Welcome to News and Notes, our online journal of selected articles related to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management (OEODM) celebrations, events, and topics of interest to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) community.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Career Mentoring Program

Foster Mentoring!
Mentoring Really Does Make a Difference!

The Health and Human Services University is excited to launch the second year of the Career Mentoring Program. The Program was designed to meet the changing recruitment and retention needs of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The one-year Mentoring Program gives less experienced, and often lower graded, employees an opportunity to pair with more senior employees who provide advice, coaching, or feedback on career goals. In addition to the on-going communications and meetings between mentor and protégé, the program includes a two and a half-day orientation workshop. The workshop offers specific guidelines for individual career development and four quarterly meetings.

The Director for the NIH Career Mentoring Program is Pauline Irwin. Pauline brings to the job enthusiasm and experience in managing career development programs. When asked where she felt the NIH Mentoring Program fits into the effectiveness of leadership support at NIH, Pauline replied, “It is vital for the administrative, scientific, and clinical staff to know the importance of the mission and vision of the organization here at the NIH. This is a very important and lucrative tool used for training across the DHHS.”

In 1999, the NIH Leadership Development Committee was instrumental in the development and initiation of the NIH Director’s Mentoring Award. The DHHS Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management, Mr. Ed Sontag, has redelegated to the OPDIVs the authority to advertise, promote, and support the Career Mentoring Program. Pauline continues to garner the interest and support of NIH upper-level management for the Program.

Message from the Director

Lawrence N. Self

I strongly believe in effective communication. The DHHS and the NIH have implemented a very strong and diverse program for federal employees. The NIH Career Mentoring Program is a very positive program that models cultural norm, status, and influence.

The Career Mentoring Program is of vital importance within the succession planning. Organizations such as NIH should provide opportunities for all levels of employees to participate. Mentoring is vitally important as more and more employees are faced with A-76 and restructuring in the workplace. Mentoring nurtures and provides a workplace where employees can share their concerns and meet the challenges that face them.

It’s important that senior leaders become mentors. That’s how our organization grows.

I have been actively mentoring for 15 years of my federal service. I mentor formally and informally. I am also a protégé. All senior leaders should have mentors. And, all senior leaders should actively serve as mentors. It is an opportunity to give back and make a difference.

Over the years, I have shared the following tips with my protégés:

• Set realistic goals;
• Reach out for a mentor;
• Be willing to communicate honestly;
• Listen attentively;
• Follow sound instructions/directions/recommendations;
• Embrace diversity and learn from each experience;
• Keep an open mind and exploit change.

The OEODM fully supports the NIH Career Mentoring Program and urges managers and employees to participate. The Program is an excellent opportunity for senior managers to fulfill part of their EEO element.

Some of our mentoring successes here at the NIH are featured in this issue of EEO News and Notes. I trust you will enjoy the reading.

EEO Spotlights — Mentor Extraordinaire

Dr. Juan Rivera

As a senior scientist, Dr. Juan Rivera has had the privilege of mentoring more than 25 protégés. Their educational levels ranged from high school to postdoctoral/visiting scientist. Currently, Dr. Rivera has ten protégés in his laboratory; three are senior scientists either on sabbatical or at the staff scientist level, five are postdoctoral, one is a research assistant, and one is a post-bacculaurate student. Two of the postdoctoral protégés will leave Dr. Rivera’s lab this summer for academic positions. One of the rewards that has come from Dr. Rivera’s mentoring efforts is that all of the protégés who have left his laboratory have continued careers in science, whether in academia, industry, or through continuing education. He is especially proud of the students he has mentored, as all have completed, or will complete, postgraduate training in medicine or science.

When asked for his views on mentoring, Dr. Rivera had this to say: “I think it’s important to realize that mentoring is a life long experience. I have been a protégé all of my life and I continue to be mentored. I continue to seek career and professional advice from my more senior colleagues who have had the experiences I have yet to encounter. In particular, I view my relationship with my Branch Chief as one of mentor/protégé. I regularly seek his opinion on various career and research matters. However, I also have developed a cadre of mentors outside of NIH that serve to provide counsel on career or research matters when a broader perspective may be important. Over the years I have found this to be invaluable towards career advancement and recognition in the scientific community. One of the most important lessons I have learned about the mentor/protégé experience is that it is a two-way relationship. It is imperative that the protégé be an active participant, act on the advice, seize the opportunities provided, and demonstrate career maturation. This provides a powerful incentive to the mentor since he/she is able to see the contributions to the mentoring experience being brought to fruition. Having served on both sides of this equation I can attest to the legacy of a successful mentor/protégé relationship. It serves to amplify the pool of successful future scientists who themselves will likely develop successful mentor/ protégé relationships because they feel indebted to those who have mentored them.”

