boosted the employee’s career. Meanwhile, though, the employee was helping Cavaleri. “She taught me so much,” Cavaleri said.
“She was very connected emotionally and I was getting burned out, and she helped bring me back to the ‘why’ of why I was doing this work, which is probably the most important thing she could have done. I couldn’t do anything for her that was that valuable. I think when you’re a mentor it helps keep you connected to the ‘why’ of why you’re doing something. Your purpose of being in this space. That’s good for you, your staff, and your business.” A system of mutual mentoring formalizes
that two-way learning and makes it an ex- plicit objective. There is no mentor or men- tee—both partners serve each role. Benatti and Reitman co-authored a book, “Creat- ing a Mentoring Program: Mentoring Part- nerships Across the Generations,” which details the benefits of that type of program and offers templates for implementing such a program in an organization. One of the advantages of a mutual cross-generational mentorship is that it removes the potential strain or resentment of someone being uncomfortable with their role, Benatti said. Another form of cross-generational mentoring that departs from traditional mentoring is reverse mentoring, which is when the younger worker assumes the mentor role and the senior executive serves as the mentee. Tardy said senior executives who are mentored by younger workers wor- ry beforehand about how passive they are expected to be. “Sometimes, they wonder, ‘Well, do I get
to say anything?’” Tardy said. “And the an- swer is: of course. The whole thing evolves into an opportunity for giving advice, too. It’s a conversation.”
An attractive carrot for younger workers In Deloitte’s 2016 survey of millennials, 63 percent of respondents said their leadership skills were not being fully developed and 71 percent of those who said they planned to leave their jobs in the next two years pointed to that shortcoming as the chief reason for
“What younger workers like millennials want right now more than anything is a job that matters,” Tardy said. “They want to make a difference in their work.”
looking to depart. Placing those younger workers in a mentorship position can help address those feelings. According to a 2013 Journal of Vocational Behavior article, workers in mentorship roles are more committed to their jobs and their organizations, enjoy greater job satisfaction, and have more ca- reer success. Tardy said that cross-generational men-
toring, in particular, holds great appeal for younger workers because it engages them directly and connects them to the mission of an organization. Cross-generational mentoring gives younger workers a chance to share their perspective, gain access to senior leaders, and help shape the business while they remain lower on the organiza- tional ladder. “What younger workers like millennials want right now more than anything is a job that matters,” Tardy said. “They want to make a difference in their work.” Benatti said placing younger workers in
mentorships in which they have a voice, such as a mutual mentorship, shows above else that organizations consider their insight to be important. “The beauty of this kind of program is
that we’re acknowledging that our twenty- somethings do have new ideas, do have things to bring to the table, and do have things that we can learn from,” Benatti said. “What often happens is they get very frustrated be- cause their organizations act as though they don’t know anything yet and can’t contribute. This tells them the opposite.”
Keys to implementation Benatti said organizations must demon- strate their dedication to a mentorship program of any kind with manpower. That means devoting staff hours to oversight of the mentorship program to ensure that it
works, and that participants maintain steady contact with each other. Participants cannot be simply set loose—they need suggested topics and questions, worksheets, meeting schedules, and other guidance, Benatti said. “An organization needs to show a com- mitment to running this program because it’s not going to work on its own,” Benatti said. “Maybe for a few people, a few die- hards, but not for the program as a whole.” Cavaleri believes that guidelines and sug-
gestions for mentorships are critical. “You don’t want to provide too much structure, though, or it starts to become a burden,” she said. She said the balance between being committed and allowing for freedom ulti- mately is about an organization conveying both seriousness and trust to its workers. “If you’re doing this because it’s forced
and you have to or you don’t really follow through, then you might do more harm than good,” Cavaleri said. “It needs to be a gen- uine, purposeful experience for everyone.” Tardy said the purpose of a mentoring
program must be clear and established be- fore implementation begins. Having defined goals both as an organization and individ- uals, she said, is “the crux of mentoring.” “Those clients of mine who have
launched [a cross-generational mentoring program] and been successful have made the case for the benefits of the program not only to senior executives but to other gener- ations, too,” she said. “They’ve made a case for it and made it very clear that it could make a difference for them as individuals and for their organization.” Kowalski said workers tend to crave and
appreciate that guidance. “When they’re in these programs, people
want to know what they need to do to be successful,” she said. “All we have to do is create that for them.”
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