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DOI: 10.1177/1059601109334027 Mar 29, 2009;

2009; 34; 358 originally published onlineGroup Organization ManagementElizabeth Lentz and Tammy D. Allen

PhenomenonThe Role of Mentoring Others in the Career Plateauing

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358

Group & Organization Management

Volume 34 Number 3June 2009 358-384

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Authors’ Note: Please address correspondence to Elizabeth Lentz, Personnel Decisions Research Institutes, 100 South Ashley Drive, Suite 375, Tampa, FL 33602; e-mail: [email protected].

The Role of Mentoring Others in the Career Plateauing PhenomenonElizabeth LentzPersonnel Decisions Research Institutes, Tampa, FloridaTammy D. AllenUniversity of South Florida

The purpose of the present study is to investigate relationships between mentoring others, perceptions of career plateauing, and job attitudes. A total of 306 government employees located in the southeastern United States completed surveys (50.08% response rate). Of these, 110 reported experi-ence as a mentor. As expected, the results indicated that mentoring others was associated with more favorable job attitudes, whereas greater job content and hierarchical plateauing was associated with less favorable job attitudes. The results provided mixed support that mentoring others may alleviate the negative consequences associated with career plateauing. Specifically, the results indicated that mentor experience and psychosocial mentoring moderated the relationship for job content plateauing. Similar relationships were not found for hierarchical plateauing. Implications and future research suggestions are provided.

Keywords: mentoring; mentor; mentor experience; mentor benefits; career plateau; job satisfaction; organizational commitment; turnover intentions

Career scholars have been studying the topics of mentoring and career plateauing for several decades. Research generally shows that mentor-

ing is associated with positive outcomes, whereas career plateauing is associated with negative outcomes (see Greenhaus, 2002, for a review). However, the positive outcomes associated with mentoring others have primarily been investigated for those who are mentored versus those who



Lentz, Allen / Mentoring Others in Career Plateauing 359

mentor others (see T. D. Allen, Eby, Poteet, Lentz, & Lima, 2004, for a review). Additionally, mentoring and plateauing have rarely been studied together. This is surprising given that one benefit often attributed to men-toring others is that it can buffer the negative consequences associated with plateauing (e.g., Chao, 1990; Greenhaus, Callanan, & Godshalk, 2000; Slocum, Cron, Hansen, & Rawlings, 1985).

The purpose of the present study is to address this gap in the careers literature by investigating relationships between mentoring others, percep-tions of career plateauing, and several commonly studied job attitudes. Specifically, our study had three main objectives. One was to determine if mentoring others demonstrated a similar positive relationship with job atti-tudes as is found in research regarding protégés. The second was to repli-cate previous research regarding perceptions of career plateauing and job attitudes. The third was to investigate if mentoring others moderated the relationship between perceptions of career plateauing and job attitudes. The job attitudes investigated were job satisfaction, affective organizational commitment, and turnover intentions.

Mentoring

The mentoring relationship can be defined as an interpersonal experience between a junior and a senior employee, in which the senior employee (mentor) supports, guides, and orients the junior employee (protégé) to the various tasks, functions, and culture within the organization (Kram, 1985). Kram noted that mentors provide two primary functions to protégés in the relationship. Career-related mentoring focuses on the advancement of the protégé, including spon-sorship, exposure, coaching, protection, and the provision of challenging assignments. Psychosocial mentoring focuses on instilling a sense of compe-tence and identity in the protégé and includes role modeling, acceptance, and friendship (Kram, 1985).

Since Kram’s (1985) seminal work on mentoring in organizational settings, mentoring has been a popular topic within the careers literature. Although Kram noted that both members of a mentorship accrue develop-mental rewards, the majority of mentoring literature has focused on per-ceived benefits and outcomes for the protégé (see Wanberg, Welsh, & Hezlett, 2003, for a more comprehensive review). However, there is also a growing body of literature that suggests that mentors benefit from mentor-ing others (see T. D. Allen, 2007, for a review). For example, T. D. Allen, Poteet, and Burroughs (1997) identified four higher-order factors of



360 Group & Organization Management

positive benefits for mentors, including building support networks, self-satisfaction, and self-focused and other-focused job-related benefits. Similarly, Ragins and Scandura (1999) reported five categories of benefits that included rewarding experience, job performance, loyal base of support, recognition by others, and generativity.

Recently, two studies have examined the relationship between mentor experience and career outcomes. T. D. Allen, Lentz, and Day (2006) found that individuals with mentoring experience report higher current salary, greater rate of promotion, and higher perceptions of career success than indi-viduals with no experience as a mentor. These findings were significant after accounting for numerous variables commonly associated with career success (e.g., demographics, education, hours worked). Similarly, Bozionelos (2004) found that individuals who report providing more mentoring also report higher levels of subjective career success and more promotions.

Despite these recent advances, we know little regarding why mentoring enhances job attitudes or career outcomes. One conceptualization sug-gests that mentoring relationships operate as mutual learning exchange relationships, with protégés and mentors acting as colearners and recipi-ents of development-related outcomes (e.g., Kram & Hall, 1996). Thus, involvement in a mentoring relationship may relate to proximal outcomes such as relational job learning (Lankau & Scandura, 2002) and subse-quently more distal outcomes such as work-related attitudes. Recently, Ramaswami and Dreher (2007) developed a model of the benefits of men-toring others that recognizes that mentoring others can lead to individual cognitive and affective responses such as emotional attachment, increased mental energy, and reinforcement of one’s professional identity, which can in turn lead to career and positive individual outcomes. Hence, it seems likely that mentoring others increases positive affect, which enhances employee job attitudes.

