2003 IMTA Proceedings - International Military Testing Association

Conclusions and Recommendations
This paper shows how survey and focus group methodologies complement one another
and result in richer findings, thereby increasing the potential for utilization. Thus, from the
survey it was found that a surprisingly low number of senior raters were seen as mentors and the
interviews revealed the obstacles that stood in the way. A major obstacle is Soldier reluctance to
seek help from senior raters because of their role in determining the final performance rating. On
the other hand, superiors not in the rating chain were seen as a good source of mentors since they
are in a far less threatening role. The focus group interviews also helped to explain why so few
survey respondents saw peers and subordinates as mentors. Although Soldiers do learn from
peers and subordinates, they do not experience the full range of mentoring behaviors in their
relationships with them.
Army:
The above findings led to the following recommendations which were provided to the
• Encourage mentoring, but keep it voluntary.
• Encourage senior raters to exhibit a wider range of mentoring behaviors.
• Make senior raters aware of the barriers to their being seen as mentors (i.e., limited
contact, their role in providing the final performance appraisal rating). Highlight
possible ways of overcoming these barriers.
• Encourage more non-raters who are senior in rank to mentor and educate them on the
importance of exhibiting a wider range of mentoring behaviors.
• Do not rely on increasing the number of mentors by encouraging peers and
subordinates to mentor. This is not likely to increase mentoring because few of these
individuals are typically viewed as mentors and are less likely to exhibit the whole
range of mentoring behaviors.
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45 th Annual Conference of the International Military Testing Association
Pensacola, Florida, 3-6 November 2003