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![Mentor Why?
Demographics.
• Every day 8,000 Boomers (b.
1943–1964) retire from the US
workforce
• Millennials (b. 1981–2000) are
already half the US workforce
• They’re “stuck in line”
“I have learned to deeply
understand that lessons relayed
from baby boomers about
their careers and even
personal lives are always
(always, always) relevant. In
fact, they are gold and generally
must be married to any ‘New Age’
ideas in order to achieve success.”
[emphasis in original]
March 2015
4
Mentoring | STC NE
InterChange
“Five Things I Have Learned As a Millennial Working
With Baby Boomers,” Colleen Dilen Schneider. Posted 26
Mar 2014, retrieved 5 Mar 2015 from
http://tinyurl.com/kulyrxj](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/fourwaysmentoringstrengthensourprofession-150328100523-conversion-gate01/85/Four-ways-mentoring-strengthens-our-profession-4-320.jpg)
![Mentor When?
“We all need to help interested professionals get better, move forward,
and obliterate barriers. We should help experienced professionals stay
relevant. If you are young, you have much to share and learn.
If you are older, you have much to share and learn… [A]nyone
can coach anyone, if the conditions are right.” [emphasis mine]
—Lisa Haneberg, Coaching Up and Down the Generations (ASTD Press, 2010)
“In general, mentoring opens opportunities for the older generations
to impart years of knowledge to the younger generations, while the
younger generations mentor the older generations with regard to
technology… [This] communication … strengthens all generations.”
—Ahmed Al-Asfour and Larry Lettau, “Strategies for Leadership Styles for Multi-
Generational Workforce.” Journal of Leadership Accountability and Ethics, Vol. 11,
No. 2, 2014.
March 2015Mentoring | STC NE
InterChange
8](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/fourwaysmentoringstrengthensourprofession-150328100523-conversion-gate01/85/Four-ways-mentoring-strengthens-our-profession-8-320.jpg)
Uploaded bySteven Jong
Four ways mentoring strengthens our profession
The document discusses the importance of mentoring in the professional landscape, particularly focusing on the dynamics between baby boomers and millennials in the workforce. It outlines the benefits of mentoring for both mentees and mentors, highlighting how it fosters knowledge transfer, professional development, and organizational progression. Additionally, it provides information about existing mentoring programs and resources for those interested in participating.
Four ways mentoring strengthens our profession
- 1. Four Ways MentoringStrengthens Our Profession Steven Jong STC New England InterChange Conference March 2015
- 2. Once upon atime… March 2015Mentoring | STC NE InterChange 2
- 3. What is Mentoring? Aninformal arrangement where one person directly shares knowledge, skills, and experience to help advance another person’s career Mentoring can be: • A brief interaction to pass along one piece of information • A longer-term relationship • A long-term relationship It’s up to the partners March 2015 3 Mentoring | STC NE InterChange
- 4. Mentor Why? Demographics. • Everyday 8,000 Boomers (b. 1943–1964) retire from the US workforce • Millennials (b. 1981–2000) are already half the US workforce • They’re “stuck in line” “I have learned to deeply understand that lessons relayed from baby boomers about their careers and even personal lives are always (always, always) relevant. In fact, they are gold and generally must be married to any ‘New Age’ ideas in order to achieve success.” [emphasis in original] March 2015 4 Mentoring | STC NE InterChange “Five Things I Have Learned As a Millennial Working With Baby Boomers,” Colleen Dilen Schneider. Posted 26 Mar 2014, retrieved 5 Mar 2015 from http://tinyurl.com/kulyrxj
