{"id":6758,"date":"2022-07-25T16:08:25","date_gmt":"2022-07-25T20:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/?p=6758"},"modified":"2023-12-11T12:20:55","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T17:20:55","slug":"bridge-generation-gap-at-work-mentoring-boosts-productivity-reduces-turnover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/bridge-generation-gap-at-work-mentoring-boosts-productivity-reduces-turnover\/","title":{"rendered":"Bridge the Generation Gap at Work: Mentoring Boosts Productivity &#038; Reduces Turnover"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><button id=\"listenButton1\" class=\"responsivevoice-button\" type=\"button\" value=\"Play\" title=\"ResponsiveVoice Tap to Start\/Stop Speech\"><span>&#128266; Listen to this article<\/span><\/button>\n        <script>\n            listenButton1.onclick = function(){\n                if(responsiveVoice.isPlaying()){\n                    responsiveVoice.cancel();\n                }else{\n                    responsiveVoice.speak(\"The benefits of mentoring are clear, so why leave these relationships to chance? Organizations with structured, intentional mentoring programs create better workplaces and happier employees. Plus, businesses benefit when experienced workers pass on their institutional knowledge to junior staff.\u00a0 Among the best places for professional mentoring are multigenerational workplaces, which might include baby boomers, Gen Xers, millennials, and folks from Gen Z. Business leaders can promote the cross-generational transfer of knowledge and skills through intentional and structured mentoring programs, and by implementing best practices for inclusion, like employee resource groups.\u00a0 Mentoring improves employee morale, boosts workplace retention, and creates a leadership pipeline. Younger staff need the guidance and training that older colleagues can provide, while mentoring also helps senior workers gain new insights and improve their communication skills.\u00a0 But without an established framework, employees might be reluctant to put in the time and effort needed for effective cross-generational learning and professional development. This highly valuable exchange of knowledge can also be derailed by communication differences, staff turnover, and busy schedules. However, by making mentorship a priority and integrating it in the flow of work, it is possible to encourage older or more experienced workers to pass on their knowledge to younger or newer employees. Labor shortages and workforce development Nearly every industry has been affected by the tight labor market, which has business leaders scrambling to find and retain enough skilled employees to maintain operations. People working in chronically understaffed workplaces are often overworked, overwhelmed, and have little time to devote to training. In particular, labor shortages in the nursing and construction industries have made cross-generational mentoring and training difficult.\u00a0 Workforce development is the top issue in the construction industry right now, says David Price, owner of David Price Construction, Inc. and president of the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County. In fact, there are more than 400,000 unfilled construction jobs nationwide, he says, and by the end of 2023, that deficit could grow to a million. The industry was also hit hard by the pandemic and the Great Resignation, with an average of 197,250 people a month quitting their jobs in the last four months of 2021. Plus, the construction workforce is aging, with the median age of industry professionals around 41.\u00a0 \u201cWe really need skilled workers almost as much as we need people to run the project, if not more,\u201d Price says. \u201cTo say that the industry is banging its head against the wall to try to figure out this issue would be an understatement.\u201d Since the pandemic, similar staffing challenges have hit the healthcare industry and nursing in particular. In an August 2021 survey from the American Organization for Nursing Leadership, 47% of nurse leaders identified staff retention, furloughs, and layoffs as top challenges. According to a 2022 report by McKinsey and Company, the U.S. may experience a nursing shortage of between 200,000 and 450,000 registered nurses by 2025. No matter the industry, today\u2019s business leaders have to approach staffing with a holistic approach. It\u2019s not enough to attract new workers; they must also retain current employees. One way to do this is by encouraging mentoring, which can decrease turnover, foster inclusion, and promote work engagement. It might seem counterintuitive to ask overburdened staff to take on another task, but professional mentoring pays off in happier, less mobile workers. Making mentoring and support a priority for nurses 15 years ago, at WakeMed Health & Hospitals in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Division of Nursing established a structured mentoring program, called Guide to Professional Success (GPS). While informal mentoring had been happening previously, staff recognized that these relationships supported retention and workplace engagement so decided to make the program more robust. \u201cWe felt like we needed to really put forth more effort in having a structured program that provided accountability and guidance,\u201d says Harriet Stephenson, Director of Nursing Education at WakeMed Health & Hospitals. \u201cWe put a process in place that would be a very formalized program, and our chief nursing officer was very instrumental in setting the expectation that every unit follow this process,\u201d she says. \u201cThe benefits of staff support and the benefits of what a mentor can provide for new hires were just hands down a value for everybody.\u201d As part of the hospital\u2019s structured orientation program for nurses, new hires are assigned a preceptor, who monitors the nurse\u2019s technical skills, and matched with a mentor, who helps with other aspects of professional development. Mentees typically meet with mentors once a month for six months to a year after their hire date. Mentor coordinators in each hospital unit advise mentors, make matches, and follow up to ensure meetings are taking place and the relationships are working.