Reverse Mentoring
When you think of mentors, do you think of Socrates with Plato at his knee or Mr. Miyagi in “The Karate Kid”? Or perhaps you think of the people who have advised you and supported your efforts in your career, parenting, or other aspects of life, or the role you’ve played in others’ development.
Traditionally, mentors are older and more senior in an organization and mentees are new or younger colleagues, but everyone has knowledge, skills, or insight to share. “Reverse mentoring” recognizes that we can all learn from each other and sets up a framework for more senior or long-term employees to learn from those who are younger or newer in the organization.
What is reverse mentoring?
Reverse mentoring is simply mentoring with the participants in non-traditional roles. That is, the younger person or the one with less experience in the organization shares knowledge and insight to benefit the older or more experienced person.
Typically, companies choose to create structured reverse mentoring programs to bring older and more senior employees up to speed on technological advances, cultural changes, generational priorities and differences, and changing practices in their fields. Like other mentoring relationships, reverse mentoring can be part of a supported program or individuals can seek their own mentors. However, because of the power dynamics that may be at play between senior and junior employees, a structured program can help ensure that everyone benefits and that no one feels pressured to participate.
Mentoring relationships benefit mentors, mentees, and the organization
In most successful mentoring relationships, both parties benefit. The mentee reaps knowledge and skills; the mentor enjoys respect and appreciation, as well as the joy in seeing someone they’ve coached grow and succeed. With reverse mentoring, the benefits can be even stronger for both mentors and mentees.
Mentees learn new skills and approaches
Mentees gain knowledge to help them perform their jobs well. It may also be energizing for people who have been in their positions for a long time to learn new skills and approaches to their work.
People who have just attended classes to learn about the current best practices and new advances in their field have much to share with long-time practitioners who may find it challenging to keep up with the latest while managing their workload and family life. Fresh perspectives can help solve challenging problems.
Mentors gain confidence
Mentoring builds confidence and reinforces a feeling of belonging, which can lead to greater engagement and well-being. Mentors develop intergenerational relationships based on mutual respect.
The organization gains insights — and retains talent
Millennials and Gen Z employees can offer insights into the priorities, preferences, and expectations of their generation that can help others in the company design product changes, marketing campaigns, and customer service to meet their needs. And they don’t just influence outward facing decisions; younger employees can mentor senior employees in ways to improve policies, processes, and the company culture.
Reverse mentoring programs demonstrate that a company respects and values all its workers. While it’s not enough by itself, such a program can help retain Millennials and Gen Z workers, who want to play a meaningful role in their work.
Creating a reverse mentoring program
If you already have a mentoring program, you can probably expand it to include reverse mentoring pretty easily. However, there are some aspects that are particularly important to keep in mind to make a reverse mentoring program successful.
Define clear goals
It’s always easier to determine whether something is working as expected if there are clear objectives to measure against. If you’re starting a reverse mentoring program, be clear about what you’re trying to achieve. For example, you may have one or more of the following goals:
Introduce older employees to technological advances
Make your organization more relevant to a younger generation
Assess potential changes to internal policies and culture
Create culturally relevant marketing strategies
Build intergenerational relationships
Retain newer or younger employees
Increase diversity and build a sense of belonging
Just as the organization should be clear about its objectives in starting a reverse mentoring program, mentees and mentors should also know what they hope to get from the relationship, and should discuss their needs and goals with each other when they first meet.
Match people thoughtfully
As with any mentoring program, matching people with common interests will likely create better communication and a more trusting relationship. However, depending on your goals, you may wish to intentionally match people from different departments or in different locations. Because a mentoring relationship requires trust, consider any possible issues related to supervisory roles or perceived conflicts of interest.
Even in carefully managed programs, mismatches can occur or difficulties can arise during the course of the relationship. One of the benefits of a structured program is that participants can discuss issues confidentially with the program coordinator, and if necessary, can request to be assigned a different mentee or mentor.
Provide incentives for participation
You may find that more seasoned employees are eager to learn from newer team members, and that younger employees want to share their knowledge. But even when people think the objectives are good and their participation could be beneficial, they may hesitate to take on the extra commitment. In recognition of the benefits their extra effort brings to the company, consider providing incentives such as additional paid time off, access to other resources, and public recognition in company communications. As you’re considering starting a program, ask employees what would motivate them to participate.
Train mentors and mentees
Even enthusiastic participants may be uncertain about what’s expected or how the other person will perceive them. Executives may fear showing weakness to junior employees. Newer employees may not trust that they’ll be taken seriously. People in general may have some anxiety about taking on a role they’re not used to. A thoughtful orientation can help participants feel prepared, understand what they bring to the relationship, and recognize the value of what they can get out of it.
Without training, only one-third of mentor-mentee relationships succeed, whereas two-thirds succeed with training. In particular, training should help mentors structure their sessions with mentees to ensure that everyone’s time is well-spent. Training mentors and mentees lets everyone know what’s expected, how to define and assert boundaries, and what to do if the relationship stalls or they encounter unexpected problems. You may also want to train participants in communication skills, and emphasize the need for both parties to be tactful and open-minded.
Evaluate and adjust
After mentors have met with their mentees a few times, check in with both groups to see what challenges they’ve faced and how they’re feeling about the process. If you need to make changes to the program, do so while they can take advantage of the changes.
After the mentoring period ends, do a more thorough evaluation of the program and ask participants for suggestions for how it could be more effective. For example, you may find you need to increase or decrease the number of formal sessions, change the way participants are matched, refine the goals, or enhance training.
Ask participants to share their experiences in a way that you can use to recruit your next set of mentors and mentees.