- 5. Millennials in theWorkplace “Mentoring Millennials,” Meister and Willyerd, Harvard Business Review, May 2010 • Limited or no experience with corporate environment • Used to constant, individual feedback • Pursue fulfillment rather than money • Expect employers to have social goals March 2015 5 Mentoring | STC NE InterChange
- 6. Mentee Persona • 25years old • BA in English, Tech Writing concentration • 2 years of experience “I’m looking for an opportunity to learn and build my skills. Sometimes I feel I’m banging my head against a wall. Isn’t there a better way to work? Am I doing meaningful work, or just completing a series of tasks? I’d love to have someone to talk to about that.” March 2015 6 Mentoring | STC NE InterChange © lightwavemedia - Fotolia.com
- 7. Mentor Persona • 50years old • Long-time consultant • 25 years of experience “I’m grateful to the people who helped me get started, and I’d like to do the same. I wish I knew then what I know now. I’ve learned to do good work and do it efficiently. And I’m happy to tell people how I do it.” March 2015 7 Mentoring | STC NE InterChange Reproduced with permission
- 8. Mentor When? “We allneed to help interested professionals get better, move forward, and obliterate barriers. We should help experienced professionals stay relevant. If you are young, you have much to share and learn. If you are older, you have much to share and learn… [A]nyone can coach anyone, if the conditions are right.” [emphasis mine] —Lisa Haneberg, Coaching Up and Down the Generations (ASTD Press, 2010) “In general, mentoring opens opportunities for the older generations to impart years of knowledge to the younger generations, while the younger generations mentor the older generations with regard to technology… [This] communication … strengthens all generations.” —Ahmed Al-Asfour and Larry Lettau, “Strategies for Leadership Styles for Multi- Generational Workforce.” Journal of Leadership Accountability and Ethics, Vol. 11, No. 2, 2014. March 2015Mentoring | STC NE InterChange 8
- 9. Mentor What? • Breakinginto the field • Working in corporate environment • Working independently • Specific tools • Specific deliverable types • Specific domains • Dealing with SMEs • Breaking into a new domain… The list is long March 2015 9 Mentoring | STC NE InterChange
- 10. Mentor How? • Faceto face or virtual • Set small tasks and goals • Listen and advise—don’t judge or offer solutions • Provide frequent feedback, not just affirmation • Talk about professional development and training • Possible activities: ▫ Skype ▫ Phone conversations ▫ Email correspondence ▫ Attend an event together ▫ Meet for coffee March 2015Mentoring | STC NE InterChange 10 © Huntstock - Fotolia.com
- 11. Mentee How? • Takethe initiative. • Expect (and suggest) a limited time schedule. • Interviewing SMEs is an important skill. The mentor is an SME. Work at it! • Be honest about your needs and goals. March 2015Mentoring | STC NE InterChange 11 © WavebreakMediaMicro - Fotolia.com
- 12. Mentoring Ground Rules •The mentee reaches out to the mentor (in agreed-upon times and ways) • Keep the line of communication open • The mentor is not a judge, friend, parent, teacher, boss, or coach, but can be a little of all • Neither mentor nor mentee is a labor source • The time commitment is up to partners, but is typically only a few hours March 2015 12 Mentoring | STC NE InterChange
- 13. Mentoring Benefits Mentees •Expand your professional network • Fill in gaps • Gain knowledge and perspective on the workplace • Become (or stay) relevant • Jump-start (or supercharge) your career • Proactively direct your future Jessica Hagy, ThisIsIndexed.com, http://tinyurl.com/pgt38gl March 2015 13 Mentoring | STC NE InterChange
- 14. Mentoring Benefits Mentors •Looks great on your résumé • Expands your own network • Boosts your own energy and enthusiasm • Sharpens your own skills • Meets expectations as a senior contributor • Delivers tremendous personal satisfaction • Pays it back; pays it forward The professional you develop may be yourself March 2015 14 Mentoring | STC NE InterChange