Lease (1998) reviewed the literature pertaining to work attitudes and identified job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover inten-tions as key constructs in organizational models. Moreover, these variables seem appropriate for investigation from the mentor perspective in the context of career plateauing. Mentoring experience can be assessed in two ways. First, mentors and nonmentors can be compared in relation to out-come measures. Second, the amount of career-related and psychosocial mentoring provided by mentors can be correlated with outcomes. For the present study, both types of mentoring experience were investigated and the following hypotheses were proposed:




Hypothesis 1a: Mentors will report greater job satisfaction and more affec-tive organizational commitment than will nonmentors.

Hypothesis 1b: Mentors will report lower intentions to turnover than will nonmentors.

Hypothesis 2a: Career and psychosocial mentoring will positively relate to job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment.

Hypothesis 2b: Career and psychosocial mentoring will negatively relate to intentions to turnover.

Career Plateauing

A plateau was initially defined as a point where the likelihood of addi-tional hierarchical promotion was low (Ference, Stoner, & Warren, 1977). Since then, two major changes significantly affected plateauing research. First, research expanded to consider plateauing from more than a hierarchi-cal or promotional perspective. Bardwick (1986) extended the definition to include both hierarchical and job content plateauing. Hierarchical (struc-tural) plateauing results when an individual’s vertical movement within an organization declines. On the other hand, job content plateauing refers to the lack of challenge, decrease in responsibilities, and overall staleness of the job itself. There have also been significant changes with regard to the measurement of plateauing. Chao (1990) highlighted the importance of examining perceptions of career plateauing rather than focusing exclu-sively on somewhat arbitrary objective measures of plateau such as age, job tenure, or frequency of promotion. Furthermore, Chao recommended treated plateauing as a continuum by assessing the career event in terms of degree or magnitude.

Subsequent research has been generally supportive of these changes to the plateauing construct. Chao (1990) found that perceptions of plateau were negatively related to intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction, career planning, and organizational identification and contributed unique vari-ance beyond job tenure. Another study found that subjective plateau mea-sures were able to explain 12% of variance in job attitudes, compared with only 1% explained by objective measures (Tremblay, Roger, & Toulouse, 1995). Using a continuous measure to examine perceptions of job content and hierarchical plateauing, T. D. Allen, Poteet, and Russell (1998) explored differences across nonplateaued, job content plateaued, hierar-chically plateaued, and both job content and hierarchically plateaued managers. Results suggested that “double” plateaued managers (those both job content and hierarchical plateaued) reported less favorable job




attitudes, including less job involvement, lower levels of commitment, and lower levels of job satisfaction, than did managers who were either job content or hierarchically plateaued. With regard to only being hierarchically plateaued or job content plateaued, results indicated that managers who were job content plateaued reported less favorable job attitudes than did hierarchically plateaued managers. Taken together, these findings are generally supportive of examining career plateauing as a continuous, subjective multidimensional construct.

For the most part, career plateauing has been perceived as a negative career event. For example, research suggests plateauing is related to negative work-related consequences such as lower levels of job satisfac-tion (T. D. Allen et al., 1998; Burke, 1989; Burke & Mikkelsen, 2006; Chao, 1990; Lee, 2003), less organizational commitment (T. D. Allen et al., 1998; Stout, Slocum, & Cron, 1988), and greater turnover inten-tions (T. D. Allen et al., 1998; Burke, 1989; Burke & Mikkelsen, 2006; Heilmann, Holt, & Rilovick, 2008; Stout et al., 1988). Consistent with current recommendations, the present study examines the relationships between career plateauing and these work-related attitudes using subjec-tive, continuous, multidimensional measures of plateauing. Accordingly, the following hypotheses were proposed:

Hypothesis 3a: Perceptions of career plateauing (hierarchical and job con-tent) will negatively relate to job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment.

Hypothesis 3b: Perceptions of career plateauing (hierarchical and job con-tent) will positively relate to intent to turnover.

Integration of Mentoring and Career Plateauing Research

Theoretical support for linking mentoring and plateauing comes from the career and life-stage literature. Specifically, Levinson describes the midlife transition as a period of change and reappraisal (Levinson, Darrow, Klein, Levinson, & McKee, 1978). It is a time of doubt and questions about the contributions one has made throughout the first half of the jour-ney of life. “He may gain in seniority or in small advantages, but he has almost no prospects for major advance or for creative fulfillment in the job” (p. 203). These characteristics parallel that of hierarchical and job content plateauing. Additionally, a need arises to pass on a legacy. It is this




legacy that fosters adult development and serves the purpose of enrich-ment and personal fulfillment. As Levinson suggests, it is a time to give up one’s mentor and the role of a protégé, in favor of becoming a mentor yourself. In sum, midlife transition can mark a career plateau for many individuals, but mentoring others can be an effective solution and coping mechanism that revitalizes and redirects one’s knowledge and focus.

