With each passing year, the make-up of the workforce grows more complex with layers of generations experiencing reshaping how we operate. As a result, the practice of reverse mentorship is on the rise, showing us an alternative to the current one-sided transfer of knowledge and experience. The new mentoring model isn’t necessarily a novel concept: there have always been the occasional instances of young managers governing older workers or the new hires supporting senior employees with brand new technology.
This sharing of knowledge and experience has allowed most organizations to thrive in one way or another, however, not as much effort has been made to set up a formal system around it. Exploring reverse mentoring and the best practices to set up a system of support and knowledge transfer can help your business move forward by leaps and bounds, rather than inching forward in small measures when there is so much progress to be made.
Reverse mentorship is on the rise, giving organizations an alternate strategy to the traditional methods of transferring knowledge across the workforce.(Image: Pexels)
What Does the Rise of Reverse Mentorship Say About the State of Work Today?
Effective reverse mentoring flips how we approach mentorship by creating opportunities for junior workers to share their experience with senior employees. This goes beyond a single training on how to operate a new tech feature correctly and extends into soft skills or other technical skills that the junior employee might be well-versed on.
Not only that, the new mentoring model allows for senior employees in position with decision-making power to better understand the struggles of new workers who join the team. While DEI concepts are now more taboo within the workplace, the practice of reverse mentoring for inclusion goals is still an invaluable strategy. By speaking to new hires and young recruits, senior employees can gain considerable insight on their experiences of those new to the industry in order to redesign business operations in a way that makes it easier for them to assimilate.
Why Is Reverse Mentoring So Effective?
Senior employees may have greater insights into the industry and how it operates, but younger workers can often introduce them to new trends, customer sentiments, climate politics that are reshaping audience perception, and other external aspects that help the business understand its clientele and their needs and expectations better.
Of course, the rise of reverse mentoring also has the obvious benefit of connecting employees across generations with each other and finding common ground and a reason to interact with each other. This particular benefit makes the practice of reverse mentoring worthwhile all on its own.
Reverse mentoring also teaches senior employees to see their juniors as equals, teaching them to take advice or feedback from someone regardless of their age. This quality is rarely seen among experienced professionals who don’t believe they have much left to learn, but being open to inputs can also help them widen their perspective and better understand their own limitations and biases.
Understanding How Reverse Mentoring Works
Whether your organization is exploring reverse mentoring for inclusion or for the transfer of knowledge, the practice works the same way as mentoring does. It requires a senior member from the team to seek out a junior member or new hire and ask them questions or learn from their experience.
The normalization of mentoring has made it easy enough for junior workers to seek out a mentor at work, especially through company-supported mentorship programs. On the flip side, the lack of such systems for reverse mentorship makes it harder to identify a young mentor and harder still for the novice colleague to accept the role of a reverse mentor.
For reverse mentoring to be truly effective, it is best to urge the organization to set up a mentorship program with guidelines that help both parties understand how to operate. With a healthy number of practices volunteering for the program, it can become much easier to set the expectations and operate accordingly.
Reverse Mentoring Best Practices to Keep in Mind
There are many perks to the reverse mentorship model that often go unnoticed, but if you aren’t certain if this system will be good for your organization, it doesn’t hurt to establish a pilot program with a smaller number of participants and see how it proceeds.
The practice of reverse mentorship may appear awkward at first, but over time, when both parties understand and accept their roles, there are innumerable benefits to be found. As for the challenges of establishing the system, here are some reverse mentoring best practices to keep in mind:
- Help the junior workers identify their area of expertise and encourage them to volunteer as a reverse mentor
- Urge senior employees and leaders to participate in this program
- Set clear guidelines to facilitate this interaction, so both sides know their role in the interaction
- Ensure that junior employees practice sharing their opinions and understanding frankly with their seniors while still maintaining professional boundaries
- Teach senior employees to ask questions and be open-minded about the perspectives and insights they receive
- Reinforce the idea that all employees are of equal importance to the organization and ensure that the spirit of collaboration leads this interaction
- Check in with both sides regularly to understand their experience with the program and note any changes that need to be made.
Reverse Mentoring is a Great Way to Support Young Workers
Understanding how reverse mentoring works and shuffling through the benefits it has to offer is a good beginning to establishing a culture of collaboration within an organization. Every employee has unique insights and perspectives to offer, and these reverse mentoring best practices ensure that this is made clear to everyone at the organization. If you haven’t established this system of knowledge sharing at your workplace yet, there’s no time to waste.
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