- 15. Mentoring Benefits WorkGroups • “Onboarding” is a critical activity • Staff development moves the group forward • Improves retention (which reduces costs) • Avoids conflict • Mentoring vs training vs tutoring March 2015Mentoring | STC NE InterChange 15 © .shock - Fotolia.com
- 16. Mentoring Benefits theProfession • Building on base of experience; retention of “tribal knowledge” • Development of next generation of professionals • Benefits to both Chapter and Society: ▫ Value to (local) members ▫ Source of new members ▫ Source of volunteers and future leaders March 2015 16 Mentoring | STC NE InterChange
- 17. Three Existing STCMentoring Programs 1. New England Chapter mentoring program 2. New York Metro Chapter “Talk to a Professional” program 3. STC Mentoring Board March 2015 17 Mentoring | STC NE InterChange
- 18. STC New EnglandMentoring Program • No cost • Two-hour minimum commitment • Register at stcnewengland.org • Administrator (Steven Jong) matches mentees and mentors • Mentors remain anonymous until matched • LinkedIn recommendation for mentor upon successful engagement March 2015 18 Mentoring | STC NE InterChange
- 19. New York MetroChapter “Talk to a Professional” Program • Register at stcnymetro.org • Administrator matches mentees and mentors • $20 fee paid by mentee • Two-hour commitment March 2015 19 Mentoring | STC NE InterChange
- 20. STC Mentoring Board •Register at STC.org • No cost • No administrator—mentees pick mentors March 2015 20 Mentoring | STC NE InterChange
- 21. If You Wantto Get Involved… • STC New England Chapter: http://tinyurl.com/STCNEMentoring; Mentoring@stcnewengland.org; (978) 413-2553 • STC Mentor Board: http://tinyurl.com/STCMentoringBoard; membership@stc.org; +1 (703) 522-4114 March 2015 21 Mentoring | STC NE InterChange
- 22. For More Information •Mentoring 101: Other Duties as Assigned by Manager, Deb Lockwood, 22 May 2012. • Teach What You Know: A Practical Leader’s Guide to Knowledge Transfer Using Peer Mentoring, Steve Trautman. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2007. • “Mentoring Millennials,” Jeanne C. Meister and Karie Willyerd, Harvard Business Review, May 2010, pp. 68–72. • “10 Tips for Mentoring Millennials,” National Association of Colleges and Employers. Posted 26 Sep 2012, retrieved 1 Mar 2015 from http://tinyurl.com/n9gvzqr. • They Don’t Teach Corporate in College (3rd Edition), Alexandra Levit. Pompton Plain, NJ: Career Press, 2014. • “How to behave at work—a primer for your first day on the job,” @Jason, Medium.com. Posted 14 Jan 2015, retrieved 1 Mar 2015 from http://tinyurl.com/ngkdqe6. • “Millennials in the Workplace (Executive Summary),” Bentley University. Retrieved 5 Mar 2015 from http://tinyurl.com/kfooaru. March 2015 22 Mentoring | STC NE InterChange
Editor's Notes
- #2 Almost 40 years in field Over 30 years in STC Active in Chapter: Competitions, leadership Active in Society: Board, Associate Fellow, Certification Commission Now active in mentoring (at both levels)
- #3 I want to tell you a story about a young writer who encountered three mentors… 1976: Got an entry-level tech-writing job at Honeywell, just one choice among several Charlie, his cubemate, was an informal mentor; he learned how to work efficiently and effectively 1978: Hosted STC Boston meeting (80/240 members) 1982: John was a mentor; joined STC, presented paper at annual conference in Boston; he was exposed to a world of possibilities 1984: The guy who let me use his Mac to make slides for a UI class prompted me to sell some Honeywell stock to buy a Fat Mac and Apple stock That writer is still in the field today; you won’t be surprised to hear it’s me I don’t remember the Mac owner’s name; I’m still on a Christmas-card basis with Charlie; but I asked John for advice just this year [Show of hands: When you were getting started, did someone mentor you as well?]