Some research has been devoted to identifying potential coping mecha-nisms that may reduce the negative consequences associated with plateau-ing. Rotondo and Perrewe (2000) advocate employers providing career enrichment and psychological growth to plateaued employees. Specifically, they explored mentoring as a coping response to career plateauing. Results indicated that mentoring was associated with higher levels of satisfaction, commitment, and performance among plateaued employees. However, the focus of the study was not on the moderating role of mentoring but rather on mentoring as one of many coping responses (e.g., expanding job assign-ments) to plateauing. Moreover, mentoring was measured by one item stat-ing, “I have tried to become a mentor to younger employees,” which was only answered by employees identified as plateaued. Although these results are supportive of mentoring as a coping response, additional research is warranted.

Based on research examining mentoring as a positive response to plateauing and Levinson’s life cycle theory, we predicted that mentoring others would moderate the relationship between plateauing and work-related attitudes. When comparing mentors and nonmentors, it was expected that these relationships would be significant at only one level of the mod-erator. Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Ahearne, and Bommer (1995) suggest that the nature of this type of interaction could imply that employees should engage in mentoring relationships, regardless of plateauing, because partici-pating in mentoring will never hurt an employee but not mentoring others may be harmful.

Hypothesis 4a: Mentor experience will moderate the relationship between perceptions of plateauing and job attitudes. The relationship between mentoring and job attitudes will be significant for employees who do not have mentor experience but will not be significant for employees who do have mentor experience.

When comparing the levels of career and psychosocial mentoring pro-vided by mentors, it was expected that these relationships would be signi-ficant at both levels of the moderator. Lower levels of mentoring provided were expected to be associated with a stronger relationship between




plateauing and job attitudes than were higher levels of mentoring provided when mentors reported higher levels of career plateauing. The relationship was not expected to be as strong when mentors reported lower levels of career plateau. Podsakoff et al. (1995) suggest that the nature of this moderating effect may imply that the level of mentoring provided may weaken the negative impact for mentors experiencing higher levels of career plateau. The effect of mentoring provided may not be as strong for lower levels of career plateau.

Hypothesis 4b: Career mentoring will moderate the relationship between perceptions of plateauing and job attitudes. The relationship will be stron-ger for lower levels of career mentoring than for higher levels of career mentoring, indicating that career mentoring mitigates the effects of pla-teauing.

Hypothesis 4c: Psychosocial mentoring will moderate the relationship between perceptions of plateauing and job attitudes. The relationship will be stronger for lower levels of psychosocial mentoring than higher levels of psychosocial mentoring, indicating that psychosocial mentoring miti-gates the effects of plateauing.

Method

Participants and Procedure

The sample consisted of 306 government employees (50.08% response rate). The majority of respondents were women (76.3%) and Caucasian/White (85.7%). The mean age was 43.06 years (SD = 11.69), and the median education level was some college coursework completed. The aver-age job tenure was 5.74 years (SD = 6.04), and the average organizational tenure was 8.57 years (SD = 7.28). The entire sample included a vast range of job titles such as engineering manager, planner, and building inspector. The organizational levels included staff (77.4%), first-line supervisors (10.4%), middle management (6.1%), and senior management (6.1%).

Of those who responded, 110 reported experience as a mentor and 196 reported no experience as a mentor. For the mentor sample, 64.5% were women, 92.5% were Caucasian/White, and the mean age was 46.82 years (SD = 10.61). The median education level was a 2-year college degree, and approximately half of the mentor sample currently held a management position (47.2%). The average job and organizational tenure for mentors was 6.89 years (SD = 7.03) and 10.57 years (SD = 7.62), respectively. For




the nonmentor sample, 83% were women, 81.9% were Caucasian/White, and the mean age was 40.86 years (SD = 11.76). The median education level for the nonmentor sample was some college coursework completed, and the majority currently held staff/nonmanagement positions (88.6%). For nonmentors, the average job tenure was 5.06 years (SD = 5.27), and the average organizational tenure was 7.40 years (SD = 6.83).

A total of 611 government employees in the southeastern United States were invited to participate. Data collection began with an information e-mail sent via a global office listserver. Approximately 1 week following the information e-mail, participants were e-mailed the link to the online questionnaire. Participants were asked to submit their responses online dur-ing a 2-week timeline. Approximately 1 week after the survey was distrib-uted, a reminder e-mail was sent. Several employees requested a paper version (N = 47).

To protect the anonymity and confidentiality of participants, a human resource staff member distributed the e-mails and paper versions of the survey. The online survey was hosted on a secure server by a reputable survey software program. Potentially identifying information, such as IP addresses, was deleted from the database. Only information obtained voluntarily from participant responses was stored in a secure database for data analyses.

Measures

With the exception of the mentor experience measure, each of the following measures was based on 5-point Likert scale that ranged from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. For each scale, higher scores indi-cated greater degree of the measured construct (e.g., more mentoring pro-vided, greater perceptions of career plateau, higher levels of job attitudes).

Mentor experience. Based on T. D. Allen (2003), the following question was used to screen for mentoring experience:

In your present job, is there an individual in the organization who you have taken a personal interest in; who you have guided, sponsored, or otherwise had a positive and significant influence on their professional career develop-ment? In other words, have you ever been a mentor?

Following the mentoring definition, the participant was asked to indicate “yes” or “no.” Mentor experience was coded as “no” = 0 (nonmentor) and “yes” = 1 (mentor). Additionally, mentors were asked to provide the dates




of their mentorships. These dates were used to ensure that the mentor expe-rience was based on a current or recent relationship.