Dr. Rivera applauds the current emphasis placed on the responsibility of IC senior staff to mentor the trainees within their organization. He feels that it bodes well for the career development of a new cadre of independent scientists. Inclusion of mentoring and workplace diversity as part of the performance plan of senior scientist has, in my opinion, enhanced the awareness of the importance of these issues towards engendering a vigorous and career promoting work environment.

Bonita V. White, Director of the DHHS EEO Programs Group, offered this overview of her experience as an HHS Mentor. Ms. White said, “I feel it’s an honor and a privilege to be considered the type of role model who is deemed sufficiently qualified to be asked to serve as a mentor. Serving as a role model is inspiring because I see the potential that my protégés have, and I want to do everything I can to help them avoid pitfalls. I have gained many benefits as a mentor. One benefit is that it hones my counseling skills.”

Ms. White, who has been a mentor over 20 years, is the proud mentor of two protégés who are alumni of the first HHS Career Mentoring Program. Now let us hear from one of her protégés.

Alma McKune is an alumna of the 2004 DHHS Career Mentoring Program. Ms. McKune had this to say about her experience in the program: “I can honestly testify that having a mentor is a critical element in my career. Ms. White is a very nurturing mentor. Being her protégé has been very rewarding for me personally and professionally. I am inspired by her wisdom and intellectual tenacity. She is strong academically and always leads by demonstrating professionalism. Ms. White has assisted me tremendously in identifying short- and long-term career goals.”

Karen M. Basnight, Team Leader in the IC Services Division of the OEODM, offered the following insight into her experience of being a mentor in the DHHS Career Mentoring Program: “Upon being selected as a mentor for the inaugural DHHS Career Mentoring Program, I was contacted by three prospective protégés who were seeking an arrangement. After informational interviews, Ms. Sharon Taylor was selected as my protégé.

Being a mentor was very rewarding for me personally and professionally. I found satisfaction in helping another person work towards maximizing her full potential. Although our formal arrangement has ended, Ms. Taylor and I maintain contact with each other. I feel that our collaborative work as mentor and protégé played a role in her career success.

I provided mentoring and coaching to Ms. Taylor through weekly sessions to discuss program objectives, job challenges, and career development strategies. I assisted Ms. Taylor with writing a Career Development and Training Plan that was used as a blueprint for defining her short-term and long-term career goals. Her long-term goal was to obtain a professional position within the disciplines of grants administration, human resources, and administrative services.

There were challenges facing us with regard to the uncertainties of work force restructuring; however, we kept a positive outlook towards our mentorship. Ms. Taylor enlisted my help in preparing resumes, which she used to apply for vacancies in the desired fields. She was successful in obtaining a position as a Grants Management Specialist with promotion potential to the GS-13 level at the U.S. Department of Justice.”

Ms. Basnight’s protégé, Ms. Sharon Taylor, summed up her experience in the following way: “My experience with the NIH Career Mentoring Program was a very positive experience. I benefited by being assigned an excellent mentor who made the time to meet with me on a consistent basis. I completed an IDP with my mentor’s input. My mentor happened to be very knowledgeable about the education and experience required for various positions. She assisted me in finding and processing certain information—information that I especially needed because I went into transition (as a result of A-76) shortly after the mentoring program started. I received guidance, encouragement, information, and personal attention from my mentor. Throughout my time of uncertainty as to how I would be affected by A-76, I was able to process feelings and plans with my mentor. As a result of her support, I continued to think positively and believe that I would obtain a position with promotion potential in a field of interest to me.

I would highly recommend the NIH Mentoring Program. Upon my arrival at the Department of Justice, I was assigned two mentors.”

Ms. Rosemary Pettis, EEO Specialist, of the Division of IC Services (ICSD), was nominated for a Special Act Award for her outstanding mentoring efforts on behalf of the OEODM. The EEO restructuring effort resulted in several ICSD staff assuming positions of more responsibility and visibility. Ms. Pettis voluntarily assumed the role of mentor to three ICSD EEO Specialists in addition to handling the responsibilities of the three ICs to which she is assigned.

As a mentor, she has actively worked with her protégés during this transition period by holding regular meetings with each specialist; assisting them with their oral and written presentation skills; coaching them on understanding their ICs’ organizational cultures and successfully navigating these cultures in support of EEO activities; providing guidance on NIH EEO and HR policies and practices; and empowering them to seek alternative ways to achieve positive results with employees and managers.

Ms. Pettis began mentoring in the Federal Government before the government started an official mentoring program.

We welcome your ideas and comments about how we may make our EEO News & Notes better.  Please forward your input to Jayne E. Callahanhenson, Managing Editor, The Write Team, Institutes and Centers Services Division, OEODM.  Ms. Callahanhenson can be reached by telephone on 301-496-7478.