- #5 81M Boomers 61M Gen X 85M Millennials As of this year there are more Millennials alive than Boomers 8,000 Boomers a day turn 65 (AARP figures), and as the economy improves, we will retire even faster [“How millennials will save your company,” Jennifer Salpietro, HayGroup. Posted 23 Apr 2014, retrieved 5 Mar 2015 from http://tinyurl.com/nwlya6p] Millennials have the technical expertise, the education, the energy, and the self-confidence to succeed, but they lack the experience They are stuck in the pipeline behind Boomers (and the smaller cohort of Gen Xers)
- #6 A word about sweeping generalities: Different generations, as I told you last year, are molded by different shared life experiences and events. Everyone in each generation can tell you about their shared experiences, whether it’s growing up in the Depression, growing up with AIDS, or growing up in the War on Terror; and where they were when they heard about Pearl Harbor, the JFK assassination, or 9/11. (Consider: Millennials entering the workforce today have never known peacetime.) Each generation is also uniquely influenced by the generation before it. For example, 50% of Millennials list as their most admired persons their parents. Values tend to be “baked in” and remain over time, so members of the same generation share the same values for their entire lives. The general statements about what different generations think and want are valid because they come from large demographic surveys and are significantly different. For example, one question has been, “What is the most important thing about your job?” The difference from generation to generation is striking (such as a 2:1 ratio of “meaningful work” versus “pay”). It may not be true for individuals, but it’s true at the macro level. I’ve known Boomers who wouldn’t work for military contractors (though my father did); today Millennials will turn down jobs at companies that don’t have a social goal. This isn’t just valueless, abstract information: corporations and universities have been planning and acting on this information for some time. [After a recent fire in upstate New York, “Schenectedy Millennials Council” formed to help, using GoFundMe (hat tip Phylise Banner)]
- #7 Here is the target persona for our mentoring program. I wonder if we want to filter out beginners. Your thoughts?
- #8 This is the target persona of a mentor in our program This shows lengthy experience, but that’s not necessarily a requirement
- #9 Is it always older to younger? No, it’s more knowledge/skills/experience to less. Therefore, everyone can mentor, and everyone can be mentored.
- #10 [Whiteboard: What do you know?] Technical communicators work across a wide domain of knowledge, skills, and abilities Nobody knows it all; notice that several topics could be known by someone independent of age
- #11 Surveys have shown that these behaviors are most appreciated by mentees regardless of generation: Most importantly, be a positive role model. If you’re feeling cynical or unenthusiastic about your work, you’ll communicate that. Don’t. Also, mentoring needs to be confidential; What is said remains between the two of you. Vague, open-ended conversations aren’t effective. Many people respond well to the idea of establishing a small task with specific goals. Work on something together—a resume, a problem, a job-related question, an online presence, a Chapter-related task. (Not a work assignment!) If you do a task, set goals and be accountable. Complete your action items, and demand that your mentee do the same. Model personal accountability. Listen first, don’t just talk. Sometimes mentees just need a sounding board so they can think a problem through by themselves. (I’ve experienced that.) You’re not “a sage on a stage,” but “a guide on the side.” Offer advice, not solutions. Everyone likes feedback, regardless of their age. Make feedback specific, frequent, and unambiguous. The best sequence is: State the focus. Get agreement on the focus. As Lincoln said: “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” Ask permission to give your advice: “I have some ideas on how you might improve on what you did, if you’d like to hear them.” Use “I” statements: not “you ought to…” but “what I did in the same situation was…” When giving feedback, say “yes” as well as “no”—be honest. Experience is the name we give to our mistakes, and the world is a tough teacher, one that gives the test first and the lesson afterwards. Be willing to share your experiences both positive and negative. If you’ve tried something and failed, be honest about it. With experience, we learn there are many ways to approach a problem. Don’t just pontificate, and don’t get mad if a mentee doesn’t take your advice.
- #12 The “pull” model works best: the mentee takes the initiative and approaches the mentor, rather than the other way around. Don’t expect weekly hour-long one-on-ones; that’s too much time to ask. Don’t go in looking for solutions to problems. You need to learn how to solve problems on your own. Treat your mentor as an SME to be interviewed. Interviewing techniques include: Preparing a concrete set of goals and objectives for your mentoring relationship. Researching your mentor's background. Having a written list of questions before each meeting. Preparing conversation points. Visualizing conversations between your mentor and you as if you've known your mentor for a long time.
