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Reverse mentoring

U201703271120198C36C

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13 Dec, 2020 22:18

Greetings fellow members, I am looking at implementing reverse mentoring in my organisation. Can I kindly ask what have been the quick wins and most importantly the lessons learnt when it has been implemented in your organisation?
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  • David Perry

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    14 Dec, 2020 21:25

    Greetings U20180328289C376C

    23 hrs and no reply. Perhaps you might explain - for the unitnitiated like me, what reverse mentoring is.

    However, I do have another question.:- You say you have decided to implement this in your organisation. Any particular reason? What do the senior management or indeed anyone else affected or involved think of this?

    David
  • U201703271120198C36C

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    15 Dec, 2020 12:53

    Reverse mentoring is a junior team member enters into a "professional friendship" with someone more senior, and they exchange skills, knowledge and understanding
  • U201703271120198C36C

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    15 Dec, 2020 12:55

    The senior management is not in touch with current cultures, not in touch with societal issues, not in touch with what motivates their staff
  • U201703271120198C36C

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    15 Dec, 2020 12:56

    The seniors do not like change however understand it has to happen. The juniors are excited as they want to be heard
  • Elizabeth Divver

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    15 Dec, 2020 16:40

    In reply to U201703271120198C36C:

    I find that statement massively judgmental. You are applying a negative stereotype to senior management - older people are out of touch. Usually seniority does not come at the start of a career and I feel certain that your senior management are on average older than the more junior staff.

    I think you need to work on treating people as individuals rather than as stereotypical members of a group. You feel comfortable stereotyping older people. Try slotting in any other protected characteristic and see how that sounds.

  • David Perry

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    15 Dec, 2020 19:39

    All rather judgemental isn't it? You still haven't explained how you intend implement this if your senior team do not want it or, so far have not given you either support or the go-ahead?.

    I'm rather puzzled how this might work. I think I have a good grasp of employment law and its application in the workplace. How would someone who, perhaps with less experience, and in all probability less experience add value to my day - without me having to explain or justify every decision, in which case it is simply me being the mentor to my junior?
  • Katie

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    15 Dec, 2020 21:23

    In reply to David Perry:

    Hi David. Here is a link to a Harvard Business Review article which explains the concept better than it is explained here: hbr.org/.../why-reverse-mentoring-works-and-how-to-do-it-right

    It might not be right for every organisation but seems to be particularly relevant where junior employees can provide some insight that the senior leaders don’t have, such as if they are the same demographic as the company’s customer base, or to feed back on specific issues such as diversity and inclusion. To me the purpose seems more of an engagement/employee voice exercise than a traditional mentoring relationship.
  • Elizabeth Divver

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    15 Dec, 2020 23:25

    In reply to Katie:

    Thanks for the link, Katie. It puts a more balanced case. What I don’t see in it is that senior management don’t like change, senior management is not in touch with current cultures, not in touch with societal issues, not in touch with what motivates their staff. That is a pretty sweeping dismissal of older people in the workplace and their ability to bring anything of value to an organisation.
  • Katie

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    16 Dec, 2020 09:14

    In reply to Elizabeth Divver:

    Hi Elizabeth, I agree, I don’t know where that has come from the original poster. It seems a poorly worded oversimplification of the motivation for starting such a scheme.
  • U201703271120198C36C

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    16 Dec, 2020 10:54

    Fellow members, thank you for the above. Apologies if it came across as a general statement about senior managers, it was a description of the senior members in my organisation and the points I raised regarding the senior management are from a report written by an external consultancy firm.
  • U201703271120198C36C

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    16 Dec, 2020 10:55

    Katie, thank you so much for Harvard Business Review paper, extremely helpful
  • Elizabeth Divver

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    16 Dec, 2020 12:42

    In reply to U201703271120198C36C:

    Thank you for explaining. You could probably tell I was somewhat put out.
  • David Perry

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    16 Dec, 2020 14:18

    In reply to U201703271120198C36C:

    You still haven't explained how you intend implementing this into your organisation. That is an important and crucial step and without senior management support it simply won't happen.

    I'd also be interested in the 'consultant's ' report. It sounds rather damming but with the comments you've stated are within it, I wonder how did you get hold of it?