- The youngest Baby Boomer is now over 50 years old.
- Millennials in 2015 outnumber Boomers in the workplace for the first time.
So let’s just agree to drop our Boomer tirade about “these-kids-won’t-even-put-their-phone-down-while-wearing-flipflops-to-their-performance-review-where-they-all-expect-a-trophy.” Just stop it. They won. Boomers can go nice, or they can go nasty. But they’re going—myself included.
Oh, wait! Before we shuffle off, the organization wants us to lead a “skills transfer program.” Boomers have been in charge so long (and over-stayed on the job), there hasn’t been sufficient opportunity for the next generation to accrue all the expertise and organizational knowledge they need to run the organization. In other words, there hasn’t been sufficient generational overlap.
To address this “experience gap,” many public and private-sector enterprises have new programs offering a win/win proposition: Wise Boomer can semi-retire (with pension sweeteners) if she agrees to stay for two to three more years to help Millennials come up the curve. The Millennial, meanwhile, finally gets moving on the recession-delayed fast track, supported by nurturing Boomer mentors.
Resilient Thinking, Magical Thinking
That’s a very neat solution. It builds resilience by helping everyone cope with today’s demographic challenges. However, it also contains strands of “magical thinking.”
Resources. Typically, the Boomer leader has been given no budget, no people, and no time to structure this new mentor program. Actual mentoring training or program support is rare. And how about Millennials getting the training they need to identify a mentor, engage with them, and optimize the opportunity? That does not happen.
Fit. Although a majority (75 percent) of Millennials say they want a mentor, 76 percent of Millennials also believe that “my boss can learn a lot from me.” Millennials want recognition and flexible hours, with frequent promotions and also a community of friends at work. How is this ever going to fit into a mentor relationship with the Boomer who insists that “you’ve got to suffer and earn it like I did” to the upcoming Millennials?
Pairing. We’ve all seen mentor relationships spring up. We all know generous mentors and eager, appreciative protégés. But setting up a matching service that efficiently, effectively pairs the most suitable mentor with the most appropriate protégé on a regular, schematized basis is a different story. Some estimates claim that less than one-third of organizations succeed.
Sponsor not Mentor
There is a better way: a sponsor/protégé program. This approach has three key benefits:
- requires little infrastructure
- suits the pragmatic goals of both Millennials and Boomers
- avoids the icky “Match.com dating service” flavor of so many mentor initiatives.
In a sponsor/protégé relationship, everybody gains. The sponsor creates new opportunities and provides support to the protégé while placing her in real-life, real-business situations. In return, the protégé puts in the effort and returns results which advance the sponsor’s agenda, as well as showcasing the protégé's talents.
It is far more of a transactional relationship grounded in a practical, mission-relevant, clear rapport, in which the sponsor advocates and connects the protégé to new situations and growth networks. What’s more, the relationship is less personality-dependent than a traditional mentor role. If a sponsor/protégé pairing doesn’t work out, it fails quickly and evidently, allowing both parties to move on without too much awkwardness or drama.
Some clients ask me if the sponsor/protégé approach is cold or ruthless. On the contrary; it can be far more honest, open, and mutually beneficial than lopsided mentor relationships. (An excellent presentation of the sponsor approach is found in Sylvia Ann Hewitt’s book Find a Sponsor - Forget a Mentor.)
Resilient Leader Transitions
The need for flexible and resilient skills transfer during this generational handover is clear to most leaders. To meet this need, traditional mentoring can be effective and rewarding—on those rare occasions when it actually happens. But if you need a higher success rate, quicker progress, and a more practical approach, consider initiating a sponsor program. The sponsor/protégé approach allows your emerging leaders to grow and develop—while also getting the work done.
