The Direction of the Amendments to the Legal System and Practical Guidelines for Vitalizing a Mentoring Program in Korean Companies

According to many empirical studies, individuals (i.e., both mentors and protégés) and organizations can benefit from mentoring programs. Protégés can gain benefits such as learning, career planning, and psychosocial support, and mentors can have opportunities to develop leadership skills, enhance managerial skills, and have better support networks. Furthermore, organizations can benefit from mentoring in that it facilitates employees’ organizational socialization, leading to low turnover rates and retention of talented human resources. However, the benefits of a mentoring program cannot be obtained unless it is carefully planned and implemented. This study presents guidelines that involve the essential considerations for the preparation, implementation, and evaluation stages of mentoring programs in order to help individual employees and organizations obtain maximum benefits from them. In addition, this study suggests the direction of the amendments to the related legal system (i.e., the Employment Insurance Act and the Vocational Capability Development Act) to extend mentoring programs into more small and medium-sized companies as well as conglomerates.