Mentoring Program at America's Shipyard: Fostering a Culture of Growth
The core mission of the program is to create a reliable framework for mentoring relationships. It focuses on three main objectives: (1) promoting a mentoring culture to increase engagement, (2) developing a diverse pool of volunteer mentors, and (3) providing every employee with structured access to the shipyard's collective wisdom.
A strong mentoring program is proven to lead to better talent retention, effective succession planning, and higher job satisfaction. By clarifying how employees contribute to the organization's broader success, the program builds workforce confidence and readiness.
There are two forms of mentor, formal and informal. Formal mentor focuses on setting and achieving a goal. Informal mentoring is a support relationship with no goal in mind.
The new instruction focuses on formal mentoring to enhance a culture of learning. There are two distinct types of formal mentoring:
Mentoring for Personal Development: Initiated by the employee (aka mentee), this path is highly individualized. The mentee identifies a desired area of growth, sets a goal and then selects a mentor either by networking or using a mentoring tool such as the Mentor Match program in Waypoints.
Mentoring for Workforce Development: Initiated by the organization, leadership, or supervisors, this path focuses on addressing specific job-related skills, improving performance, or facilitating onboarding.
In both scenarios, the partnership is built on a mutual agreement utilizing a Mentoring Action Plan (MAP) to achieve SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time Bound) goals.
Let’s look at an example of each. Maria has been in her position at NNSY for the past 10 years and is at the peak of her job position. With her desire to continue to move up, Marie identified her next position and set a goal to apply for and get hired with the next job opportunity. Maria was able to identify the knowledge and skills she would need to be proficient in the new role. She happens to know that Mike is the most knowledgeable person in that role, and she asked Mike if he would be her formal mentor to help prepare her for the position. Mike said, “yes”. Both looked at the new guidance and using the Mentoring Action Plan in the guide, she and Mike created an action plan which included his commitment to meeting with her routinely focusing on the areas of improvement that Maria created in an Individual Development Plan (IDP) to obtain the experience and learn about the position. As for the IDP? That’s a story for another day. In the end though, the job announcement came out, Maria confidently applied for the position thanks to the help of her mentor, and she was offered a position. But Maria wasn’t the only winner. By guiding her through the process, Mike sharpened his own coaching and leadership skills. He found that explaining the nuances of the job kept his own knowledge sharp and gave him immense satisfaction in directly building NNSY’s future leadership pipeline.
In another scenario Gabriel was a direct hire. His reputation preceded him as one of the best welders in Hampton Roads and the shop was the real winner in the job hire. The only challenge was that after New Employee Orientation Gabriel had a list of requirements that would take too much time to accomplish if left to himself to figure out. Since Gabe was new to the organization, he wasn’t even sure who could help him out. His immediate supervisor recognized the challenges of bringing a new employee into the organization and he assigned Steve to be his mentor. Steve was in that exact same position 5 years earlier and understood all that it took to get acclimated to the environment. Steve took on the challenge of bringing Gabe up to speed and the two, working together as a team, identified all of the issues of a new employee and created a plan. Steve brought Gabe alongside, met with him daily and ensured he was issued all of the proper materials and safety equipment, ensured that he was able to operate on his own and navigate the shipyard and now, six months later, the two are both highly productive. For Steve, the payoff was immediate. Not only did he gain a highly capable partner on the deckplates, but his supervisor recognized Steve’s ability to lead and develop people—a critical milestone that Steve can now point to for his own future promotion opportunities.
In both cases there were roles, roles to prepare for a job or to get acclimated to an organization. Although the process of gaining a mentor was different, the end result was the same, an employee achieved a goal and the organization benefited.
As demonstrated in both cases, formal mentoring creates mutual benefits for everyone involved:
What the Mentee Gets: A clear path to career advancement, technical and organizational knowledge and increased confidence and networking.
What the Mentor Gets: Enhanced leadership and communication skills, recognition by supervisors as a talent developer and the satisfaction of passing on the shipyard legacy.
Success relies on active participation across all levels. Mentees are empowered to drive their career growth, while mentors volunteer their expertise to guide them. Leadership is tasked with encouraging participation and providing time for mentoring during normal work hours, with Command University overseeing implementation.
Do you have a career or a workforce development role? Do you have an employee who just needs a little help at the top of their game? It’s time to jump in!
Identify the goal: Determine what you want to achieve or the expertise you can offer.
Find a Partner: Network locally or use the Waypoints system (don.csodfed.com).
Complete Training: Both parties must finish mandatory online training in Waypoints.
Develop a Plan: Co-create your MAP to ensure shared expectations.
While formal mentoring relationships end once goals are met, they often blossom into lasting professional friendships. This renewed focus on mentorship is a direct investment in NNSY's most valuable asset—its people—ensuring the continued success of the command's mission.
For more information on Mentoring contact the NNSY Career Counselors at NNSY\_WFD@us.navy.mil.
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