Reverse Mentoring

During this difficult economy the most experienced and seasoned employees that would have retired last year, or this year, are now putting that off for another 2-3 years, resulting in a workforce that spans at least 3, and sometimes 4, generations. These generations include: Veterans, Baby Boomers, Gen X and Millennials. In a typical environment you have Veterans and Boomers mentoring Gen X’ers and Millennials with the goal to make a more efficient team and, of course, to transfer valuable industry and product knowledge.

There is, however, another side. Organizations that employ reverse mentoring techniques often experience greater respect, teamwork and dialogue between multigenerational teams. When you encourage your younger staff to act as mentors to more senior staff it gives them a sense of purpose and will allow them to share the knowledge and skills (that’s right, younger people have skills and knowledge to offer!) with the more senior people in the firm. Some of these skills can include utilizing social networks, wiki’s and other online tools to allow departments and teams to collaborate more efficiently. In addition, Millennials especially, tend to think outside the box giving a fresh and different perspective on situations and projects.

The moral of the story is the Millennials are the most technical savvy and best educated generation in history and if you don’t utilize their skill sets your competitor will!