\u00a0 Experience, not age, guides who is matched with whom. This is a best practice for any organization-sponsored mentorship program, as it capitalizes on participants\u2019 diverse expertise. At WakeMed, younger mentors might be enlisted to guide less-experienced, older nurses, or the mentor and mentee might be close in age.\u00a0 \u201cWithin nursing, you\\'ve got people coming in \u2013 second or third career \u2013 at different ages. They typically come from other experiences, so what they can bring to the table is beneficial for everybody,\u201d says Stephenson. \u201cThey can almost mentor each other.\u201d Mentors are all volunteers, but participants are rewarded with professional incentives.\u00a0 \u201cWe have a professional ladder that awards points for different activities that are over and beyond your job, but support your department and support the Division of Nursing. If you\\'re a mentor, it helps you in this professional ladder and can increase your pay,\u201d Stephenson says. \u201cBut we found a lot of people are mentors because that\\'s their passion, and they want to help support new staff.\u201d\u00a0 However, she says staffing shortages in the nursing industry as a whole have made it challenging to keep enough skilled nursing mentors in the pipeline. \u201cThat would probably be our biggest challenge with staffing, having enough staff to be in the role of the mentor across the system,\u201d Stephenson says. \u201cParticipation is not a requirement, but it is an expectation, because we know that mentoring is going to help support retention.\u201d\u00a0 The benefits of cross-generational mentoring Carrie Fraser, a registered nurse at WakeMed, has been a nurse for 19 years and a mentor for 15. She was one of the first nurses to be trained as a mentor in WakeMed\u2019s GPS program.\u00a0 \u201cBecause I\\'m older, a lot of times the younger nurses will look up to me. They look to me for guidance and comfort and \u2018Am I doing this right?\u2019 They just want that reassurance, so as an older nurse now, I\\'m able to provide that to them,\u201d she says. \u201cEven 15 years ago, I still had a good bit of experience under my belt, so I was able to help guide and comfort and push them in the right direction.\u201d\u00a0 Fraser emphasizes that mentors are not managers. While supervisors focus on job standards and performance issues, mentors concentrate on professional development and personal support. It\u2019s also key that mentors are passionate about nursing and committed to passing on their expertise. \u201cAs a mentor, I\\'m fostering their relationships,\u201d she says. \u201cI\\'m trying to grow them as an individual, as a nurse. I want them to be successful in the department, which I think a supervisor does too, but they don\\'t have that closeness that a mentor and a mentee have. We become friends, not only at work but outside of work too.\u201d Fraser encourages the newer nurses to join committees, take different classes, pursue other certifications, or get involved with a national nursing organization. These extracurricular activities might not occur to the mentee, so Fraser makes sure to stress that these other opportunities can lead to growth.\u00a0 \u201cI\\'m constantly telling them other things that are available,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is how you\\'re going to meet people. This is how you\\'re going to be able to advance down the road and move into different avenues, if that\\'s a passion for you.\u201d These cross-generational relationships also help the senior nurses, keeping them fresh and passionate about their work. On a personal note, Fraser went back to school recently, and she says her mentees helped her with her school papers and gave her advice on how to be a student again.\u00a0 As well as being a mentor herself, Fraser is the mentor coordinator for the Surgical Trauma Intensive Care Unit. While there has been some turnover, she says nurses on her unit aren\u2019t leaving because of job dissatisfaction. Rather, they are moving on to pursue education or other career growth opportunities \u2013 the kind of turnover employers want to promote.\u00a0 \u201cWe have done a phenomenal job maintaining our staff in the Surgical Trauma ICU through COVID. We\\'ve done great,\u201d Fraser says. \u201cWe have a strong department, we have good relations, and we all look at each other like we\\'re family, so maybe that\\'s why. We really do have a fantastic relationship with everybody.\u201d\u00a0 Leveraging teams to encourage mentoring in the construction industry The high demand for skilled workers makes mentoring and training challenging in the construction industry too, Price says. Skilled tradespeople will often go to the highest-paying job, leading to high turnover. Plus, those who are on the job site have little time to devote to mentoring.\u00a0 \u201cYou have guys that you\\'re paying $40 an hour as a carpenter. They need to be working those 40 hours a week, for you to be able to make a profit on a job. Pulling them away to train someone is potentially detrimental to your profit margins,\u201d he says. Price adds that folks in the building trades tend to be introverted and task-oriented. \u201cThose guys like to just go out there, focus straight ahead on what they have in front of them and don\\'t necessarily always want to try and train somebody. Finding somebody who has the patience to do that is difficult,\u201d he says. Companies can use incentives or bonuses to encourage training outside of the 40-hour week, but time and money constraints make that solution impractical. Price prefers to encourage experienced workers to pass on their knowledge by pairing them with someone less experienced on the job site. Putting people on diverse teams can be a great way to encourage the exchange of knowledge and foster a mentoring relationship.\u00a0 \u201cYour carpenters and things like that are introverted by nature, so it\\'s difficult for them to come out of their shell to share with somebody else,\u201d Price says. \u201cThe way it works best is when you\\'re working as a team on a project. It\\'s up to the mentee in a lot of cases, on their own initiative, to follow what the mentor is doing, especially if they\\'re not the type of person to teach you something.