone calls if they are not at the same duty location. Mentors and
proteges are encouraged to keep in touch by phone calls when face-to-face
meetings are not possible.
Mentors and Proteges
are required to sign and submit their contract within one month of their
first meeting.
Matches will not
be made in the immediate chain of command. This prevents proteges
from being matched with anyone who supervises them, because it would disrupt
the formal lines of authority in the organization.
During the year
of the program, proteges may not apply for jobs where the mentor is the
selecting official, unless they request a change of mentor. The purpose
of the Mentoring Program is to provide information, strategies and skills.
Mentors are asked to serve as counselors and coaches, not advocates who
intervene for their proteges. The program is designed to help people
expand their options, not provide them with favors.
Mentors and Proteges
are required to participate in evaluation of the program.
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