Workforce , March, 2002 by Samuel Greengard
For years, forward-thinking companies have viewed mentoring as a way to pass on experience and knowledge within an organization. Hundreds of companies in an array of industries have established formal and informal programs designed to ratchet up their competitive firepower. Yet the technological revolution has presented the modern enterprise–and human resources–with an intriguing irony: it’s not uncommon for young, entry-level workers to have a better understanding of technology than their managers.
In response, many organizations are shifting into reverse. They’re asking tech-savvy employees to teach the “old dogs” new tricks. “Reverse mentoring can provide substantial benefits for an organization,” says Matt Starcevich, CEO of the Center for Coaching and Mentoring in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. In a study conducted last year, the company found that 41 percent of respondents use reverse mentoring to spread technical expertise and 26 percent rely on younger staff members to help executives gain a more youthful perspective.
The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania has matched about 60 executives with mentors–mostly graduate students who have demonstrated an excellent grasp of technology. Each reverse-mentoring pair spends time face-to-face but also exchanges knowledge via e-mail and the phone. “Executives are beginning to realize that knowledge isn’t a one-way street. It’s in everyone’s best interest to share expertise,” says Jerry Wind, director of the Wharton Fellows Program.
Another organization that has embraced reverse mentoring is Procter & Gamble. A couple of years ago, CIO Steve David–a 30-plus-year veteran of the company and a longtime mentoring advocate–began a reverse-mentoring relationship with a staff scientist so that he could learn more about how science and toxicology affect business decisions. The pair met every month or two in an office or over lunch to discuss topics ranging from the structure of DNA to sophisticated biotechnology issues.
The person generally credited with introducing formal reverse mentoring is General Electric’s former CEO Jack Welch. In 1999, he ordered 500 of his top managers to find workers who were well versed in the Internet and tap into their expertise. Welch himself chose a mentor and blocked off time to learn about everything from Internet bookmarks to competitors’ Web sites. Wharton’s Wind notes that some organizations are now expanding the concept to cover an array of topics. “The goal is to use the knowledge that resides within an organization to its full advantage.”
Setting up a successful reverse mentoring program requires a good deal of planning. It’s essential to create a structured program so that participants don’t wind up overwhelmed with regular work and skip sessions, Starcevich says. Finally, both the mentor and the student require training. “The mentor must learn what’s important and how to show patience, and the student has to check his or her ego at the door,” Wind says. “Reverse mentoring is a great concept, but it doesn’t just happen on its own.”
COPYRIGHT 2002 Crain Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning