By Neil McEachern, CHRP

A more innovative approach to mentoring is called for, one that capitalizes upon our four generation workforce, and allows the younger generations to bring forth the potential of more recent inventions to benefit both their seniors and the shared bottom line.

Mentoring has likely existed in various forms since the beginning of time.  However, the origin of the word has been linked to Homer’s Odyssey, with a character called Mentor, who was entrusted by Odysseus to look after his son while he sailed off to fight in the Trojan War. In its modern form, the word mentor was not seen again in literature until The Adventures of Telemachus (1699), where the French author, Francois Fenelon, added to the work of Homer’s Odyssey by filling in what Mentor and Telemachus would have talked about in their mentoring relationship while Odysseus was on his adventures.

Having touched upon the ancient origins of mentoring, we skip forward to the present day where mentoring in North America has moved from the domain of tradespeople (think apprenticeships) to executives in the boardroom.  While much has changed, throughout its history, the core relationship of mentor/mentee has been a reflection of the hierarchical wisdom benefiting those in the process of learning.

It has only recently that we have looked at inverting and exploring a more reciprocal approach to mentoring.  With technologies changing at an accelerated rate and the youngest generations holding the greatest familiarity, the question we need to ask more often is, “What are the benefits of establishing and supporting cross-generational mentorship in the workplace?”

One of our key mandates as human resources professionals is to ensure that employees are properly trained and developed to enable them to have the greatest organizational impacts possible.  Cross-generational mentoring takes traditional mentoring (the more experienced individuals transferring their knowledge to the younger individuals) and adds in reverse-mentoring for good measure.

While one may think that there are no immediate benefits from mentoring, in reality there are, and they are especially pertinent to HR practitioners such as ourselves – not in the realm of training and development but rather that of employee engagement.  There is evidence that suggests employees who receive mentoring are more likely to feel engaged by their organizations and thus more likely to stay, which one could attribute to the strong desire by most millennials to continue their education outside the classroom and be in a state of constant learning.

Furthermore, not only is the mentee engaged, but there is the possibility that the mentor becomes reengaged/energized; one could posit that this stems from their mentee’s desire to learn and an underlying human wish to be considered altruistic.  Ultimately, we are interested in the long term benefits of mentoring – the transfer of knowledge from the mentor to the mentee and vice versa, that enables both training and development to occur.

One of the immediate benefits of implementing cross-generational mentoring is that it enables the creation of what could (and ideally should) be a symbiotic relationship between mentor and mentee, facilitating learning for both parties.

However, gaining technical expertise isn’t the only benefit of reverse mentoring; mentees have a lot more to offer.  One clear example of this would be a “younger” and perhaps fresher perspective in regards to current business practices; this would be due to the mentees imparting their more recent learning into the discussion with their mentors.  Thus through a symbiotic relationship that involves reverse mentorship, the mentor is then able to learn about new theories in his/her field and together with their mentees explore their applicability in the workplace.  As one can see, this mutual exchange of knowledge could certainly have a large impact on the organization as a whole and likely would only come into existence through the cross-generational mentoring process.

When we consider the long term benefits of mentoring we must accept a certain measure of intangibility. This is due partly to the nature of modern mentoring; unlike a trade apprenticeship where the protégé is taught the actual methodology of task completion, today’s mentee is more likely to learn how to complete a task (think more guidance then actual instruction).  Does this realization make mentoring ultimately a less effective tool?  While the answer to this question could be quite complex, especially based on situation specific variables, the reality is that learning and development are still occurring.  One could likely measure the effectiveness of the overall program by surveying both mentor and mentee to determine if the program has met its goals.

Having considered both the potential short and long term benefits, as well as the current popularity of mentoring, we as HR professionals need to consider how to implement a cross-generational mentoring program in our respective organizations; this is particularly true as we finally begin to realize the long-slated end of the baby-boomer workforce.  We must recognize that irrespective of our belief in the process, once the current generation of executives are retired, the knowledge they possess will no longer be available to those who reported to them; the same can be said of those in the younger generations who may have innovative ideas but no place to fully realize them.

Mentoring will be, and probably is, occurring in your current organization, with or without a formal process; however, it would likely be beneficial to the company for HR to exert some type of control on mentoring by implementing an internal cross-generational mentoring program.  While there is no foolproof method of matching mentor and mentee, there are ways to increase the likelihood of success such as polling candidates on interests (both professional and personal).  Another step that we can take to increase success is to establish a framework for the relationship and ultimately facilitate a goal (ideally a tangible one to be able to determine the value of the program to the corporation).

As one can see, there are benefits to implementing cross-generational mentoring in the workplace and, if already implemented, hopefully one has seen the benefits in continuing to support such a program.  The reality is that without programs such as these, there is a good chance for knowledge to be lost between generations, which can lead to serious organizational issues as we continue onwards into a knowledge based economy.  In conclusion, we as HR professionals have to be the stalwarts of cross-generational mentoring, for once we lose the knowledge of our predecessors, we have lost that knowledge for good.  As the saying goes, knowledge is power.

Born in Hong Kong, Neil grew up in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, before completing his B Comm at UBC Sauder School of Business. Currently a Research Associate at Odgers Berndtson, and a board member of the Steveston Community Society, Neil is a frequent PeopleTalk contributor.

(PeopleTalk Winter 2011)