\u201d Working closely with another person fosters relationships in an organic way, which is especially helpful for introverts. If you\\'re working on a job together, you don\\'t necessarily have to say anything because you\u2019re watching, emulating and doing instead. As long as people pay attention and commit to learning through observation, the knowledge can be passed on in a way that\\'s comfortable for both parties. \u201cIf you have a three-person team \u2013 a cut man and two guys nailing \u2013 some of that knowledge is passed through watching the cut guy make his cuts: how he measures and what he does. But if you\\'re not watching that, if you\\'re just playing on your phone while you\\'re waiting for that board to come back to you, you\\'re not doing anything to better yourself,\u201d Price says. \u201cBut if, while you\\'re waiting, you\\'re watching, you\\'re learning, you\\'re actively trying to become the cut guy, so you can be the $30-an-hour guy and not a $20-an-hour guy, then that\\'s bettering yourself.\u00a0 \u201cI always tell my guys, if you\\'re not learning, you\\'re not bettering yourself,\u201d he adds. Sometimes, learning is as simple as paying attention to the work happening around you. Trade associations, employee resource groups, and other options for mentoring Professional groups and associations often sponsor mentoring programs, many geared toward entrepreneurs. At the moment, Price and the HBA-Wake leadership are working on a mentoring program for new business owners. When he was just starting out, Price was helped by a similar program through the Remodelers Council, and now he wants to share his own business knowledge.\u00a0 \u201cOne of our bigger initiatives is creating a committee that will help underrepresented companies in our industry \u2013 Hispanic-owned, Black-owned, even White-owned companies for that matter \u2013 that maybe are great at what they do, but not great at being a business,\u201d he says.\u00a0 Employee resource groups can be another source of professional mentoring. In particular, multigenerational employee resource groups increase employee engagement, foster relationships, promote professional development, and encourage the cross-generational transfer of knowledge through structured mentoring programs. Among the many companies that sponsor multigenerational ERGs are AT&T, Finra, and LinkedIn. If organizations don\u2019t already have a generational ERG, these are good programs to emulate.\u00a0 10 tips for a successful mentoring relationship For mentoring to be most productive, both parties have to be willing to accept each other and work together toward a common goal. Along with that baseline assumption, here are more tips for a successful mentoring relationship. Maintain regular contact. Set up consistent meeting times and commit to answering phone calls, emails, or texts in a timely manner. Set expectations. Discuss what each partner expects from the other, and be prepared to be held accountable.\u00a0 Value each other as knowledgeable partners. It\u2019s not just a one-way transfer of skills and information; mentorship flows both ways. Develop mutual trust and respect. People come from diverse backgrounds, so it\u2019s important to get to know each other on a personal level.\u00a0 Be honest. Often, an uncomfortable truth can lead to transformational growth, and withholding information only hurts both parties.\u00a0 Listen to both what is being said and how it is delivered. Ask questions when you don\u2019t understand, and really listen to the answers. Offer support, not solutions. The mentor should be a guide and coach, but mentees need to solve their own problems. Focus on the mentee\\'s professional development. Alert them to professional organizations, continuing education, and leadership and networking opportunities. Stay positive. Focus on progress, even when giving or receiving feedback. Pay it forward. If you have benefited from a great mentor, consider being a mentor to someone else. Dedicated mentors can be successful at any age.\u00a0 Avoiding interpersonal pitfalls and other advice from mentors Fraser says one of the first things she does as a mentor is to figure out how the other person learns and prefers to communicate. Mentees might be unsure how they communicate best, but by asking lots of questions, mentors can establish a foundation of trust. This process is key as miscommunication can undermine a successful mentor\/mentee relationship, especially if the parties are from different generations.\u00a0 \u201cI\\'ll ask, \u2018Are you okay with me giving you constructive feedback? How does that make you feel?\u2019 That\\'s also really important, because if I say something that\\'s going to hurt their feelings, then we\\'re not going to develop a relationship,\u201d Fraser says. It\u2019s also vital, she says, to pay attention to nonverbal cues such as how the other person is sitting or behaving. Often, Fraser says she must ask outright how they are feeling: if they are anxious, angry, or scared. Mentors need to address any negative feelings immediately as mentees might be too afraid of giving offense to say anything. \u201cI will be very honest and say, \u2018You\\'re not going to hurt my feelings. Please ask me. If I say something that you don\\'t understand, or something that you feel was offensive, you need to let me know because I will do better.\u2019 I\\'m not perfect,\u201d she says. If a problematic situation arises, Fraser says to check in with the mentee to see how they\u2019re doing, initiate a conversation, and ask questions. It\u2019s important to allow the other person to solve their own problems, but mentors can provide guidance and a perspective that comes from experience.\u00a0 \u201cI want them to make sure that they know they can be open; they can be honest. I want them to be able to talk about their concerns and recognize their own growth, what they are striving to do,\u201d Fraser says. Donald Thompson, CEO of the Diversity Movement and executive coach to C-suite leaders, says it\u2019s vital to set expectations at the beginning of any mentoring relationship. What does the mentee hope to gain, and how will that be achieved? \u201cHow can you help someone in a significant way, if you don\\'t know what they want? Once I know what someone wants, what their motivation is, then I can craft a communication style with them to be effective in coaching them,\u201d Thompson says. \u201cIn order to achieve at a high level in any arena, there\\'s going to be pain, sacrifice, and inconvenience,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd people only go through pain, sacrifice, and inconvenience for something that they want.\u201d No matter their age, employee mentors truly want to help their colleagues, so they\u2019re willing to invest time in coaching and put up with the inconvenience. At the same time, less experienced employees want to grow, keep learning, and progress in their career, so they\u2019re willing to have tough conversations and put in the extra effort.\u00a0 Many companies in diverse industries have leveraged these complementary goals by adopting multigenerational mentoring, including reverse mentoring, where younger workers coach senior employees on new technology. These intentional relationships have far-reaching benefits \u2014 beyond the two people involved. Mentoring is another way that business leaders can foster collaboration, encourage professional growth, and promote an inclusive and welcoming workplace.\u00a0 Amber Keister is a Content Writer and Editor at The Diversity Movement. She has spent more than 20 years as a journalist for publications throughout the South. Connect with her on Linkedin.\", \"US English Male\");\n                }\n            };\n        <\/script>\n     <\/br><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/womensmedia\/2019\/12\/31\/the-value-of-mentorship-in-running-a-successful-business\/?sh=2827756c79bd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">benefits of mentoring<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are clear, so why leave these relationships to chance? Organizations with structured, intentional mentoring programs create better workplaces and happier employees. Plus, businesses benefit when experienced workers pass on their institutional knowledge to junior staff.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among the best places for professional mentoring are multigenerational workplaces, which might include baby boomers, Gen Xers, millennials, and folks from Gen Z. Business leaders can promote the cross-generational transfer of knowledge and skills through intentional and structured mentoring programs, and by implementing best practices for inclusion, like employee resource groups.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mentoring improves employee morale, boosts workplace retention, and creates a leadership pipeline. Younger staff need the guidance and training that older colleagues can provide, while mentoring also helps senior workers gain new insights and improve their communication skills.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But without an established framework, employees might be reluctant to put in the time and effort needed for effective cross-generational learning and professional development. This highly valuable exchange of knowledge can also be derailed by communication differences, staff turnover, and busy schedules. However, by making mentorship a priority and integrating it in the flow of work, it is possible to encourage older or more experienced workers to pass on their knowledge to younger or newer employees.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Labor shortages and workforce development<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nearly every industry has been affected by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketplace.org\/2022\/03\/23\/companies-still-say-they-cant-find-enough-workers-whats-going-on\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the tight labor market<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which has business leaders scrambling to find and retain enough skilled employees to maintain operations. People working in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/ashleystahl\/2021\/12\/13\/how-to-survive-an-understaffed-office\/?sh=27347e566f49\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">chronically understaffed workplaces<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are often overworked, overwhelmed, and have little time to devote to training. In particular, labor shortages in the nursing and construction industries have made cross-generational mentoring and training difficult.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6761\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6761\" style=\"width: 224px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-6761 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/david-price_1-224x300.jpeg\" alt=\"David Price headshot\" width=\"224\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/david-price_1-224x300.jpeg 224w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/david-price_1-300x400.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/david-price_1-600x805.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/david-price_1-763x1024.jpeg 763w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/david-price_1-768x1030.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/david-price_1.jpeg 992w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 224px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 224\/300;\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6761\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">David Price<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Workforce development is the top issue in the construction industry right now, says David Price, owner of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.davidpriceconstruction.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">David Price Construction, Inc.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and president of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hbawake.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In fact, there are more than 400,000 unfilled construction jobs nationwide, he says, and by the end of 2023, that deficit could grow to a million. The industry was also hit hard by the pandemic and the Great Resignation, with an average of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/forbesbusinesscouncil\/2022\/04\/25\/how-the-great-resignation-affected-construction\/?sh=faab10317843\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">197,250 people a month quitting their jobs<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the last four months of 2021. Plus, the construction workforce is aging, with the median age of industry professionals around 41.