Reverse mentoring is both trendy and a useful development tool. In this article I will take you step-by-step through the benefits, examples of reverse mentoring programs and how to ensure your program succeeds.
Let’s start with a quick definition and the origins of reverse mentoring.
What is reverse mentoring?
A Mentor is an ‘experienced and trusted advisor’. That naturally defines a Mentee as ‘a person who is advised or counselled by a mentor’.
Typically, a Mentor is someone more senior in the organization and the Mentee is more junior. Typically, the Mentor shares their experience of how to climb the organization and achieve a successful career. There’s more on mentoring and coaching, including their similarities and differences.
Reverse mentoring flips that relationship. The Mentor is more junior in the organization, the Mentee is more senior.
This concept of reverse mentoring was first developed in 1999 by Jack Welsh at GE when he required 500 of his top executives to pair up with junior associates for the purpose of learning how to use the internet.
Reverse mentoring works by pairing a newer member of the team with a more senior employee. The junior team member can provide valuable insight into technologies and trends that older members of the workforce may not be as proficient in. ge.com
Since then the applications of reverse mentoring have been dramatically expanded, but the principle remains the same. Older, more senior staff learning from younger colleagues.
Together they form a ‘professional partnership’ that benefits the development of both.
The benefits of reverse mentoring
There are many benefits of reverse mentoring: for the mentee (the more senior person in the partnership!), the Mentor (the less senior person in the partnership) and for the organization too.
For the Mentee
The Mentee can gain valuable insights that can help them lead the organization. There are many potential insight areas, including:
- The uses of technology (particularly social media)
- Perceptions of the company
- Expectations that different generations have of work and career
- The inclusion challenges faced by minorities
For the Mentor
The Mentor can also benefit from the experience. For a more junior member of the organization, the opportunity to collaborate with a senior member of staff can:
- Give them a voice
- Help them develop their communication skills
- Build their network and reputation within the company
For the organization
As you would expect, the organization also benefits. There is potential for improved engagement and retention of junior staff. And the insights gained by the more senior staff offer significant benefits, including the potential to drive a more inclusive, collaborative and productive environment.
This Insperity article highlights 5 business benefits of reverse mentoring:
- Gives your company a fresh perspective
- Empowers emerging leaders
- Sharpens the saw (continuous learning)
- Teaches new workers critical skills
- Breaks down generational stereotypes
Examples of reverse mentoring programs
For many companies, reverse mentoring is an important part of the employer brand. As a result, there are plenty of ‘showcased’ reverse mentoring programs. Here we share a few of the most interesting that I have found.
This first video is from AXA and is rooted in the original concept: younger staff helping their older colleagues with ‘digital transformation’ and encouraging inter-generational dialogue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQltmugk9fc
This is an example from the UK NHS Foundation Trust. It’s a longer video but really highlights the value of a personal connection and how it can drive change within the leadership. The focus is supporting the BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) staff within the Trust:
And this example is from Lilly in the US, there’s also a D&I perspective to this reverse mentoring program:
And finally, here’s an example from Roche, which returns back to the original intent, to support older staff with technology adoption.
How to make a reverse mentoring program a success
There are 7 steps to keep in mind when developing a reverse mentoring program.
1. Define the goal and secure a senior sponsor
What is the business issue you’re addressing and how will you define the goal of the program? There are many potential benefits of reverse mentoring, you’ll need to decide the right focus for your program. Perhaps the greatest benefit to the business will be a technology focus, or perhaps there’s value in bridging generational barriers, or perhaps reverse mentoring can become part of a broader D&I strategy.
Once you’ve agreed the focus it will be helpful to secure a senior sponsor. Recruiting Mentees may well be amongst your biggest challenges and you’ll benefit from having a senior sponsor who can advocate for the program.
2. Set expectations
There are some key messages that you need to emphasize as you start to promote reverse mentoring.
Reverse mentoring forms part of the Mentee’s overall development program, it is the not answer to all their development needs.
