Does formal mentoring impact safety performance? A study on Chinese high-speed rail operators

The importance of mentoring as a developmental resource in organizational settings is well documented. However, the mechanism underlying the association between formal mentoring and safety performance is not well defined. Based on the self-expansion theory, this study examines the relationship between formal mentoring and individual safety performance in the high-speed railway operation. We postulate that formal mentoring enhances individual safety performance through the sequential mediation of self-expansion and self-efficacy. We also argue that the relationship between formal mentoring and individuals' self-expansion is weaker when individuals possess high power distance orientation. Using paired data from 421 protégés and 102 mentors operating high-speed railways of China, we tested the proposed model. This study contributes to the understanding of formal mentoring by; i. establishing that formal mentoring positively relates to protégés' safety performance, ii. empirically validating the sequential mechanisms by which formal mentoring promotes positive outcomes for the organization and the employees, and iii. revealing the moderating effect of power distance orientation on the relationship between formal mentoring and self-expansion. The findings of this research provide practical implications for managers to understand the positive effects of formal mentoring and make rational use of it in safety-critical organizations.