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe really need skilled workers almost as much as we need people to run the project, if not more,\u201d Price says. \u201cTo say that the industry is banging its head against the wall to try to figure out this issue would be an understatement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since the pandemic, similar staffing challenges have hit the healthcare industry and nursing in particular. In an August 2021 survey from the American Organization for Nursing Leadership, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aonl.org\/system\/files\/media\/file\/2021\/09\/AONL%20COVID-19%20Longitudinal%203%20Written%20Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">47% of nurse leaders<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> identified staff retention, furloughs, and layoffs as top challenges. According to a 2022 report by McKinsey and Company, the U.S. may experience <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/industries\/healthcare-systems-and-services\/our-insights\/assessing-the-lingering-impact-of-covid-19-on-the-nursing-workforce\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a nursing shortage<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of between 200,000 and 450,000 registered nurses by 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No matter the industry, today\u2019s business leaders have to approach staffing with a holistic approach. It\u2019s not enough to attract new workers; they must also retain current employees. One way to do this is by encouraging mentoring, which can <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/palomacanterogomez\/2019\/03\/29\/loyal-employees-are-the-result-of-5-basic-assets\/?sh=19d96581385f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">decrease turnover,<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> foster inclusion, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/241649\/employee-engagement-rise.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">promote work engagement.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It might seem counterintuitive to ask overburdened staff to take on another task, but professional mentoring pays off in happier, less mobile workers.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Making mentoring and support a priority for nurses<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6763 size-large alignnone lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-3.51.43-PM-1024x753.png\" alt=\"Two doctors in scrubs standing together and having a discussion over a laptop in a hospital corridor\" width=\"1024\" height=\"753\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-3.51.43-PM-1024x753.png 1024w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-3.51.43-PM-600x441.png 600w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-3.51.43-PM-300x220.png 300w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-3.51.43-PM-768x564.png 768w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-3.51.43-PM-1536x1129.png 1536w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-3.51.43-PM.png 1916w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/753;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">15 years ago, at WakeMed Health &amp; Hospitals in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Division of Nursing established a structured mentoring program, called Guide to Professional Success (GPS). While informal mentoring had been happening previously, staff recognized that these relationships supported retention and workplace engagement so decided to make the program more robust.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe felt like we needed to really put forth more effort in having a structured program that provided accountability and guidance,\u201d says Harriet Stephenson, Director of Nursing Education at WakeMed Health &amp; Hospitals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe put a process in place that would be a very formalized program, and our chief nursing officer was very instrumental in setting the expectation that every unit follow this process,\u201d she says. \u201cThe benefits of staff support and the benefits of what a mentor can provide for new hires were just hands down a value for everybody.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As part of the hospital\u2019s structured orientation program for nurses, new hires are assigned a preceptor, who monitors the nurse\u2019s technical skills, and matched with a mentor, who helps with other aspects of professional development. Mentees typically meet with mentors once a month for six months to a year after their hire date. Mentor coordinators in each hospital unit advise mentors, make matches, and follow up to ensure meetings are taking place and the relationships are working.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Experience, not age, guides who is matched with whom. This is a best practice for any organization-sponsored mentorship program, as it capitalizes on participants\u2019 diverse expertise. At WakeMed, younger mentors might be enlisted to guide less-experienced, older nurses, or the mentor and mentee might be close in age.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWithin nursing, you&#8217;ve got people coming in \u2013 second or third career \u2013 at different ages. They typically come from other experiences, so what they can bring to the table is beneficial for everybody,\u201d says Stephenson. \u201cThey can almost mentor each other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mentors are all volunteers, but participants are rewarded with professional incentives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-6766 size-large lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-4.04.19-PM-1024x789.png\" alt=\"Doctor's Discussing Over File stock photo\" width=\"1024\" height=\"789\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-4.04.19-PM-1024x789.png 1024w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-4.04.19-PM-600x462.png 600w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-4.04.19-PM-300x231.png 300w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-4.04.19-PM-768x591.png 768w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-4.04.19-PM.png 1314w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/789;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe have a professional ladder that awards points for different activities that are over and beyond your job, but support your department and support the Division of Nursing. If you&#8217;re a mentor, it helps you in this professional ladder and can increase your pay,\u201d Stephenson says. \u201cBut we found a lot of people are mentors because that&#8217;s their passion, and they want to help support new staff.