Mentoring provided. Career and psychosocial mentoring were assessed by Noe’s (1988) mentoring measure. Items were modified to reflect the mentor’s perspective. Participants who indicated having experience as a mentor were instructed to respond based on their current or most recent mentoring relationship. Seven items assessed career-related mentoring (e.g., “As a mentor, I encourage my protégé to prepare for advancement”; α = .73). Fourteen items assessed psychosocial mentoring (e.g., “As a men-tor, I have shared personal experiences as an alternative perspective to my protégé’s problems”; α = .85).

Perceptions of career plateau. Plateauing was measured as a continuous, subjective, multidimensional construct. Six items from Milliman (1992) were used to assess job content plateauing (e.g., “I have an opportunity to learn and grow a lot in my current job”; α = .81). Six items from Milliman (1992) were used to measure hierarchical plateauing (e.g., “I expect to advance to a higher level in my company in the near future”; α = .89).

Job satisfaction. Three items from the Michigan Organizational Assess-ment Questionnaire (Cammann, Fichman, Jenkins, & Klesh, 1979) were used to measure job satisfaction (e.g., “In general, I like working here”; α = .82).

Affective organizational commitment. Organizational commitment was measured with N. J. Allen and Meyer’s (1990) 8-item affective commit-ment scale (e.g., “I really feel as if this organization’s problems are my own”; α = .85).

Intent to turnover. Four items were developed to measure intentions to leave the organization (e.g., “I am currently looking for another organiza-tion to work for”; α = .88).

Demographic and control variables. Demographic items included infor-mation regarding age, gender, ethnicity, education level, organizational level, and tenure. Previous research has presented evidence that several of these variables affect either the mentoring relationship or career plateauing (e.g., Burke & McKeen, 1997; Ragins & Cotton, 1999; Slocum et al., 1985; Stout et al., 1988). Therefore, gender, race, age, organizational level, and




organizational tenure were considered as potential control variables in the moderator analyses.

Results

Means, standard deviations, and correlations are presented in Table 1. Hypotheses 1, 2, and 3 were tested by zero-order correlation coefficients. Hypothesis 1a predicted that mentors would report greater job satisfaction and more affective commitment than would nonmentors. Results indicated a positive relationship between mentoring experience and job satisfaction (r = .14; p < .05) and organizational commitment (r = .14; p < 05). Hypothesis 1b predicted that mentors would report lower intentions to turnover than nonmentors. Results indicated a significant negative relation-ship between mentoring experience and turnover intentions (r = −.11; p < .05). Therefore, Hypotheses 1a and 1b received full support.

Hypotheses 2a and 2b predicted that mentoring provided would relate positively to mentor job satisfaction and affective commitment. Neither career nor psychosocial mentoring was related to job satisfaction or com-mitment. Thus, Hypothesis 2a was not supported. Hypothesis 2b predicted that career and psychosocial mentoring would negatively relate to mentor turnover intentions. Career mentoring related to turnover intentions but in the opposite direction to that hypothesized (r = .24; p < .05). That is, greater career mentoring was associated with greater intentions to leave the orga-nization. Psychosocial mentoring was not related to turnover intentions. Therefore, Hypothesis 2b was not supported.

Hypotheses 3a predicted a negative relationship between plateauing and job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Results indicated that job content plateauing negatively related to job satisfaction (r = −.48; p < .01) and to commitment (r = −.47; p < .01). Hierarchical plateauing related to job satisfaction (r = −.27; p < .01) and to organizational commitment (r = −.26; p < .01). Hypothesis 3b predicted a positive relationship between perceptions of plateauing and intent to turnover. Job content plateauing (r = .40; p < .01) and hierarchical plateauing (r = .27; p < .01) both posi-tively related to turnover intentions. Therefore, Hypotheses 3a and 3b received full support.

The interactions proposed in Hypotheses 4a, 4b, and 4c were tested with multiple regression analyses. The difficulty associated with detecting mod-erators using multiple regression in field studies has been well documented (e.g., Aguinis, Beaty, Boik, & Pierce, 2005). Moderator effects in field



Tab

le 1

Mea

ns, S

tand

ard

Dev

iati

ons,

and

Int

erco

rrel

atio

ns A

mon

g St

udy

Var

iabl

es

Var

iabl

eM

ean

SD1

23

45

67

8

1. M

ento

r ex

peri

ence

0.

360.

48—

2. C

aree

r m

ento

ring

3.80

0.52

——

3. P

sych

osoc

ial m

ento

ring

4.02

0.44

—.4

2**

—

4. J

ob c

onte

nt p

late

au2.

450.

76−.

25**

−.23

*−.

23*

—

5. H

iera

rchi

cal p

late

au3.

590.

91−.

02−.

05−.

01.3

2**

—

6. J

ob s

atis

fact

ion

4.11

0.67

.14*

.13

.09

−.48

**−.

27**

—

7. A

ffec

tive

com

mit

men

t3.

470.

74.1

4*.0

2.1

2−.

47**

−.26

**.7

0**

—

8. I

nten

t to

turn

over

1.83

0.84

−.11

*.2

4*.1

4.4

0**

.27*

*−.

72**

−.65

**—

Not

e: N

ran

ged

from

99

to 3

06. M

ento

r ex

peri

ence

: 0 =

no,

1 =

yes

.*p

< .0

5. *

*p <

.01.

