What do General Electric, BNY Mellon and Estée Lauder have in common? They have all discovered the power of flipping the script on mentorship with their ‘reverse mentoring’ programs.
GE pioneered this concept back in 1999, when former CEO Jack Welch realized that many of his senior leadership team members were unfamiliar with the internet and other emerging technologies. This prompted him to pair younger, tech-savvy employees with senior managers, where they would meet to learn how to leverage these tools effectively and exchange ideas.
BNY Mellon piloted their reverse mentoring program in 2013 to educate senior executives in technology as well. Their program even paired 28-year-old employee, Darah Kirstein, with Gerald Hassell, the CEO of the $44 billion company. Hassell would talk to Kirstein as a sounding board for certain ideas and to better understand how different generations think.
In 2015, Estée Lauder rolled out their reverse mentorship program to ensure senior leaders stay in touch with the mindset of younger consumers.
With rapidly evolving technology entering the landscape industry and a multigenerational workforce, reverse mentorships can be an innovative tool that helps your company stay ahead of the curve.
Benefits of Reverse Mentorships
Traditional mentorships are valuable because veteran workers can pass on their knowledge to those newer to the industry. Yet reverse mentorships can be equally valuable because they create a dynamic where senior leaders can gain fresh perspectives and learn about new technology.
Reverse mentorships can help bridge communication gaps between field staff, office teams and leadership, and provide insight into how company messaging is being received.
Additionally, reverse mentorships can strengthen your recruiting and retention efforts by appealing younger employees seeking jobs with a greater purpose and demonstrating how your company values team members’ input.
Crafting Your Own Reverse Mentorships Program
Just as with traditional mentorship, reverse mentorships need a structured program to achieve results rather than relying on informal pairings.
First, you need to define clear objectives for the program. Depending on your business, you may be looking to accelerate tech adoption or improve your overall company culture by better understanding workforce expectations.
Whatever goal you choose, tie it back to a business outcome, such as efficiency or growth, so you can measure the program’s impact.
Establish clear guidelines on how frequently your mentor and mentees will meet, the overall duration of the program, and the discussion topics.
For example, BNY Mellon’s program runs for seven months, and pairings are expected to meet at least six times. Mentees are asked what they would like to learn more about, and then matched with mentors who have relevant knowledge or experience in those areas. The mentor and mentee share their communication styles, set shared expectations and learning goals.
BNY Mellon has a resource hub that includes conversation starters, monthly agendas, and a topic list to guide conversations. At the end of the program, they have a panel of mentors and mentees who share stories and insights from the experience.
When it comes to selecting your mentor and mentee pairs, it’s critical to thoughtfully select individuals who have mutual areas of interest. However, you should also seek to strategically pair individuals with diverse outlooks, such as varied cultural backgrounds or distinct personality types.
Look for mentors who are rising stars within your organization who are comfortable sharing feedback upward. With your mentees, identify senior leaders who are open to learning and discuss potential pairings with them in case there are any conflicts of interest.
Tips for Success
Before rolling out a company-wide reverse mentoring program, start small with a pilot group so you can iron out any kinks that arise. Start with five to 10 pairs within your organization and gather their feedback on how to improve the program first.
It’s a good idea to offer training for both your mentors and mentees, as chances are your younger employees will be unfamiliar with how to provide constructive feedback to leadership, and managers may struggle with active listening and not becoming defensive. Both parties need to know how to build trust and rapport with one another.
Conduct regular check-ins throughout the program to ensure participants are meeting as scheduled and tangible benefits are being experienced. Without buy-in from the leadership team, reverse mentorships can quickly wither away when mentees repeatedly cancel meetings.
When you decide the program is ready to be launched to the broader organization, communicate its purpose clearly to the entire team.
A reverse mentorship doesn’t mean mentees are unable to share their wisdom with their younger mentors. In many cases, these relationships are mutually beneficial and encourage younger employees to continue in their leadership journey.
As insights are uncovered, integrating them into the business as a whole will boost employee engagement and create a feedback loop that keeps leadership connected to the next generation and the latest innovations.
This article was published in the June/July/August issue of the magazine. To read more stories from The Edge magazine, click here to subscribe to the digital edition.