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, she says staffing shortages in the nursing industry as a whole have made it challenging to keep enough skilled nursing mentors in the pipeline.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThat would probably be our biggest challenge with staffing, having enough staff to be in the role of the mentor across the system,\u201d Stephenson says. \u201cParticipation is not a requirement, but it is an expectation, because we know that mentoring is going to help support retention.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/library\/%20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8876 size-large lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NEW-TDM-Library-Display-Ad_Large-A-1024x341.png\" alt=\"TDM Library: your one-stop-shop for update, expert DEI Resources. Explore the platform with a free trial. Click here to learn more.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"341\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NEW-TDM-Library-Display-Ad_Large-A-1024x341.png 1024w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NEW-TDM-Library-Display-Ad_Large-A-600x200.png 600w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NEW-TDM-Library-Display-Ad_Large-A-300x100.png 300w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NEW-TDM-Library-Display-Ad_Large-A-768x256.png 768w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/NEW-TDM-Library-Display-Ad_Large-A.png 1200w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/341;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>The benefits of cross-generational mentoring<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carrie Fraser, a registered nurse at WakeMed, has been a nurse for 19 years and a mentor for 15. She was one of the first nurses to be trained as a mentor in WakeMed\u2019s GPS program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cBecause I&#8217;m older, a lot of times the younger nurses will look up to me. They look to me for guidance and comfort and \u2018Am I doing this right?\u2019 They just want that reassurance, so as an older nurse now, I&#8217;m able to provide that to them,\u201d she says. \u201cEven 15 years ago, I still had a good bit of experience under my belt, so I was able to help guide and comfort and push them in the right direction.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fraser emphasizes that mentors are not managers. While supervisors focus on job standards and performance issues, mentors concentrate on professional development and personal support. It\u2019s also key that mentors are passionate about nursing and committed to passing on their expertise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAs a mentor, I&#8217;m fostering their relationships,\u201d she says. \u201cI&#8217;m trying to grow them as an individual, as a nurse. I want them to be successful in the department, which I think a supervisor does too, but they don&#8217;t have that closeness that a mentor and a mentee have. We become friends, not only at work but outside of work too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fraser encourages the newer nurses to join committees, take different classes, pursue other certifications, or get involved with a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nursingworld.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">national nursing organization<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. These extracurricular activities might not occur to the mentee, so Fraser makes sure to stress that these other opportunities can lead to growth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI&#8217;m constantly telling them other things that are available,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is how you&#8217;re going to meet people. This is how you&#8217;re going to be able to advance down the road and move into different avenues, if that&#8217;s a passion for you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These cross-generational relationships also help the senior nurses, keeping them fresh and passionate about their work. On a personal note, Fraser went back to school recently, and she says her mentees helped her with her school papers and gave her advice on how to be a student again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As well as being a mentor herself, Fraser is the mentor coordinator for the Surgical Trauma Intensive Care Unit. While there has been some turnover, she says nurses on her unit aren\u2019t leaving because of job dissatisfaction. Rather, they are moving on to pursue education or other career growth opportunities \u2013 the kind of turnover employers want to promote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe have done a phenomenal job maintaining our staff in the Surgical Trauma ICU through COVID. We&#8217;ve done great,\u201d Fraser says. \u201cWe have a strong department, we have good relations, and we all look at each other like we&#8217;re family, so maybe that&#8217;s why. We really do have a fantastic relationship with everybody.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Leveraging teams to encourage mentoring in the construction industry<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6764 size-large alignnone lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-3.55.05-PM-1024x682.png\" alt=\"Carpenter Training Male Apprentice To Use Mechanized Saw\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-3.55.05-PM-1024x682.png 1024w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-3.55.05-PM-600x400.png 600w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-3.55.05-PM-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-3.55.05-PM-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-3.55.05-PM-1536x1023.png 1536w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-3.55.05-PM.png 1552w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/682;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The high demand for skilled workers makes mentoring and training challenging in the construction industry too, Price says. Skilled tradespeople will often go to the highest-paying job, leading to high turnover. Plus, those who are on the job site have little time to devote to mentoring.