- #13 The relationship between a mentor and mentee is up to the partners, but here are some guidelines [“Boundaries of Mentoring,” Pat Cline, February 2013] Mentor Boundaries: What kind of access do you want to grant the mentee? Does communication from the mentee require an appointment? How much are you comfortable revealing about your personal career journey? Mentee Boundaries: Avoid unhealthy dependence. For example, mentors are not expected to have definitive answers or be available on demand. You’re not looking for a friend or a date. Assess your own boundaries. Consider "what would I do if someone asked me to do this?" Prioritize how you can best utilize your mentor's time and expertise.
- #14 Mentoring strengthens the profession by providing four benefits (arguably six, but I said four) This first one almost goes without saying, but…
- #15 It might not seem so, but mentoring also benefits mentors Dan McCarthy, “Great Leadership” blog: “Mentoring is a gift and a privilege. To be asked by someone for mentoring means that person sees you as a role model and believes your wisdom can help them grow and be more successful. Mentoring someone has the potential to be one of the most rewarding and satisfying things you’ll ever do in your career.” Research shows that people who help others at work are more likely to be promoted and earn more. [1995 by Professors George Dreher of Indiana University and Taylor Cox, Jr. of the University of Michigan] [Isn’t it your turn to help someone else?]
- #16 Have you ever worked in a group and thought, “I wish some of my colleagues knew how to…” A methodical approach to onboarding uses training plans. However, many groups aren’t that organized. Mentoring can augment training (a formal, standardized approach) and tutoring (one-on-one training in a specific area) to get people up to speed. There is a significant need: “Less than 2% [of Millennials] identify a colleague at work or an employer or supervisor as the person who encourages them to pursue their professional aspirations... Companies are missing a great opportunity to retain employees by not taking a personal interest in them and making them feel as though they are part of a work family that supports achievement of their career goals.” [“Millennials in the Workplace (Executive Summary),” Bentley University. Retrieved 5 Mar 2015 from http://tinyurl.com/kfooaru] Mentoring is: A development tool that grows knowledge, networks, and careers. The process allows more experienced employees to support and develop other employees, thus accelerating the development of both participants. A knowledge sharing opportunity that facilitates the flow of information and ideas. An organizational culture enhancer to help employees better understand the organization’s operations, policies, and practices; it also strengthens appreciation for organizational cultural diversity, and expands professional networking. A beneficial experience that increases job satisfaction, which translates into employee retention. (Throwing new employees into the deep end results in some drownings... Turnover is a cost you can minimize.) Mentoring Is Not: A guarantee of a promotion; however, both parties may develop competencies and skills that improve their overall job performance. A replacement for formal training and development, but rather should augment those activities. A replacement for management. Necessarily about cultivating a new friendship outside of the mentoring experience. Having your mentor find solutions for you. A workgroup can be a competitive environment, and setting up external mentoring is one way to improve staff in such an environment. Sometimes a prophet without honor can swap with a neighboring prophet. So if someone in your workgroup could use a mentor, I suggest having that person contact us—and then offering your services as a mentor yourself!
- #17 Do you volunteer? Take a leadership role? Don’t you wish there were more people who would? Don’t you wish there were people who would want to take on small tasks? In surveys, Boomers say they are cynical and mistrustful of authority, and have proven a difficult demographic for professional organizations. Some of us have been active for decades and are frankly getting tired. In surveys, Millennials are energetic, optimistic about the future, and primed to do well AND do good. “Almost 70 percent say giving back and being civically engaged are their highest priorities” [Leigh Buchanon, Meet the Millennials]. As a friend of STC, this sounds more promising to me! The profile of someone who wants to make a difference in the world, who wants to make their job their career, and who comes forward and requests mentoring from us, closely matches the profile of a volunteer as well as a future leader—they are exactly the people we need and are looking for (and dying for)!
- #19 STC NE program, started this year, is successful, attracting mentees from across the US We are off to a very good start, but we could use more mentors Administrator matches and can help resolve problems
- #20 We looked at the NY Metro program in designing our own 2 years old Two dozen mentees