A perspective on effective mentoring in the construction industry

Purpose – The present study aims to provide a perspective on effective mentoring in the construction industry by examining key mentor characteristics as perceived by construction professionals.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 170 union construction workers rated 55 mentor characteristics based on to what extent each was characteristic of a superior, average, or poor mentor.Findings – To identify the most important mentor characteristics, three criteria were relied on: means of characteristic ratings of a superior mentor; effect sizes of mean differences between ratings of poor and superior mentors; and correlations between characteristic ratings of superior mentors and satisfaction with mentors. Significant mean differences were found between characteristics of poor and average mentors as well as between poor and superior mentors.Research limitations/implications – Possible future directions include an investigation of the relationship between competent mentors and personal characteristics, and po...