Mentoring is most often defined as a professional relationship in which an experienced person

(the mentor) assists another (the mentoree) in developing specific skills and knowledge that will
enhance the less-experienced person’s professional and personal growth.

Reverse mentoring scheme is the complete opposite - It’s much more about improving diversity and
inclusion within teams, offices, and the overall firm. It involves us enabling more senior employees
to gain insights and understanding from some of our more junior employees, about their
experiences, learnings and day to day life. It focuses on the more junior employees imparting their
knowledge to the more senior individuals; sharing information about their background, who they are
and what it’s like working with a firm.

Mentoring and reverse mentoring

TRAINING

It is a learning process that involves the acquisition of knowledge, sharpening of skills, concepts,
rules, or changing of attitudes and behaviours to enhance the performance of employees.

ON THE JOB TRAINING

The development of a manager's abilities can take place on the job. The four techniques for on the
job development are:

Coaching

Mentoring

Job Rotation

Job Instruction Technique (JIT)

OFF THE JOB TRAINING

There are many management development techniques that an employee can take in off the job. The
few popular methods are:

SENSITIVITY TRAINING

TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS

STRAIGHT LECTURES/ LECTURES

SIMULATION EXERCISES

Mentoring

Traditionally, mentoring might have been described as the activities conducted by a person (the
mentor) for another person (the mentee) in order to help that other person to do a job more
effectively and/or progress in his or her career

Reverse mentoring

Based on old paradigm mentoring where a more senior person (in terms of age, position or
experience) mentors a junior, reverse mentoring places the more junior person as the mentor.
Usually used when executives need to understand operations or technology that can be shared by
shop floor, front-line or tech-savvy employees. The key to success in reverse mentoring is the ability
to create and maintain an attitude of openness to the experience and dissolve the barriers of status,
power and position.

Difference

Mentor Coach

Focus Role Relationship Source of influence Personal returns Arena

Individual Facilitator with no agenda Self selecting Perceived value Affirmation/learning Life

Performance Specific agenda Comes with the job Position Teamwork/performance Task related

7c s of mentoring

Compatibility: of youth and mentor: Similarities in interests are important, but closeness in age or
ethnicity are not. Some youth are also better able than others to benefit from mentoring
relationships.

Capability :of mentor: Prior experience in helping roles or professions in areas such as education or
direct-service work with youth is helpful, as is sensitivity to the mentee s cultural and socioeconomic
background

Continuity: The greatest benefits come from relationships lasting at least a year, but the key is
meeting predetermined expectations for the relationship length.

Closeness: Therapeutic qualities such as empathy, authenticity, trust, and collaboration are
important, and so is having fun. Negative or disappointing exchanges can easily overshadow the
positive aspects.

Centeredness :on youth s developmental needs: Balance attention to youth s needs for ownership,
autonomy, and input with structure, scaffolding, and guidance

Connectedness: Benefits of mentoring accrue, in part, through improvements in the mentee s other
relationships as well with peers and parents. Mentoring involving several mentors and mentees also
shows promise.

Consistency: Regular meetings are necessary for mutual trust and ease of contact to take root.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD MENTOR

Mentors listen. They maintain eye contact and give mentees their full attention. Mentors are there
to help their mentees find life direction, never to push them. They give insights about keeping on
task and setting goals and priorities. Mentors educate about life and their own careers. Mentors use
their personal experience to help their mentees avoid mistakes and learn from good decisions.
Mentors are available as a resource and a sounding board.
Mentors guide.

Mentors are practical.

Mentors educate.

Mentors provide insight.

Mentors are accessible.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD MENTOR

Mentors criticize constructively. When necessary, mentors point out areas that need improvement,
always focusing on the mentee s behavior, never his/her character. No matter how painful the
mentee s experience, mentors continue to encourage them to learn and improve. Mentors give
specific advice on what was done well or could be corrected, what was achieved and the benefits of
various actions. Mentors care about their mentees progress in school and career planning, as well as
their personal development. Mentors not only are successful themselves, but they also foster
success in others. Mentors are usually well respected in their organizations and in the community.

Mentors are supportive.

Mentors are specific.

Mentors care.

Mentors succeed.

Mentors are admirable.

