Mentor Magic 2.Y: Engaging Gen Y with Modern Mentoring

While considering professional development options to enhance my HR knowledge and strengthen my leadership skills, I weighed further formal business management education against practical learning options. Because HR work demands a high degree of patience to work with a diverse array of people (without the help of a guidebook); I decided to sharpen my leadership skills by pursuing mentoring instead of managing.   

Mentoring is the ideal way to challenge an employee’s thinking and steer them to their own solution instead of telling them what to do. This disciplined approach to problem solving is the essence of what transformational leadership is all about; creating change and achieving goals within the work environment by growing both the leader and team member (Transformational Leadership Report, transformationalleadership.net). By pursuing my Certified Mentor Practitioner designation I am learning to assist others in finding their own solutions and creating better development solutions for my organization.  

Mentor Defined

“A mentor is a person who through a trusted relationship helps guide, support and counsel a person through the world of work with a focus on personal and professional growth and the facilitation of critical thinking skills” (Lawrence, D., TalentC).  Two elements of a thriving organization are imbedded in the mentor definition; professional growth and critical thinking.  Competitive organizations need great, critical-thinkers.  Great critical thinkers are selective about where they work and are generally attracted to organizations that readily offer development opportunities and career growth.

As human resource leaders our job is to do the people stuff; attracting, retaining and growing talent.  Mentoring supports all three of these objectives and is an ideal approach to engage Generation Y.

Mentoring to engage gen Y

My Gen Y peer group has a well-documented difference of opinion about work compared to other generations.  MSNBC recently reported that 85% of its interns expected to be mentored rather than managed.  This is a challenging viewpoint that contradicts traditional hierarchies.  With Gen Y influence forward thinking, evolved organizations will employ fewer command and control managers, and focus more on enabling independence and engagement to power increasingly complex business. I envision a future where people leaders motivate and develop talent to improve retention and productivity and a small number of managers to track and organize headcount.

Access to Information and Expertise

Gen Y is a generation of collaborative Googlers.  They want quick, reliable answers at their fingertips and draw from a network of peers to gather opinions to make decisions.  For this generation to be engaged, they need to be connected to others and involved in their own personal development. Organizations that encourage resourcefulness and self-reliance; rejecting the idea that only the most senior managers are expected to have answers, overcome barriers that prevent flow of information and roadblocks to collaboration. 

Rather than scheduling a time with a busy senior manager, a mentee can access their mentor to engage in discussion and timely learning. It also provides a go-to source for mentees to ask questions, share ideas and brainstorm. The best part; a mentor does not have to be a subject matter expert to be able to assist. A mentor simply needs to have navigated similar situations and have knowledge of resources and subject matter experts to make connections for the mentee.

Regular feedback

The Gen Y desire for timely and regular feedback is a fundamental work expectation.  Gen Ys like regular check points to ensure they are on the right track to achieving the desired result, and validation of their own skills and abilities.  The old management approach of if you don’t hear from me assume everything is good does not work for Gen Ys nor does a once-a-year performance review. 

Managers with several direct reports and responsibility for deliverables may find it unmanageable to provide constant feedback. A mentor is trained to listen to concerns, elicit possible solutions from the mentee, provide feedback or suggestions, and can follow up after the solution is applied.  The mentor, unlike a manager, gains the benefit of seeing a mentee go through all the stages of problem solving and may be a better gauge of performance too.

Professional development

Organizations with first class on-boarding practices help their new Gen Y hires to plan for the immediate expectations of their job and look into the future to build commitment on career and professional development goals.  Planning for the longer term and communicating it with a Gen Y is an excellent strategy to overcome short tenures.  Workopolis found job hopping is on the rise with the average employee tenure today at just 1.7 years on the job.  Happy employees are not immune.  28% reported they would not stick around without an opportunity for growth and would look elsewhere if they felt they were not getting it in their current role (Workopolis).

Employers with the best intentions for star performers should not expect Gen Ys to wait patiently for their name to be called for a promotion.  It is important to distinguish that Gen Y employees do not expect immediate promotions and drastic upward movement; they just want to know what their career progression looks like and be assured opportunity is available. Since corporate timelines and individual ones are not always in sync; informal learning between a mentor and mentee is an easy, low-cost activity to initiate and schedule when the mentor already works for the organization. Mentors can be a beneficial resource to mentees providing exposure to a variety of topics that are more useful to current challenges while preparing them for future opportunities.   

What’s next?

Discover and explore the tangible benefits of mentorship for yourself. Reconnect with peers and junior team members through mentorship to discuss ideas, consider alternatives, request feedback and plan for career growth.  You will see results and growth in each session. Organizations can draw from collective knowledge to build stronger, healthier workplaces Gen Y can be excited about working for. 

Author:
Morgan Johnson, CHRP
Manager – Employee Potential & Relations, Artis Real Estate Investment Trust 
e: mjohnson@artisreit.com, 204-947-1250