Law - Criminal leadership homework edit

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Mentoring Program Proposal: Peer Mentoring Groups

Natalie Clee

Texas A&M Commerce

Professor Jason Waller

Leadership CBCJ-402

08/15/2024

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Mentoring Program Proposal: Peer Mentoring Groups

A company’s success is greatly determined by the success of individual departments, and

this is by ensuring that employees in the department gain professional development. Hence, I

would like to introduce the idea of establishing a peer mentoring program within our department.

This program is specifically aimed at creating a platform where employees at the same level can

learn from each other. This is because peer mentoring not only fosters the development of the

individual employees but also strengthens group cohesiveness and boosts the overall

performance of the department.

Design of the Mentoring Program

The Peer Mentoring Program will involve groupings of employees where they will be

meeting at fixed intervals to discuss workplace issues as well as offering each other advice and

support. There will be four to six 4-6 members in each group, and the members will be chosen

based on their experience level and specialization. It means that the meetings will be conducted

twice a week, and each session will be devoted to particular topics like leadership,

communication, or problem-solving. There will be an assigned coordinator who will make sure

that meetings are efficient and that members of the program are focused.

Attracting Participants to the Mentoring Program

In order to get people to join the program, a meeting for the entire department will be

held, and the advantages of peer mentoring will be presented. Furthermore, real-life examples of

employees who have benefited from informal peer support in the past will be presented to

support the necessity of such a program (Fortuna et al., 2022). Additionally, internal marketing

will be done through emails, flyers, and posters to create awareness of the program. This

Commented [A1]: Natalie, you had three (3) blank lines at the top of your paper. Make sure to follow proper APA standards. (I have corrected it here in the Word version of my review.)

Commented [A2]: Like you introduction!

Commented [A3]: For numbers ten and below, go ahead and type out the word(s).

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approach will hopefully motivate the employees to participate due to concern with career

development, improvement of skills, and meeting other employees and professionals.

Strategy for Connecting Mentors and Mentees

In this peer mentoring model, participants will be clustered according to their positions,

years of experience, and career aspirations. This strategic grouping will be done using a pre-skill

self-assessment questionnaire that will help in determining the skill level, interests, and learning

gaps of each participant. The coordinator will be able to form groups with equal strength with the

intention of offering different viewpoints and assistance. After the formation of the groups, there

will be an initial session in which they will be presented with the general framework of the

program and the expected behavior of all the participants.

Process for Guiding the Mentoring Relationships

In each of the group’s meetings, the specific mentoring relationships will be informed by

an agenda that will call for individual check-ins, group discussions on the chosen topic, and

planning for the next week. The coordinator has a responsibility to supply the proper materials

and resources required for the group discussions and make sure that all stakeholders are equipped

with the right tools for their growth. Furthermore, the daily meetings will be replaced by weekly

meetings after the first week, where the groups’ progress will be discussed and any new

challenges or conflicts that arise will be dealt with (Hurtado et al., 2024).

Identification of Measures of Success

Some of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will be used to determine the

success of the peer mentoring program include the satisfaction level of the participants, the level

of skills enhanced, and the overall performance changes among the participants. The participants

Commented [A4]: Any thoughts on how to select and possibly “reward” those that step up and serve as mentors? Do your FTOs get paid extra (stipend) or rewarded with extra days off each quarter? Think about adding a sentence or two here to explain how those mentors could be compensated. Also, briefly tell me (in a sentence or more) who will be selecting these mentors and what minimum standards will be used. (I know you are going with “peer mentoring” ”but someone will surely take the lead and then it will morph into more of a double-reverse mentoring program, if successful.)

Commented [A5]: Tell me, in a sentence or so, who will develop or where the assessment will come from. There might be some pre-developed skills assessments out there that you could use and reference (APA styling, of course).

Commented [A6]: Remember, any time we use acronyms, we must first spell those terms/words out. Do not presume your readers know what it stands for.

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will be required to complete questionnaires within the first, third, sixth, and twelfth months of

the program to provide information on their experiences and perceived utility of the program.

Moreover, we will monitor the career advancement of participants, like a promotion or change in

position, as an outcome of the program. Last, the overall effectiveness of the program on the

general performance of the departments, including the ability of the teams to work

collaboratively and solve problems, among other aspects, will be assessed.

Addressing Potential Risks

Some of the dangers that could be associated with such a program may include

participant’s apathy, group tensions, and possibly the program may not address the needs of all

the employees sufficiently. To manage these risks, it will be clearly stated at the beginning of the

sessions what is expected of the participants, and they will be urged to attend the sessions

frequently and engage in the process. In the cases of conflicting situations, the coordinator of the

groups will have to initiate a conversation with the conflicting parties, and if it escalates, they

will have to rearrange the group members to ensure that conflicts do not affect the working

atmosphere (Hendriani, 2020). Moreover, the program is also going to be quite responsive to the

needs of the participants, and changes will be made based on feedback collected at the end of

each session.

Conclusion

The Peer Mentoring Program is one of the most effective and comprehensive solutions to

enhance the professional development of the employees, to promote the culture of learning and

professional growth, and to improve the team climate and collaboration within the department.

Commented [A7]: I like that your program will last more than just a few weeks/months. And in reality, if it works right, it will last even longer (maybe not “officially”), as mentors and mentees continue their relationships for years to come.

Commented [A8]: Natalie, could you give me at least a couple of these ”other aspects” that will be assessed to measure the success(es) of your program? For example, you might think about how the mentoring might improve morale, or job performance (i.e., mentoring someone on some simple as improving their report writing and how it can result in better investigative and prosecutorial outcomes). Another one might be how the mentoring (and this is a big issue in our profession of course) can help reduce turnover and help retention rates of both younger and older officers. These two examples, which you can feel free to use or have others, are easily measurable!

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Through this program, not only are we offering growth to our employees, but also stability and

sustainability to our department.

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References

Fortuna, K. L., Solomon, P., & Rivera, J. (2022). An update of peer support/peer provided

services underlying processes, benefits, and critical ingredients. Psychiatric Quarterly,

93(2), 571-586. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11126-022-09971-w

Hendriani, S. (2020). The influence of emotional intelligence on team performance through

knowledge sharing, team conflict, and the structure mechanism. Journal of Management

Development, 39(3), 269-292.

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JMD-12-2018-0354/full/html

Hurtado, D. A., Boyd, J., Madjlesi, R., Greenspan, S. A., Ezekiel-Herrera, D., Potgieter, G., ... &

Lenhart, A. (2024). The Work-life Check-ins randomized controlled trial: A leader-based

adaptive, semi-structured burnout intervention in primary care clinics. Contemporary

Clinical Trials, 107609.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1551714424001927