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYou have guys that you&#8217;re paying $40 an hour as a carpenter. They need to be working those 40 hours a week, for you to be able to make a profit on a job. Pulling them away to train someone is potentially detrimental to your profit margins,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Price adds that folks in the building trades tend to be introverted and task-oriented. \u201cThose guys like to just go out there, focus straight ahead on what they have in front of them and don&#8217;t necessarily always want to try and train somebody. Finding somebody who has the patience to do that is difficult,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Companies can use incentives or bonuses to encourage training outside of the 40-hour week, but time and money constraints make that solution impractical. Price prefers to encourage experienced workers to pass on their knowledge by pairing them with someone less experienced on the job site. Putting people on diverse teams can be a great way to encourage the exchange of knowledge and foster a mentoring relationship.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYour carpenters and things like that are introverted by nature, so it&#8217;s difficult for them to come out of their shell to share with somebody else,\u201d Price says. \u201cThe way it works best is when you&#8217;re working as a team on a project. It&#8217;s up to the mentee in a lot of cases, on their own initiative, to follow what the mentor is doing, especially if they&#8217;re not the type of person to teach you something.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Working closely with another person fosters relationships in an organic way, which is especially helpful for introverts. If you&#8217;re working on a job together, you don&#8217;t necessarily have to say anything because you\u2019re watching, emulating and doing instead. As long as people pay attention and commit to learning through observation, the knowledge can be passed on in a way that&#8217;s comfortable for both parties.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIf you have a three-person team \u2013 a cut man and two guys nailing \u2013 some of that knowledge is passed through watching the cut guy make his cuts: how he measures and what he does. But if you&#8217;re not watching that, if you&#8217;re just playing on your phone while you&#8217;re waiting for that board to come back to you, you&#8217;re not doing anything to better yourself,\u201d Price says. \u201cBut if, while you&#8217;re waiting, you&#8217;re watching, you&#8217;re learning, you&#8217;re actively trying to become the cut guy, so you can be the $30-an-hour guy and not a $20-an-hour guy, then that&#8217;s bettering yourself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI always tell my guys, if you&#8217;re not learning, you&#8217;re not bettering yourself,\u201d he adds. Sometimes, learning is as simple as paying attention to the work happening around you.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Trade associations, employee resource groups, and other options for mentoring<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-6768 size-large lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-4.06.17-PM-1024x682.png\" alt=\"Carpenters on work stock photo..\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-4.06.17-PM-1024x682.png 1024w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-4.06.17-PM-600x399.png 600w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-4.06.17-PM-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-4.06.17-PM-768x511.png 768w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-25-at-4.06.17-PM.png 1532w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/682;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Professional groups and associations often sponsor mentoring programs, many geared toward entrepreneurs. At the moment, Price and the HBA-Wake leadership are working on a mentoring program for new business owners. When he was just starting out, Price was helped by a similar program through the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hbawake.com\/remodelers-council.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remodelers Council<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and now he wants to share his own business knowledge.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOne of our bigger initiatives is creating a committee that will help underrepresented companies in our industry \u2013 Hispanic-owned, Black-owned, even White-owned companies for that matter \u2013 that maybe are great at what they do, but not great at being a business,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employee resource groups can be another source of professional mentoring. In particular, multigenerational employee resource groups increase employee engagement, foster relationships, promote professional development, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aarp.org\/ppi\/info-2016\/disrupting-aging-in-the-workplace.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">encourage the cross-generational transfer of knowledge<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> through structured mentoring programs. Among the many companies that sponsor multigenerational ERGs are <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/fivetonine.co\/how-att-innovates-with-employee-resource-groups\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AT&amp;T<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.finra.org\/careers\/diversity-inclusion\/employee-resource-groups\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finra<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/careers.linkedin.com\/diversity-and-inclusion\/employee-resource-groups\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. If organizations don\u2019t already have a generational ERG, these are good programs to emulate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>10 tips for a successful mentoring relationship<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For mentoring to be most productive, both parties have to be willing to accept each other and work together toward a common goal. Along with that baseline assumption, here are more tips for a successful mentoring relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Maintain regular contact.