Millennial Mentoring

A recent organizational engagement initiative had a resounding impact on the way I perceive young professionals today. A simile to how a good book or a defining travel experience enlightens you and alters your approach to life thereafter.

Our growth as individuals inevitably depends on how we attune ourselves to the changing times and leverage the opportunities it presents. I find the new generation especially #millennials to be an intriguing demographic - their passion for life, work and people are defining the dynamics of societies today. And considering their growing presence across the organisational workforce, leaders must understand them better to help unlock their optimal potential. Therefore, as part of the #ReverseMentoring initiative at Cipla, for my first session I chose the topic - Understanding Millennials. While the contrasts between millennials and my generation were evident, I found the interaction extremely insightful and hence thought of sharing a few learnings that stayed with me.

1.   Relationships and belongingness: Millennials have a strong sense of belongingness and care about the relationships they build at work. They don’t want to be merely perceived as employees that get work done, instead prefer being valued for their contribution and consequently be mentored by their managers.

2.   Passion for purpose: Passion runs in their DNA and they seek to align their purpose and values with those of their employers. It is this passion that fuels their drive to stay relevant, question status quo, transform things and eventually create a lasting impact. Open to experiment and explore newer careers avenues, they like to forge their own paths to success.

3.   Autonomy and flexibility: When there is passion, the time you dedicate to a task is inconsequential. However, what matters is choice. If millennials opt to work hard, it’s primarily their choice than being coerced to go beyond the call of duty due to an imposition. They especially value a work-culture that provisions for a work-life balance.

4.   Encouragement and validation: A consistent dialogue, feedback, validation and the ability to express oneself is germane to these social-media natives. Considering how deeply millennials value self-development, their manager’s inclination to help them grow is a direct measure of commitment to the millennial’s future propects.

5.   Experience Matters: Brought up in a 'customer is king' and 'your feedback is valuable' environment, the millennial crowd seeks top notch experience at work or outside  – the cream therefore are quick to move for better opportunities. Extremely straightforward in their approach, irrespective of hierarchy, this group can be credited for the genesis of the unbossing culture in organisations. 

Mentorship is a two-way street and reverse mentoring is a great new way to reimagine the future of learning - be it unlocking the secrets for employee-retention, or having vital conversations about diversity and inclusivity or learning new-age skills. A tried and tested path to a more open and future-ready organization.