As the baby boom generation nears retirement, many Boomers are mentoring their future work replacements$-$Generation Xers. Some Boomers have found the process difficult. William Slater, a $47-$year$-$old computer engineer who participates in his company$$s formal mentoring program, has had negative experiences with three protgs. He recalls that one tried, unsuccessfully, to take his job, while another repeatedly spoke badly about him to his boss. $$I have an ax to grind with Generation X$.$ They$$re stabbing aging Baby Boomers in the back,$$ says Slater.

It is not only Baby Boomers who have had bad experiences. Joel Bershok, a $24$year$-$old, was optimistic about the prospects of having a mentor. However, his mentor dissolved the relationship after only $3$ weeks. Says Bershock: $$He just wanted it for his resume.$$ To Bershok, one of the major problems with a mentoring relationship is a lack of trust. With an uncertain economy and companies making frequent layoff announcements, Boomers are wary of teaching their younger counterparts too much for hear that those counterparts, who usually make less$-$and so cost the company less than Boomers$-$may replace them.

The fear may be justified. For example, Janet Wheeler, a $49-$year$-$old broker, saw her job replaced by two younger workers after her company let her go$.$ Wheeler thinks that other Boomers are beginning to notice the risks of mentoring and are responding by not teaching their protgs as much as they could. $$You see young people being brought along just enough to get the job done, but not so much that they$$ll take your job,$$ she states.

Given that some studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of mentoring on employee outcomes such as performance, job satisfaction, and employee retention, many analysts are concerned that Baby Boomers are failing to see mentoring as a responsibility. According to a study by Menttium Corporation, a firm that aids companies in installing mentoring relationships end prematurely. The primary reasons include poor matching of mentors to protgs and a lack of effort to keep the relationship going.

But some workers have strongly benefited from mentoring programs and are trying to maintain mentoring programs in their companies. Three years after joining Dell, Lynn Tyson, $41,$ helped start a formal mentoring program open to all of Dell$$s $42,000$ employees. $$I never had a formal mentor in my entire career. Most of the time I was shaking in my shoes,$$ says Tyson. Her program has been successful so far$-$and she mentors $40$ protgs. $$I$$m not trying to make this sound sappy, but I have the ability to make a difference in somebody$$s career, and that excites me every day.$$ The benefits are especially apparent for women and minorities who, historically, have had greater difficulty than white males in climbing to top management positions. According to a study by Harvard University professor David A$.$ Thomas, the most successful racial minorities at three different corporations had a strong network of mentors. In addition, research has shown that women also benefit from having positive mentoring experiences in that they have greater career success and career satisfaction.

With the right amount of effort, protgs, mentors, and the companies that sponsor such relationships can realize the companies that sponsor such relationships can realize tremendous benefits. However, individuals in mentoring relationships may need to look past generational and other individual differences to achieve such benefits. Though Slater has had his share of bad mentoring experiences, he is still optimistic. $$Mentoring is a time$-$honored concept. Those of us who$$ve been mentored should mentor others. Otherwise, we$$ve short$-$circuited the process and the future,$$ he says.

Discussion Questions.

$1.$ What factors do you believe lead to successful mentoring programs? If you were designing a mentoring program, what might it look like?

$2.$ What types of leaders, interms of personality traits and behavioral tendencies, would most likely be good mentors? What types of leaders might be poor mentors?