Reverse Mentoring: Why and How To “Do It Yourself” With a Cross-Generational Mentoring Program by Devon Scheef & Diane Thielfoldt, The Learning Café

Part 2 of a 2 part series, part 1 published on Jan 28, 2013: Reverse Mentoring: Why and How to “Do it Yourself” with a Cross-Generational Mentoring Program

Five Steps to Success
Because this is a DIY mentoring project, we recommend keeping things simple. But you do need one or more managers who agree to oversee or coordinate your reverse mentoring program. This can be an informal role with fairly light responsibilities, which include:

Step 1: Define what you want to accomplish. Many companies have straightforward objectives that range from simply creating positive work relationships between older and younger workers, to more ambitious outcomes such as transferring technology savvy and new industry expertise or trends or cross training.

Also consider whether you’ll need the support of senior leadership to help your program succeed. If so, identify the key stakeholders and describe what their involvement will look like.

Step 2: Pair up mentors and partners. To a large extent, how you determine who will participate, and how you pair off participants, depends on your specific goals and the needs of the individual and the company. When pairing, consider that personal “chemistry” is often overrated.  The best matches are often mismatches, which broaden the opportunities for growth in both participants.

As you match mentors to students, consider the characteristics of each. Are they motivated to learn? Willing to be mentored by a younger colleague?

Step 3: Plan the launch. To kick off your program, host a two- to four-hour orientation meeting with all participants. The program’s coordinator can explain the definition and benefits of reverse mentoring, introduce partners to each other, and go over goals and guidelines. This meeting should be a comfortable, informal forum for everyone to get grounded and organized. Pairs can begin to discuss their own goals and expectations.

If possible, give each pair some brief training on how to teach and learn, and provide a planner that serves as a guide for the partnership. At minimum, describe a typical first meeting or activity that partners can use to get started. (See The First Meeting below.)

You should also cover tips regarding generational differences. Caution everyone about stereotypes and perpetuating stale messages. Comments like, “They don’t want to pay their dues” from tenured employees; and, “They’re stuck in the past” from newer employees, will shut down reverse mentoring efforts before they get off the ground.

Close the meeting by outlining any logistics and details involved in checking progress of the partnerships.

Step 4: Prioritize and persist. Your follow-up and tracking is crucial to ensure the program is effective. We recommend that for the first two months of a mentoring initiative, the program’s coordinator or sponsor plan a pulse-check every two to three weeks to confirm that your guidelines and ground rules are still in place. After the first two months, scale back to a monthly check. Ask for participants’ feedback, focus on catching any problems early, and ask about successes. Remind each participant that you’re available for support and troubleshooting.

How can you tell that the mentoring relationship is working? Look for the following success indicators:

• Are people taking the time to meet and work together?
• How satisfied are the partners with the progress?
• Are they benefiting from and enjoying the partnership?
• What ideas do they have to improve the program?

Many partners report that the most valuable part of a mentoring partnership is the opportunity to learn and stretch personally and professionally.  Publish, share, and celebrate these successes!

Step 5: Measure progress. Part of your plan should include means for evaluating the success of your program, including measuring and quantifying outcomes. The coordinator of the program should perform all monitoring of participating pairs, though he or she may need some help with evaluation.

Your evaluation might include questionnaires or surveys of participants, individual interviews, and/or observation of their meetings. You are seeking to measure some difficult-to-quantify outcomes, including individual attitude, behavior, as well as accomplishments.

If evaluations indicate that the program is not meeting its goals, be prepared to make some changes to the program, re-train participants, or otherwise support the program to ensure it is successful.

Success Story
A small group at Milbank Manufacturing in Kansas City, Missouri, started their reverse mentoring program in October 2012. “It’s gone well and I think we’ll learn a lot from each other!” says Millennial Christine Henry Vetter, a marketing specialist for the organization, who is paired with the CEO. “My overarching goals are to gain a better understanding of how Milbank operates at a 30,000-foot view, as well as to develop ways to make Milbank more multi-generation friendly.” CEO Lavon Winkler wants to use the program to understand the dynamics of Millennials and how companies can create opportunities that are exciting for members of that generation.

The Milbank pairs have agreed to meet once a month during the first year of their DIY program. After this pilot period, they will roll out reverse mentoring company-wide.

In Conclusion
Reverse mentoring can be a winning situation for everyone involved.  You can cement the loyalty, interest, and talents of your Millennial team members, and more experienced employees will realize that opening up to new and different ideas will more effectively serve their clients and drive earnings.  In other words, when you mix fresh, unbiased perspectives with detailed knowledge and strategic skills, the results are innovation and increased employee engagement across the board.

 

The First Meeting

The first meeting between the mentor and partner is like sitting down to write a book and staring at a blank piece of paper. How do you get started? The answer in this case is, by getting to know each other.

The mentor -- that is, the younger employee -- here takes the role of teacher. Regardless of who leads the conversation or sets the agenda, it’s essential that both partners remember the goal is for the manager or tenured employee to learn from a younger counterpart, and not take over the mentor’s role.

The mentor can start the conversation by telling stories, and encouraging his or her partner to tell stories, giving specific examples related to his or her personal and professional experiences. Share lessons you’ve each learned from experience -- whether on the job or outside of work. This will increase your credibility and breathe real life into your recommendations.

Here are some conversation starters to kick off meaningful conversations or conversations that count:

Talk about your work and life experiences. What have you done that was unusual or controversial? What experiences do you hope to have in the future?

What is something that most people don’t know about you?

Discuss strategies to balance work and personal life. What have you leaned that you could share? What compromises have you made? How do you feel about them?

What mistakes have you made that you thought would have a negative impact on your career? How did you learn from them?  What would you do differently?

What is the smartest decision you ever made, and why? What did you learn that you’d like to apply to the future?

What legacy are you creating or building? What kinds of things are you doing to pass along your expertise?

What is some of the best career advice you’ve received? Why? How have you put it into practice?

What makes a conversation comfortable and candid?  The formula is simple and the results can be extraordinary.  A great conversation simply takes curiosity and a willingness to be changed or stretched by another person’s experience.

For more information about mentoring as a talent development strategy, and leveraging the generations in your workplace for exceptional business results, contact Devon Scheef at The Learning Café. DevonS@thelearningcafe.net or (805) 494-0124.