Reverse
mentoring is a management practice in which a senior employee seeks to gain
business insights from a less experienced, often younger employee. As the name
implies, reverse mentoring flip-flops the typical mentoring relationship
in which a more experienced person guides a less experienced person.
The
goal of reverse mentoring is to take advantage of the fresh perspective a
newcomer offers. An often-cited reason for introducing the concept of
reverse mentoring to an organization is to leverage the shopping habits and
technical know-how of younger workers.
Reverse
mentoring as a corporate practice is a popular alternative to hiring mentors
through a third-party mentoring service. The concept is often associated
with former General Electric CEO, Jack Welch. During a business trip to London
in 1999, Welch learned that his global consumer finance CEO was learning about
the potential power of the internet from a younger employee. When Welch
returned from his trip, he formalized the idea of reverse mentoring and made
it part of his own leadership practice.
Today,
many companies, including Cisco, Dell, HP, UnitedHealthcare and Fidelity have
developed and implemented their own reverse mentoring programs. The concept has
proved to be beneficial to both the mentor and the mentee.
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