What can a green newbie really teach a grizzled Finance veteran? A lot — as long as CFOs know how to team the two up correctly.
At the 2015 Association for Financial Professionals Conference, Christine Hollinden covered the many benefits of reverse mentoring.
Mentee takes the reins
Like the name suggests, reverse mentoring consists of the person who is normally the mentee coaching an experienced staffer.
Example: A Millennial mentoring a Baby Boomer on new technology and how it applies to the company’s current strategy.
On top of the obvious benefits – new skills exchanged, coaching experience gained – reverse mentorship often results in another key indirect benefit.
During the process, the seasoned professional will naturally begin teaching his or her mentor about the coaching process, Hollinden says.
From there, the mentor will start asking questions about leadership and what it entails.
Key guidelines
If your company decides to give reverse mentoring a shot, keep these basic guidelines in mind:
- the mentor should never be a direct report of the person he or she is mentoring, and
- company hierarchy rules should be ignored – the mentor/mentee relationship should be an equal and collaborative one.
Based on “Breaking Down the Silos: Creating a Culture of Collaboration,” by Christine Hollinden, as presented at the 2015 Association for Financial Professionals Conference in Denver.