ASA Staffing Success - July

I

’s certainly not a new strategy in the world of work, but mentoring programs have reaped reliable results across various industries, demographic groups, and business verticals.

A study by the National Mentoring Partnership found that young adults who have had a mentor are significantly more likely to hold leadership positions. Another study by the Association for Talent Development revealed that 71% of Fortune 500 companies have corporate mentoring programs, including nationally recognized programs at General Electric, Intel, Caterpillar, and Google. Plus, 75% of executives surveyed in that study give their mentors credit for helping them land their current positions.

Late last year, the American Staffing Association conducted its own industry-specific research that focused on pursuing a career and leadership roles in the staffing and recruiting business—what the barriers to entry and progression include, why some individuals stick with staffing and move into leadership positions, and which factors could help attract, engage, and cultivate internal talent.

ASA first presented some of those findings in the March–April issue of Staffing Success. In “Getting to Growth: The Data Behind Women in Staffing,” ASA director of research Cynthia Poole looked specifically at the data in the context of women in staffing. That article also introduced the new ASA women in leadership interest group, whose mission is to bring visibility to the value of women leaders and to provide information and support

ASA created the women in leadership interest group
to highlight the value of women leaders in the global
staffing industry and provide leadership support and
career advancement opportunities for women and
other leaders. A council of volunteers is leading efforts
to develop opportunities for women leaders in three
different career stages: emerging leaders, midlevel exec-
utives and entrepreneurs, and senior executives. “There
are incredible opportunities in this industry for people
from any demographic,” says Genia Spencer, president
of TeamPeople and chairman of the ASA women in
leadership interest group. “The previous configuration
of the staffing industry’s top management is changing,
and we need to bring visibility to diverse and emerging
leaders to promote more women in staffing and grow
more entrepreneurial businesses.”
The council currently is planning the women in leader-
ship learning series, which includes webinars, town hall
forums, and Staffing World® sessions that address top-of-
mind topics for women in different career stages.

Both men and women are encouraged to join the group, where they’ll have access to invaluable content and continuing education opportunities. To join the interest group, update your ASA Central profile at asacentral.americanstaffing.net or email sections@ameri-canstaffing.net.

YOU’RE INVITED:

JOIN THE WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP INTEREST GROUP

tools to staffing companies committed to creating and enhancing opportunities for women and other diverse groups.

Now, the ASA women in leadership interest group will take a lead role in helping the association launch a new effort focused on mentoring relationships.

Learning From Experience

Sara Luchsinger, CSP, has been both a mentor and a mentee in the formal mentoring program offered by her company SEEK Careers/Staffing Inc., where she is vice president of operations. The program lasts six months, with meetings scheduled every week for the first month, every other week for the second month, and once per month for the remainder of the time. The goals of the program are to improve employee retention and engagement, accelerate leadership development and readiness, and shape the company culture. “Anyone can benefit from a mentor relationship—people who are unsure of what direction to go in their careers, or those who know exactly where they want to go,” Luchsinger says.

SEEK gives mentor participants a set of program guidelines, which describe an effective mentoring relationship and outline criteria that must be discussed—such as the goals for the mentee, the time commitments agreed to by both parties, logistics of the process, and topics that are outside of the mentoring boundaries. “It takes a lot of listening for a mentor relationship to be successful,” says Luchsinger. “Both parties have to have a mutual respect and

Anyone can benefit from a mentor relationship—people who are unsure of what direction to go in their careers, or those who know exactly where they want to go.