‡ No. 1: Use Formal, Structured Programs ‡ American Expresshas formal programs including New
Hire Mentoring, in which each new hire is assigned a peer mentor who explains tasks and
responsibilities and serves as a sounding board. The mentors help create an on-boarding roadmap,
which outlines a course of knowledge for the first six months on the job. Another formal program is
the Professional Development Program, in which employees are mentored and trained to help them
grow professionally and personally. ‡ IBM has three formal major mentoring categories. Expert
Mentoring helps employees acquire specific technical, business, functional and leadership skills.
Career Mentoring addresses longterm career development and succession planning. Socialization
Mentoring helps new hires adjust.
‡ At Abbott the formal mentoring program offers employees the chance to partner with another
employee in a structured yearlong developmental partnership. Using a web-based program,
protégés and mentors are matched based on qualities, competencies and experiences they want. ‡
At Rockwell Collins a web-based matching tool is used to enable all salaried employees to be a
mentor, a mentee or both. Senior leadership also has directed matches for those who were
identified with real leadership potential. ‡ These all benefit from measurable goals, which 100
percent of the top mentoring companies have, compared with 88 percent of DiversityInc Top 50
companies and just 48 percent of the bottom quarter of the 352 participants in last year's survey.
‡ No. 2: Use Informal Mentoring ‡ These companies also encourage informal mentoring, especially
through employee-resource groups. All of them have strong, active groups used for recruitment and
then to retain and develop talent. ‡ At Abbott for example, the company often holds networking
events, using its employee groups, to encourage informal mentoring. "Mentoring supports our
inclusive culture in that it exposes participants to a diversity of thought, experience, education,
culture, management and personal styles," the company says. ‡ At IBM informal mentoring includes
speed mentoring, group mentoring and instant one-on-one mentoring.
‡ No. 3: Make Mentoring Cross-Cultural ‡ Almost all of our top mentoring companies encourage
participants to find mentors who are both from their group (whether that's defined by race,
ethnicity, religion, age, orientation or ability) and not from their group. Employee-resource groups
are often used to give them access to mentors within their own groups and across groups.
‡‡

No. 4: Measure Success and Follow-Up All of these companies have formal metrics to assess the
success of the participants. At IBM success is measured by skills development, retention and
engagement (employee surveys). AtAmerican Express employee-engagement scores are used to
rank personal development as well as retention rates and turnover for new hires, especially.
Rockwell Collins tracks overall participation. Another valuable way to track success is to measure
who gets promoted after being in a mentor program. We'll have more on this next week, but
consider this: Of the DiversityInc top mentoring programs, 16 percent of senior managers (CEO and
direct reports) were Black, Latino or Asian, compared with 14 percent of the DiversityInc Top 50 and
just 8 percent of the bottom quarter. And keep in mind that these are companies self-selecting as
diversity leaders, so national averages would be much lower if the EEOC or any other organization
correlated data this way. Even more interestingly, 21 percent of female senior managers were Black,
Latina or Asian in the top mentoring companies, compared with 17 percent of the DiversityInc Top
50 and 8 percent of the bottom quarter of participants.
‡ No. 5: Publicize the Benefits of Mentoring Programs ‡ IBM says it best: "Through the mentoring
activities, the IBMworkplace is deemed one where collaborative and ongoing learning is taking place
across the globe. Many of the cross geography has helped to bridge cultural gaps and at the same
connect employees in emerging and growth countries with mentors in mature organizations. As
employees develop their individual capability, they are in a culture that thrives on sharing
knowledge."
‡ Based on old paradigm mentoring where a more senior person (in terms of age, position or
experience) mentors a junior, reverse mentoring places the more junior person as the mentor.
Usually used when executives need to understand operations or technology that can be shared by
shop floor, front-line or tech-savvy employees. The key to success in reverse mentoring is the ability
to create and maintain an attitude of openness to the experience and dissolve the barriers of status,
power and position.
Reverse mentoring

‡ Based on old paradigm mentoring where a more senior person (in terms of age, position or
experience) mentors a junior, reverse mentoring places the more junior person as the mentor.
Usually used when executives need to understand operations or technology that can be shared by
shop floor, front-line or tech-savvy employees. The key to success in reverse mentoring is the ability
to create and maintain an attitude of openness to the experience and dissolve the barriers of status,
power and position.