The problem was that Virginia Beach Fire Department's (VBFD) junior leadership was experiencing a performance gap between the didactic training and the actual administrative skills and fire ground skills necessary. This was attributed to the lack of a formal mentorship program. The purpose of this project was to determine the effectiveness of mentorship and identify ways to use it as a development tool within VBFD.

Descriptive research utilizing questionnaires and interviews was used in conjunction with the review of the available literature to answer the research questions: (a) what components are necessary for a mentorship program; (b) how do other organizations use a mentorship program to develop their leaders; (c) how is mentorship perceived in the VBFD as it relates to succession planning; and (d) how can a mentorship program be instituted by VBFD? The answers to those questions provided the information necessary to determine if a mentorship program would enhance the development of VBFD's future leaders and prepare them for their duties and responsibilities. The procedures involved conducting background research on mentorship, mentorship programs and succession planning. An interview and two questionnaires were employed to determine the efficiency of mentorship programs.Results from this project indicated that mentorship programs are effective in developing future leaders. The result identified ways for VBFD to implement such programs to ensure its leaders are prepared. Recommendations included that VBFD (a) further evaluate effective mentorship programs, (b) establish a process review team to formulate a mentorship program, (c) add an evaluation component to its mentorship program, and (d) further research methods of instituting job shadowing, job rotations and diverse project assignments to its junior leadership