How long can we keep them? [electronic resource]: staff retention through a mentoring program in an undergraduate admissions office

Employee turnover is a pervasive issue across industries and at all levels of an organization. Lost productivity, hiring, interviewing, training and increased workloads are costs associated with turnover. As an undergraduate admissions professional charged with the enrollment of new freshmen students, I am constantly assessing the health of my team and working to minimize turnover in admission counselor positions. I implemented a six-week mentoring program in my office to increase second-year employee satisfaction, motivation, development and retention at the Arizona State University Undergraduate Admissions Office. Post intervention data were collected through the use of focus groups and self reflection questionnaires. Results show that mentoring is a mutually beneficial experience for mentees and mentors. Mentees reported benefits from the personalized dissemination of information and institutional knowledge by their mentors. Mentors reported that being in a mentoring relationship made them feel their opinions and experiences were valued. Mentoring can be an inexpensive professional development program designed to assist entry-level employees. While attrition cannot be totally eliminated from a workplace setting the study participants reported that the mentoring program made them feel valued even while acknowledging that there are limited opportunities for advancement within the office.