Formal mentoring programs and organizational attraction

This study was designed to test if formal mentoring programs enhance organizational attraction. Participants were 190 undergraduates looking for a job related to their major. Results indicated that participants were more attracted to an organization when it was depicted as having a formal mentoring program than when it was not so depicted. Drawing on the learning and development literature, we also tested the extent to which this finding was moderated by individual differences. Results indicated that learning goal orientation was a moderator. Specifically, individuals with greater learning orientation were more attracted to the organization when it was depicted as having a formal mentoring program than when it was not so depicted. No interaction effects involving self-efficacy for development or proactive personality were found. The results represent one of the first attempts to empirically support the benefits of mentoring at the organizational level.