19463: The Role of Mentorship in Enhancing Goal Orientation

While mentorship is often praised for its positive impact on employee development, its specific means of fostering goal-oriented behavior remain underexplored. This study will analyze how mentorship influences employee goal orientation, examining the mediating roles of person-organization fit (POF) and person-job fit (PJF). Drawing on social learning theory and goal-setting theory, we propose that mentorship enhances goal orientation by clarifying expectations, providing feedback, and boosting motivation. Using survey data from 211 employees, we employ partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test direct and indirect effects. We find that mentorship positively influences goal orientation. Further, this relationship is mediated by PJF, indicating that the alignment between employee skills and job demands plays a role in translating mentorship into enhanced goal pursuits. However, POF did not significantly mediate this relationship. This research explains the pathways through which mentorship contributes to employee outcomes, and findings suggest that organizations should foster mentorship programs and ensure alignment between individual and organizational goals to enhance goal orientation.

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