Millennials mentor senior leaders on social media strategies that promise to ramp up business.
So, when property and casualty insurance leader The Hartford wanted its executives to become more fluent in the digital technologies its customers and partners were using, president and CEO Liam E. McGee implemented reverse mentoring partnerships.
According to Reverse Mentoring at The Hartford: Cross-Generational Transfer of Knowledge About Social Media, a report from the Sloan Center on Aging & Work in collaboration with the Boston College Center for Work & Family, The Hartford's reverse mentoring program began with a small group of Millennials who already were exchanging ideas about technology. These young workers were tapped as mentors to help managers expand their understanding and use of social media.
This led to career development opportunities for them, as well as benefits for the business. Corporate changes included new telemarketing tactics, an updated social media usage policy, and increased employee comfort with the company network's information-sharing capabilities.
To date, more than 50 mentees across seven states have participated in the program. Of the 12 mentees who participated in the first wave, 80 percent rated the project "extremely effective/effective" for the business, and 97 percent rated it "extremely effective/effective" for personal development. Likewise, of the 12 mentors in the project's first wave, 11 were promoted within one year of the program's inception.
The report concludes that "Opportunities for learning and open discussion provided by reverse mentioning are fluid and countless, and the new relationships formed by mentors and mentees can be inspiring and genuine."
