„‚ CONDITIONS THAT HINDER EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

subordinates concerning how well a person provides development functions can become
part of the data on which such decisions about rewards are based. Rewards other than
promotion and pay, such as job enrichment and educational opportunities, can be made
available to people in mid-career to provide them with encouragement and the incentive
to assume the role of mentor. Finally, mentoring skills could become part of the
prerequisites for advancement to managerial positions in the organization. A clear
statement from senior management about the importance of mentoring in developing
human resources within the organization is necessary to support such structural (or
educational) interventions.
It is difficult to measure how well people assume the role of mentor. Bottom-line
results are far easier to evaluate. Several organizations are now attempting to develop
human-resource accounting systems to measure the costs incurred to recruit, train, and
develop their human resources (Flamholtz, 1974). Such an accounting approach enables
people to report the time they spend in mentoring activities, but does not reflect the
quality of that relationship time. If a reward system truly is to acknowledge the
importance of developmental relationships, subjective data concerning the quality of the
mentoring or coaching experiences also must be considered.
Feedback from peers and subordinates is one important source of information. This
may be difficult to implement in an organization in which the culture is authoritarian,
with only top-down communication. However, in settings in which two-way
communication is valued, feedback provides a powerful mechanism for helping people
to improve their skills and for producing data that can be utilized in decisions about pay
and promotion.
Changing the reward system is a complex task. It is important to educate members
about the changes in expectations and to provide education and skill training that enable
them to make mentoring activities a higher priority. If this is not done, members are
likely to become anxious and resentful about the changes in the rules (Tushman, 1974).
Resistance to changes in the reward system is predictable. Change creates fear and
anxiety (Watson, 1969; Zaltman & Duncan, 1977). Perhaps the best way to introduce
change into a system is to involve the members of the system in planning and/or
implementing the change. This not only helps to ensure modifications that are relevant
to those who will be affected but also helps to reduce some of the predictable resistance
to the change (Beer, 1980; Lawler, 1977).
Modifying the Design of Work
Opportunities for interaction are essential for encouraging relationships that provide
mentoring functions. Mentor relationships frequently begin as a result of two people’s
collaborating on a task and discovering a mutual liking and trust. Although
modifications in the reward system generally are quite significant, and therefore subject
to considerable resistance and scrutiny, modifications to the design of work in order to
foster interaction can range from minor changes to a major reorganization.
260 ❘❚
The Pfeiffer Library Volume 6, 2nd Edition. Copyright ©1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer