Published 9/29/2020

MMT Chats: Cross-Generational Mentorship: Participants Share Their Journey

MoldMaking Technology takes a broader look at the value proposition of mentoring by launching and completing a pilot mentorship program.

Christina Fuges

Editorial Director, MoldMaking Technology

Observations

This role proved to be valuable to each of the participants and allowed me to identify some key takeaways of a pilot cross-generational mentorship program:

Mentoring is not one-sided. Generations can truly mentor each other or act as resources for each other.
Making time is vital.
Busyness cannot be an excuse for lack of participation.
An ice breaker is a crucial first step.
Maintain focus on professional/career development within your current job.
Integrating a form of check-in with the person’s team/company is helpful if the mentor/resource is external.
Allow time for reflection and any necessary recalibration.
Time to process is necessary.
Vulnerability, honesty, and trust are essential to the process.
Participants having no prior relationship may be the key to success.
Working for the same company has its pros and cons.
Age and gender do not impact the success of a mentorship relationship.
Both generations have more in common than they both thought.
Self-awareness is an immediate outcome.
Mentorship allows more effective “venting” because both parties help each other to calibrate.
Mentorship is not one-size-fits-all—some people require a plan and formal communication; others require structure and facilitation while others do not.

Course of Action

So, my question to you is: Are you ready to start your pilot mentorship program? If so, here is some initial guidance. First, identify the purpose of your pilot mentorship program. For example, maybe you want to attract new talent, increase employee retention, or change your company culture. Then determine the structure: formal or informal.

Formal mentoring is structured based on a specific business objective, measured and brings people together based on compatibility. A formal relationship typically lasts for a specified amount of time. It then formally ends (although sometimes a mentoring pair may decide to continue their mentoring relationship informally at that time). Informal mentoring, by definition, has very little structure or is loosely structured based upon the chemistry between two partners to be involved in a mentoring relationship. Informal mentoring will sometimes even develop into a long-term friendship. You might consider a blended version of both, as we did.

Next, set some boundaries. You don’t want people talking about everything under the sun; you want participants to be laser-focused on specific topics, which requires a structured format with objectives and agenda topics to guide the conversation. For example:

Objectives:

Career aspirations

Goals of mentor sessions

Agenda/Topics:

Skill Development

Goal Setting/ Career Planning

Problem Solving

Networking

To get started, hold an icebreaker. This session proved an invaluable exercise as it allowed both the mentor and mentee to discover something about each other and to establish trust and understanding. The icebreaker requires each party to do a little homework and assess what each knows about the other. In some instances, participants discover they have similarities as they get to know each other in that first session.

The format is simple.

Pretend you have been asked to introduce your mentee or mentor. Based on what you know about each other, write a short introduction piece to share during the first session.
Mentor and mentee should come to the first session prepared with a written introduction of each other and read your introduction to your partner. You might start with, “If I had to introduce you to a group based on what I know about you, here’s what I would share ...”
Complete the “Who I Am” questions below to share, helping to fill in the gaps of who you are that the respective introductions won’t have. Share the completed document after you have completed your introductions. You can exchange the documents via email before the start of your session.

“Who I Am” Survey

My most important role in life is as a …

At work, I …

My favorite way for me to spend my free time is …

One thing about me that is important for people to know is …

Some of the strengths that I will bring to the relationship are …

What I want to learn about myself through this mentorship relationship is …

If you are ready to launch your pilot mentorship program, the first step is identifying the purpose of your pilot mentorship program—attracting new talent, increasing employee retention, or changing your company culture, for example.

Success Factors

A key to success I observed in the pilot group was facilitation. Identify someone to hold the teams accountable to ensure goals are established and to make sure all parties understand the structure of the program. This person also sets a deadline and checks in with the teams regularly. A facilitator pops in and checks on both parties to make sure that everything is going okay, gives a nudge, or helps to get the teams reinvigorated. He or she also conducts a comprehensive halfway checkpoint to understand any challenges a team may be facing to determine if reassessment or recalibration is necessary.

Setting a time to assess the need for recalibration was also very important. The discovery process during the mentoring journey is one of self-awareness. As you get to know yourself and the other individual, what you thought was the purpose of your mentoring exercise may go completely sideways, and up and down, so you have to be able to pivot at the appropriate moment.

More than one pair in our pilot program stated that the halfway point recalibration on goals was essential because you may have gone down the wrong path or chosen an inappropriate goal. This is where the facilitator role comes into play. Conducting regular checkpoints builds trust and allows participants to be vulnerable and honest about what they were struggling with during the program so they can recalibrate.

Lastly, it is essential at the program’s completion to hold a final session where teams can think retrospectively about their journeys and share how it worked, what they learned and if they want to continue the relationship. The evaluation process helps determine what worked and what didn’t work.

The program’s end may not mean the end of the relationship. Informal mentoring can continue if both parties agree, and some relationships come to a natural end when a mentee learns enough to be independent of specific mentors. Also, new mentoring relationships with others may be more beneficial than continuing an exhausted relationship. A pilot program can help to assess how mentoring works before launching a formalized program.