There is a structured commitment. Typically, 3-9 months, with weekly or bi-weekly 1-1 meetings. Also, the Mentee will have more work to do outside of the meetings (applying what is learnt).
The Mentor’s role is to provide advice (see the definition, above). It’s the Mentee who must decide whether to accept that advice, and if they act on the advice, they own the outcomes.
The Mentor / Mentee relationship will be supported in the following ways (select what you think is appropriate for your own program!):
- An orientation and written agreement template, to kick-off the program
- Application of a communication styles assessment tool (such as DiSC) to help establish the working relationships
- Ongoing ‘check-ins’ to provide further, tailored support
- Get-togethers in the middle and at the end of the program, to allow all the Mentors in the program to connect and share their experiences (and the same for Mentees).
- An evaluation survey and feedback discussion at the end of the program
As you’re setting expectations you can also reference the benefits above and the examples too.
3. Promote the program and recruit applicants
Start by recruiting the Mentees (the more senior people in the organization). As mentioned earlier, in a reverse mentoring program it is this group that are likely to be the most challenging to recruit. You might want to consider running a pilot first, with a few early adopters, to build a case for reverse mentoring.
You will likely find that recruiting Mentors (the younger and less senior person in the partnership) is relatively easy.
4. Match the applications
This is the question that potential participants ask most often, “how will you match me?”.
The best way to do this is for potential participants to complete an application template. This will include a combination of matching criteria. For example, there can be specific, ‘hard’ data that allow for a clear match:
- I would like a Mentor / Mentee to be based in the same location. Yes / No.
- I would like a Mentor / Mentee from within the same function as me. Yes / No.
- I would like a Mentor / Mentee who is the same gender as me. Yes / No.
These matching criteria can be supplemented with more open questions. For example, for potential Mentees:
- Please describe your development needs (open text box)
- Please share any other information that would be helpful to match you to a Mentor (open text box)
When making a match, think of a Venn diagram. There are the skills and experience of the Mentor, and the development needs of the Mentee. A good match is achieved when the two sides of the Venn diagram have a good overlap!
It’s important when you’re promoting the program to highlight that it may not be possible to match every person who applies to participate in the program.
5. Run an orientation
Once the matching is complete, you’ll need to communicate the matches and kick-off the program with an orientation and appropriate training. The orientation will define the roles and the commitment, what to do if things are not working, the support that will be provided, etc.
A key outcome of the orientation should be the completion, by each Mentor / Mentee pair, of a written agreement. This will form the foundation of their partnership. A typical agreement template will have three sections: development needs, expectations of the relationship and logistics.
Training is typically focused around communications skills. This could include:
- How to become a better listener
- How to facilitate discussions
- Questioning techniques
It can also be helpful to include growth mindset activities into the discussion, as a context for personal growth.
6. Provide on-going support
Ongoing support can take several forms. Typically, these would be:
- Informal check-ins with the participants, perhaps on a monthly basis initially, just to see if everything is going smoothly and whether any further support is required
- Emails can also provide useful support, with links to additional relevant resources, skills and behaviors that help to make mentoring a success
- Finally, the participants will value the opportunity to connect as a group during the program. One way to do this is to bring together all the Mentors (virtually or face-to-face) to share their experiences (and for you to provide any additional support or guidance). And to also provide this opportunity for all the Mentees
7. Measure your success!
Finally, measurement of the program. This is where having a clear goal defined for the program really helps. There are many benefits to a reverse mentoring program, but to measure what you set out to achieve will validate the investment.
This can be achieved through an online survey as well as short focus groups to gather deeper insights.
Reverse mentoring in summary
Reverse mentoring flips the conventional mentoring relationship. The more senior employee is the Mentee and the more junior employee is the Mentor.
It originated to help senior staff understand how younger staff make use of technology. Since then many other applications and benefits have been recognized.
A successful program will be built around the following 7 points:
- Defining the goal and securing a senior sponsor
- Setting expectations
- Recruiting
- Matching
- Orientation and contracting
- Ongoing support
- Measurement
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