368




studies, contrasted with experimental studies, have lower statistical power and a less efficient parameter estimate, in addition to problems with mea-surement error. For these reasons, we examined marginal alphas (e.g., p = .06) as significant relationships. Inclusion of these marginal alphas seem further justified based on the theoretical support for the proposed interac-tions rather than mere data mining. If the interaction term was significant, procedures recommended by Aiken and West (1991) for plotting interaction effects were employed.

Hypothesis 4a proposed mentoring experience would moderate the relationship between career plateauing and job attitudes. For each analy-sis, control variables were entered at Step 1. At Step 2, mentoring experi-ence and career plateauing were entered. At Step 3, the interaction term was entered. Regression results are presented in Table 2. As predicted, mentor experience moderated the relationship between job content pla-teauing and job satisfaction (β = .49; p = .06) and between job content plateauing and turnover intentions (β = −.48; p = .07). Although the research design does not allow for the causal order of the relationship, the interactions provide support for the proposed relationships. Specifically, the findings indicate that as perceptions of job content plateauing increase, mentors report higher levels of job satisfaction (Figure 1) and lower inten-tions to leave the organization (Figure 2) than do nonmentors. The mentor experience by job content plateauing interaction was not significant for affective commitment. For hierarchical plateauing, the interactions with mentor experience were not significant. Overall, Hypothesis 4a received minimal support.

Hypothesis 4b proposed that career mentoring would moderate the rela-tionship between career plateauing and job satisfaction, affective commit-ment, and turnover intentions. Control variables were entered at Step 1. At Step 2, career mentoring and plateauing variables were entered. At Step 3, the career mentoring and plateauing interaction term was entered. Results did not provide support for the career mentoring interaction with both job content plateauing and hierarchical plateauing (Table 3). Therefore, Hypothesis 4b was not supported.

Hypothesis 4c proposed that psychosocial mentoring would moderate the relationship between career plateauing and job attitudes. Control variables were entered at Step 1. At Step 2, psychosocial mentoring provided and plateauing variables were entered. At Step 3, the psychosocial mentoring and plateauing interaction term was entered. For job content plateauing, all three interactions were significant (Table 4). As expected, psychosocial mentoring moderated the relation-ship between job content plateauing and job satisfaction (β = 3.41; p < .01),



370

Tab

le 2

Men

tor

Exp

erie

nce

as M

oder

ator

of

Rel

atio

nshi

ps B

etw

een

Car

eer

Pla

teau

ing

and

Job

Att

itud

es

D

epen

dent

Var

iabl

es

Jo

b S

atis

fact

ion

Com

mit

men

t In

tent

to T

urno

ver

Pre

dict

or

β∆R

2 R

2 β

∆R2

R2

β∆R

2 R

2

Job

cont

ent p

late

au

S

tep

1

.0

9

.1

7

.1

3

Gen

der

.05

.05

−.06

A

ge

.10

.06

−.03

R

ace

−.09

−.

17*

.24*

*

O

rgan

izat

iona

l lev

el

.07

.12

−.06

O

rgan

izat

iona

l ten

ure

.11

.15*

−.

09

Ste

p 2

.1

5**

.24

.1

5**

.32

.1

1**

.23

M

ento

r ex

peri

ence

−.

52a

−.13

.4

7

J

ob c

onte

nt p

late

au

−.46

**

−.43

**

.39*

*

S

tep

3

.01a

.26

.0

0 .3

2

.01b

.25

M

ento

ring

exp

erie

nce

.49a

.11

−.48

b

by

job

cont

ent p

late

au

F

= 8

.15*

* F

= 1

1.31

**

F =

7.8

0**

Hie

rarc

hica

l pla

teau

Ste

p 1

.09

.17

.13

G

ende

r .0

7

.0

8

−.

08

(con

tinu

ed)



Tab

le 2

(co

ntin

ued)

D

epen

dent

Var

iabl

es

Jo

b S

atis

fact

ion

Com

mit

men

t In

tent

to T

urno

ver

Pre

dict

or

β∆R

2 R

2 β

∆R2

R2

β∆R

2 R

2

A

ge

.18*

.1

3

−.

13

Rac

e −.

13b

−.21

**

.28*

*

O

rgan

izat

iona

l lev

el

.12

.21*

*

−.

09

Org

aniz

atio

nal t

enur

e .1

3

.1

7*

−.14

b

S

tep

2

.12*

* .2

1

.11*

* .2

7

.15*

* .2

7

Men

tor

expe

rien

ce

−.10

.0

5

.2

1

H

iera

rchi

cal p

late

au

−.39

**

−.34

**

.45*

*

S

tep

3

.00

.21

.0

0 .2

7

.00

.28

M

ento

ring

exp

erie

nce

.14

−.01

−.

27

by h

iera

rchi

cal p

late

au

F

= 6

.45*

* F

= 9

.00*

* F

= 9

.18*

*

Not

e: G

ende

r w

as c

oded

as

1 =

mal

e; 2

= fe

mal

e. R

ace

was

cod

ed a

s 1

= n

onm

inor

ity;

2 =

min

orit

y. β

s ar

e st

anda

rdiz

ed r

egre

ssio

n w

eigh

ts f

rom

the

fina

l equ

atio

n; F

s ar

e ov

eral

l F f

rom

the

fina

l equ

atio

n.a.

Mar

gina

l sig

nifi

canc

e p

= .0

6.b.