I believe that every shop is doing something whether they call it a mentorship or not, so I hope the main takeaway of our pilot mentorship program is that shops will feel encouraged to formalize their effort and to invite other individuals to participate in mentorship.

VIDEO: The Final Results: In Their Own Words

Maalik and Ryan

Sales professionals working within the same company in similar jobs (one remotely) but with different levels of work experience and varied personal backgrounds.

Ryan: This is our last get together. I was thinking back to our first meeting when we had to write a paragraph about each other and reflect on how I felt. It was really neat to see how quickly we became vulnerable to each other. If you would have told me that I was going to learn something from you— someone born in a different generation with a different background and who looks different from me—I would be doubtful. But I gained more out of this program than you did!

Maalik: I completely understand, but at the same time, you were already acting as a mentor when I came into the industry three years ago. You've always been a great help, so I believe that made developing this mentorship relationship much more comfortable and smoother from the start.

Ryan: One of the challenges we had was working for the same company, which made it challenging to carve out time to move beyond our work colleague relationship and build a mentor relationship. It’s essential to be intentional about that time you set aside to talk and to learn from each other.

Maalik: The halfway point was critical, too, because it was a discouraging point for our relationship. We were struggling with meetings and not connecting. The facilitator jumped in and moved the process along for us by helping us put roots down for a growth trajectory and acknowledge that this is a process you cannot rush. Embrace and enjoy the process. For example, my goal was to champion something at work, but the way I was going about it was putting the cart before the horse. I didn't realize what was already before me and what it would take to get there. I wasn't giving it time. You can't rush.

Key takeaways: Leave your ego at the door, fight through the inconvenience of busy-ness, don't be afraid to ask for help, embrace the process too and it will nurture your growth and accountability.

Ray and Ty

Manufacturing professionals with an existing relationship who have similar personal backgrounds but work at different companies and bring vastly different levels of work experience to each of their unique company roles.

Ray: I thought communication for this program would be the easy part because we had an existing relationship. We text all day long, but to effectively work, this program takes a bit more time. We realized we could benefit from some structure. I liked that we were poked to take the time to pay attention to this program.

Ty: So the structure of this program, in the beginning, was a challenge, but over the course time, it became organic. We started with texts which moved to phone calls with more of a structured conversation that become longer connection points.

Ray: At the halfway point, I was extremely happy and motivated to continue the program and to refine my values system and continue with all the things you taught me, like mind mapping.

Ty: This relationship was very helpful as we worked through COVID-19 and coming at it with different perspectives and insights on how to deal with our new situation.

Ray: A big realization for me was our similarities despite the age difference.

Ty: We have similar personalities, which allowed us to tease each other a little bit while understanding what was below the iceberg—like getting to know the person’s family dynamic or figuring out what the other might be going through. Once you get below the iceberg, your relationship becomes more productive—at work and home.

Ray: I would do this again, but I like the term resource instead of mentor/mentee. We became a resource for each other rather than guiding each other through life goals and trying to find out what we want to be when we grow up.

Ty: I would also be more than happy to do it again. I'd love to help somebody out. At my age, this was probably one of the best things I could have done because I gained a resource and one with an ownership perspective.

Ray: Your perspective helped me tremendously on the side of servicing my internal younger/next-generation customer. You gave me an unbiased generational outlook.

Key takeaways: Make the time to communicate with more structure, view each other as resources and embrace any demographic differences as they are invaluable to learning and growing.

Marion and Kylee

Female professionals with similar people-focused jobs within different companies who have varying levels of work experience and different personal backgrounds.

Kylee: The icebreaker was vital. This initial step made me realize that for me to get better at building relationships, I need to learn more about the other person. The icebreaker exercise pushed me into a reflective thought process that helped me set my goals for this program.

Marion: Yes, it made me focus my goals on how I want to be more relatable to the next generation. I want to focus this journey on being more authentic, more relatable to the next generation, and not just make it always about me, but stepping out of my comfort zone and getting to know the other generation. The icebreaker was so vital to me because it helped to establish trust.

Kylee: At the halfway point, I had a conversation with ownership and realized that I needed to recalibrate as to what my plan looks like within my current job. That conversation helped me refocus. So, if I had to do it again, I would consider recalibration earlier in the program.

Marion: For me, at the halfway point, I already created a solid plan, but I discovered that wasn't enough for me. I needed to do something visually. So, I wrote down my vision of what it meant to be authentic and pasted it on my bathroom mirror. It became a gauge for me. My challenge became understanding that it was going to be a long journey that would take more than six sessions.

Kylee: I learned the value of being open and honest. Also that despite being in different stages of our careers, we have many similar challenges—the root causes are the same, they just look a little bit different in terms of how they're playing out for each of us. Working with you within this program also taught me to be more vocal and open with other people about my journey. It has made me want to be that resource for someone else.

Marion: I learned so much from you, too, including improving my technology skills to engage during COVID-19. You guided me to step out of my comfort zone and engage in technology to develop myself.

Key takeaways: Commit to the ice breaker to dig deeper and connect, find commonalities, and work through them together, be transparent, understand that this is a process and not an overnight relationship.