Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of Hispanic executives on the need for mentoring strategies for Hispanic employees in the Hispanic retail industry. The researcher’s goal was to explore the lived experiences on mentorship of Hispanic employees in the Hispanic retail industry. A phenomenological methodology was utilized to explore the phenomenon through the lens of Transformational Leadership Theory.
Methodology. The design of this study was qualitative, and the research applied a phenomenological research method. The method explores the lived experiences on mentorship of Hispanic retail industry employees. To examine the research participants’ lived experiences, they were asked to respond to interview questions. The six participants had experienced mentorship from both angles, as mentees and as mentors and were currently employed in the Hispanic retail industry.
Findings. The study identified six common themes among the research participants: pideful/muy orgullosos, appreciation from the heart/apreciacion de corazon, charismatic leadership/liderazgo carismatico, job satisfaction/satisfaccion laboral, core values and culture/los valores fundamentales, and giving back/devolver.
Conclusions. The results of this research add to the literature the experience of Hispanic retail industry Hispanic employees, and their proposed explanation for the lack of or the low numbers of Hispanic mentored in the Hispanic retail industry.
Implications. The findings of this study will add to the field of mentorship of Hispanic employees in the Hispanic retail industry by providing a different perspective on the low numbers, or lack of mentorship, to Hispanics in the Hispanic retail industry. This study added the observations of Hispanic employees on how the lack of or low numbers of Hispanics receiving mentorship is perceived.
Recommendations. Future research could examine mentorship of the lived experiences of Hispanic employees in other industries, as well as the mentorship of non-Hispanic mentors and their experience with Hispanic mentees.