Mar

gina

l sig

nifi

canc

e p

= .0

7.*p

< .0

5. *

*p <

.01.

371




affective commitment (β = 2.35; p < .05), and turnover intentions (β = −2.93; p < .05). Again, although there is a possibility of reverse causality, these findings support the proposed relationships. More specifically, as job content plateauing increases, mentors providing more psychosocial mentoring report higher levels of job satisfaction (Figure 3), greater organizational commitment (Figure 4), and

3.25

3.5

3.75

4

4.25

Low High

Job Content Plateau

Job

Sat

isfa

ctio

n

Non-mentor

Mentor

Figure 1Interaction of Mentor Experience and Job Content

Plateauing for Job Satisfaction

1

1.25

1.5

1.75

2

Low High

Job Content Plateau

Inte

nt

to T

urn

ove

r

Non-mentor

Mentor

Figure 2Interaction of Mentor Experience and Job Content

Plateau for Turnover Intentions



Tab

le 3

Car

eer

Men

tori

ng a

s M

oder

ator

of

Rel

atio

nshi

ps B

etw

een

Car

eer

Pla

teau

ing

and

Job

Att

itud

es

D

epen

dent

Var

iabl

es

Jo

b S

atis

fact

ion

Com

mit

men

t In

tent

to T

urno

ver

Pre

dict

or

β∆R

2 R

2 β

∆R2

R2

β∆R

2 R

2

Job

cont

ent p

late

au

S

tep

1

.0

6

.1

7

.0

7

Gen

der

−.15

−.

08

.09

Age

−.

06

−.07

−.

01

Rac

e −.

11

−.24

a

.1

7

O

rgan

izat

iona

l lev

el

.13

.08

−.13

O

rgan

izat

iona

l ten

ure

.04

.29a

−.10

S

tep

2

.01

.07

.0

5 .2

2

.03

.10

C

aree

r m

ento

ring

.6

0

−.

09

.01

Job

con

tent

pla

teau

.8

2

−.

40

−.23

S

tep

3

.01

.08

.0

0 .2

2

.00

.10

C

aree

r m

ento

ring

by

−.93

.1

4

.3

2

jo

b co

nten

t pla

teau

F

= 0

.65

F =

1.9

9b F

= 0

.77

Hie

rarc

hica

l pla

teau

Ste

p 1

.06

.17

.07

G

ende

r −.

08

−.01

.0

3

(con

tinu

ed)

373



Tab

le 3

(co

ntin

ued)

D

epen

dent

Var

iabl

es

Jo

b S

atis

fact

ion

Com

mit

men

t In

tent

to T

urno

ver

Pre

dict

or

β∆R

2 R

2 β

∆R2

R2

β∆R

2 R

2

A

ge

.04

−.03

−.

09

Rac

e −.

16

−.31

*

.2

2

O

rgan

izat

iona

l lev

el

.11

.12

−.12

O

rgan

izat

iona

l ten

ure

.15

.40*

*

−.

21

Ste

p 2

.1

1*

.17

.1

3**

.30

.1

2*

.19

C

aree

r m

ento

ring

−.

10

−.52

.3

5

H

iera

rchi

cal p

late

au

−.73

−1

.40

.69

Ste

p 3

.0

0 .1

7

.02

.31

.0

0 .1

9

Car

eer

men

tori

ng b

y .4

5

1.

20

−.41

hi

erar

chic

al p

late

au

F =

1.4

4 F

= 3

.17*

* F

= 1

.65

Not

e: G

ende

r w

as c

oded

as

1 =

mal

e; 2

= fe

mal

e. R

ace

was

cod

ed a

s 1

= n

onm

inor

ity;

2 =

min

orit

y. β

s ar

e st

anda

rdiz

ed r

egre

ssio

n w

eigh

ts f

rom

the

fina

l equ

atio

n; F

s ar

e ov

eral

l F f

rom

the

fina

l equ

atio

n.a.

Mar

gina

l sig

nifi

canc

e p

= .0

6.b.

Mar

gina

l sig

nifi

canc

e p

= .0

7.*p

< .0

5. *

*p <

.01.

374



Tab

le 4

Psy

chos

ocia

l Men

tori

ng a

s M

oder

ator

of

Rel

atio

nshi

ps B

etw

een

Car

eer

Pla

teau

ing

and

Job

Att

itud

es

D

epen

dent

Var

iabl

es

Jo

b S

atis

fact

ion

Com

mit

men

t In

tent

to T

urno

ver

Pre

dict

or

β∆R

2 R

2 β

∆R2

R2

β∆R

2 R

2

Job

cont

ent p

late

au

S

tep

1

.0

6

.1

7

.0

7

Gen

der

−.15

−.

10

.07

Age

.0

8

−.

01

−.07

R

ace

−.04

−.

19

.06

Org

aniz

atio

nal l

evel

.1

0

.0

4

−.

02

Org

aniz

atio

nal t

enur

e .0

0

.2

8a

−.

09

Ste

p 2

.0

1 .0

7

.06

.22

.0

2 .0

9

Psy

chos

ocia

l −1

.26*

−.

89a

1.28

*

J

ob c

onte

nt p

late

au

−3.4

8**

−2.6

1*

3.02

*

S

tep

3

.12*

* .1

9

.06*

.2

8

.09*

.1

7

Psy

chos

ocia

l by

job

3.41

**

2.35

*

−2

.93*

co

nten

t pla

teau

F

= 1

.65

F =

2.6

9*

F =

1.4

7H

iera

rchi

cal p

late

au

S

tep

1

.0

6

.1

7

.0

7

(con

tinu

ed)

375



Tabl

e 4

(con

tinu

ed)

D

epen

dent

Var

iabl

es

Jo

b S

atis

fact

ion

Com

mit

men

t In

tent

to T

urno

ver

Pre

dict

or

β∆R

2 R

2 β

∆R2

R2

β∆R

2 R

2

A

ge

.02

−.01

−.

03

Rac

e −.

25

−.29

*

.2

2

O

rgan

izat

iona

l lev

el

.23

.10

−.11

O

rgan

izat

iona

l ten

ure

.11

.41*

*

−.

20

Ste

p 2

.1

1*

.17

.1

4**

.30

.1

0*

.17

P

sych

osoc

ial

.95

−.58

−.

30

Hie

rarc

hica

l pla

teau

1.

67

−2.1

4

−.

60

Ste

p 3

.0

2 .1

9

.02

.32

.0

1 .1

8

Psy

chos

ocia

l by

−2.2

6

1.

89

1.05

hi

erar

chic

al p

late

au

F

= 1

.67

F =

3.2

9**

F =

1.5

1

Not

e: G

ende

r w

as c

oded

as

1 =

mal

e; 2

= fe

mal

e. R

ace

was

cod

ed a

s 1

= n

onm

inor

ity;

2 =

min

orit

y. β

s ar

e st

anda

rdiz

ed r

egre

ssio

n w

eigh

ts f

rom

the

fina

l equ

atio

n; F

s ar

e ov

eral

l F f

rom

the

fina

l equ

atio

n.a.

Mar

gina

l sig

nifi

canc

e p

= .0

6.b.

Mar

gina

l sig

nifi

canc

e p

= .0

7.*p

< .0

5. *

*p <

.01.

376




fewer turnover intentions (Figure 5) than do mentors providing less psychosocial mentoring. The interactions between hierarchical plateauing and psycho social mentoring were not significant for the three job attitudes. In sum, Hypothesis 4c received partial support.

3.5

3.75

4

4.25

4.5

4.75

5

Low High

Job Content Plateau

Job

Sat

isfa

ctio

n

Low Functions

High Functions

3.25

3.5

3.75

4

4.25

4.5

4.75

Low High

Job Content Plateau

Co

mm

itm

ent

Low Functions

High Functions

Figure 3Interaction of Psychosocial Mentoring and Job Content

Plateau for Job Satisfaction


Plateau for Affective Commitment




Discussion

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between mentoring others, perceptions of career plateauing, and work-related atti-tudes. First, the relationship between mentor experience and job attitudes was examined. These findings add to the limited empirical research devoted to investigating mentoring benefits from the mentor perspective. Next, the relationship between career plateauing and work-related attitudes was examined. These results support previous research relating career plateau-ing to negative work outcomes. Finally, to our knowledge, the present study was the first to examine mentoring others as a moderator of the relationship between career plateauing and work-related attitudes. Results provided support for the idea that mentoring others reduces the negative effects asso-ciated with job content plateauing but not necessarily for relationships with hierarchical plateauing. Specific key findings are discussed further.

As predicted, employees who report being a mentor report higher levels of job satisfaction, more affective organizational commitment, and less turnover intentions than do employees with no mentor experience. These results lend further support to the idea that mentoring others is associated with positive job attitudes and behaviors. Although the research on mentor benefits is limited, these results are consistent with recent studies that suggest mentor experience relates to important work-related attitudes and to career success (T. D. Allen et al., 2006; Ragins & Scandura, 1999).

1

1.25

1.5

1.75

2

2.25

Low High

Job Content Plateau

Inte

nt

to T

urn

ove

r

Low Functions

High Functions


Plateau for Turnover Intentions




However, we did not find support for a relationship between mentoring provided and job attitudes. In the present study, it appears that mentor experi-ence, and not the amount of mentoring provided, makes a difference. One explanation for these results may be the nature of the mentoring relation-ship. That is, the more mentoring provided, the more time invested by the mentor. Research has indicated that one of the costs associated with men-toring others is the drain on the mentors’ time (e.g., T. D. Allen et al., 1997). Thus, although experience overall as a mentor directly relates to job atti-tudes, more mentoring may not necessarily be better from the perspective of the mentor.

As expected, individuals who report higher levels of job content plateau also report less job satisfaction, less affective organizational commitment, and higher turnover intentions. Additionally, individuals who report higher levels of hierarchical plateau report less job satisfaction, less organizational commitment, and greater turnover intentions. Consistent with T. D. Allen et al. (1998), the relationships are stronger for job content plateaued employees than for hierarchical plateaued employees. These differences may be because individuals perceive hierarchical plateauing as an inevitable consequence of fixed organizational structures, whereas job content pla-teauing may be perceived as avoidable. Therefore, these findings lend fur-ther support for the use of a multidimensional construct of career plateau.

Based on life-stage theory, it was predicted that experience as a mentor would moderate the relationship between career plateauing and job atti-tudes. Our findings suggest that mentor experience does moderate the relationship between job content plateauing and job satisfaction as well as the relationship between job content plateauing and turnover intentions. These relationships provide some evidence that mentoring may serve as a coping response for job content plateauing or that mentoring others could alleviate the negative effects associated with job content plateauing.

Psychosocial mentoring provided by the mentor also moderated the relationships between job content plateauing and each of the three work-related attitudes. These results suggest that as job content plateauing increases, mentors providing more psychosocial mentoring report higher levels of job satisfaction, greater organizational commitment, and fewer turnover inten-tions. Generally speaking, these results are consistent with the theory that mentor experience will mitigate negative effects of career plateauing.

Interactive effects were not found for career mentoring. One reason for this finding may be based on the use of a government sample. Career men-toring focuses on protégé advancement within the organization. Advance-ment within local governments tends to primarily depend on tenure than




job performance. Although this may not inhibit individuals from mentoring others, it may make mentoring others less rewarding. The mentor may not gain a sense of satisfaction or see his or her efforts as a legacy come to fruition if the protégé’s advancement cannot be attributed to the mentor. Therefore, the negative effects of plateauing may not be alleviated. However, it should be noted that the bivariate relationships between job content plateauing and career mentoring were significant. That is, those who provide more career mentoring also report less job content plateauing. This result supports a direct link between mentoring provided and plateauing, even though evidence was not found for the interaction.

For hierarchical plateauing, none of the mentoring interactions were significant. These findings have important implications for the career research. Specifically, consistent with previous research (T. D. Allen et al., 1998), these results emphasize the important distinction between the job content plateauing and hierarchical plateauing constructs. Moreover, these findings highlight the important, but possibly limited, role that mentoring others can play in mitigating the negative effects associated with plateau-ing. As previously mentioned, the present study included a government sample with a fixed organizational structure. With these barriers in place, it is unlikely that mentoring others will serve as an effective coping mecha-nism for hierarchical plateauing. However, additional research is warranted to determine if these effects are sample dependent or are a general trend of the mentoring role in the plateauing phenomenon.

Several study limitations should be mentioned. First, the study relied on self-report data. Although self-report data were appropriate for most of the study variables, it would have been beneficial to obtain information from additional sources, such as protégé reports of mentoring provided. A second limitation is that the data were collected at a single point in time. When a design is cross-sectional, it is impossible to infer causality. For example, an alternate explanation to these results is that employees who are more satis-fied with their jobs are more likely to be a mentor. A longitudinal design would allow us to examine changes in the study variables across time and rule out some alternative explanations. A third limitation is the sample size. Although the overall sample was ample, tests of hypotheses involving career and psychosocial mentoring had less power because fewer employ-ees reported experience as a mentor. Future research should replicate these findings with larger samples to achieve adequate power for testing interac-tions. However, it should also be noted that the nonsignificant p values were large and likely would not have become significant even with a larger sample size (greater power).




Additional research is needed to generalize the findings to different samples. The current study specifically sought out government employees because of the prevalence of plateau. Different relationships may emerge with employees in the private sector or in various industries. Future research should also explore these relationships within formal mentoring programs. Formal mentorships are those in which the organization is responsible for assigning and facilitating the relationship (Ragins & Cotton, 1999). None of the government offices included in the current study has had formal mentoring programs. Plateaued employees may respond favorably to an organization that offers this type of program. For example, he or she may report more organizational commitment when the mentor role was spon-sored by the organization.

Theoretical and Practical Implications

There are several important implications for practice that should be considered. Experience as a mentor was associated with positive job atti-tudes. Accordingly, organizations that provide opportunities for and encour-age the formation of mentoring relationships may realize more positive job attitudes not only among protégés but among mentors as well.

Additionally, mentoring others and providing psychosocial support moderated the relationships between job content plateau and work-related attitudes. Life and career stage theory suggests that mentoring others may help buffer the negative effects associated with career plateauing. Consistent with our findings, engaging in a mentor role may provide challenge to an employee and thus help employees avoid or reduce the boredom associated with job content plateauing. These findings suggest that organizations may find it worthwhile to provide opportunities for mentoring others when increasing job scope is not feasible.

Finally, the results highlight the need for organizations to focus on the perception of plateauing. It should not be assumed that the employee who has the fewest number of promotions or minimal job responsibility is more plateaued than the other employees. Career plateauing is a complex phe-nomenon and organizations may find it more worthwhile to focus their efforts on uncovering subjective indications of plateau to prevent negative employee attitudes.

Conclusions

This study is the first to merge research between mentoring and career plateauing. The results provide evidence that mentoring others buffers the




negative consequences associated with perceptions of job content plateau-ing but not perceptions of hierarchical plateauing. With appropriate caveats concerning causal direction, the results reveal the possibility that mentoring others and providing support to protégés mitigates the negative outcomes associated with job content plateauing and enhances mentor job attitudes. Additional research examining mentoring as a coping mechanism of this career event seems warranted.

References

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Elizabeth Lentz is a research scientist at Personnel Decisions Research Institutes. She received her PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of South Florida. Her research interests include mentoring relationships, career and leadership develop-ment, and the development and validation of personnel selection systems.

Tammy D. Allen is a professor of psychology at the University of South Florida. Her research interests include mentoring relationships, work-family issues, organizational citizenship behavior, and occupational health psychology. Her mentoring research has focused on factors that relate to both formal and informal mentorship effectiveness and on understanding mentor-ing relationships from the viewpoint of the mentor.



group & organization management

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