<\/strong> Set up consistent meeting times and commit to answering phone calls, emails, or texts in a timely manner.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Set expectations.<\/strong> Discuss what each partner expects from the other, and be prepared to be held accountable.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Value each other as knowledgeable partners.<\/strong> It\u2019s not just a one-way transfer of skills and information; mentorship flows both ways.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Develop mutual trust and respect.<\/strong> People come from diverse backgrounds, so it\u2019s important to get to know each other on a personal level.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Be honest.<\/strong> Often, an uncomfortable truth can lead to transformational growth, and withholding information only hurts both parties.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Listen to both<i> what<\/i> is being said and <i>how<\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> it is delivered.<\/strong> Ask questions when you don\u2019t understand, and really listen to the answers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Offer support, not solutions.<\/strong> The mentor should be a guide and coach, but mentees need to solve their own problems.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Focus on the mentee&#8217;s professional development.<\/strong> Alert them to professional organizations, continuing education, and leadership and networking opportunities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Stay positive.<\/strong> Focus on progress, even when giving or receiving feedback.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Pay it forward.<\/strong> If you have benefited from a great mentor, consider being a mentor to someone else. Dedicated mentors can be successful at any age.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Avoiding interpersonal pitfalls and other advice from mentors<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fraser says one of the first things she does as a mentor is to figure out how the other person learns and prefers to communicate. Mentees might be unsure how they communicate best, but by asking lots of questions, mentors can establish a foundation of trust. This process is key as miscommunication can undermine a successful mentor\/mentee relationship, especially if the parties are from different generations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI&#8217;ll ask, \u2018Are you okay with me giving you constructive feedback? How does that make you feel?\u2019 That&#8217;s also really important, because if I say something that&#8217;s going to hurt their feelings, then we&#8217;re not going to develop a relationship,\u201d Fraser says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s also vital, she says, to pay attention to nonverbal cues such as how the other person is sitting or behaving. Often, Fraser says she must ask outright how they are feeling: if they are anxious, angry, or scared. Mentors need to address any negative feelings immediately as mentees might be too afraid of giving offense to say anything.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI will be very honest and say, \u2018You&#8217;re not going to hurt my feelings. Please ask me. If I say something that you don&#8217;t understand, or something that you feel was offensive, you need to let me know because I will do better.\u2019 I&#8217;m not perfect,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a problematic situation arises, Fraser says to check in with the mentee to see how they\u2019re doing, initiate a conversation, and ask questions. It\u2019s important to allow the other person to solve their own problems, but mentors can provide guidance and a perspective that comes from experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI want them to make sure that they know they can be open; they can be honest. I want them to be able to talk about their concerns and recognize their own growth, what they are striving to do,\u201d Fraser says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theinclusivelanguagehandbook.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6166 size-large alignnone lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/TILH-Ad-1024x341.png\" alt=\"ad featuring the inclusive language handbook cover\" width=\"1024\" height=\"341\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/TILH-Ad-1024x341.png 1024w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/TILH-Ad-600x200.png 600w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/TILH-Ad-300x100.png 300w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/TILH-Ad-768x256.png 768w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/TILH-Ad.png 1200w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/341;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Donald Thompson, CEO of the Diversity Movement and executive coach to C-suite leaders, says it\u2019s vital to set expectations at the beginning of any mentoring relationship. What does the mentee hope to gain, and how will that be achieved?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHow can you help someone in a significant way, if you don&#8217;t know what they want? Once I know what someone wants, what their motivation is, then I can craft a communication style with them to be effective in coaching them,\u201d Thompson says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn order to achieve at a high level in any arena, there&#8217;s going to be pain, sacrifice, and inconvenience,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd people only go through pain, sacrifice, and inconvenience for something that they want.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No matter their age, employee mentors truly want to help their colleagues, so they\u2019re willing to invest time in coaching and put up with the inconvenience. At the same time, less experienced employees want to grow, keep learning, and progress in their career, so they\u2019re willing to have tough conversations and put in the extra effort.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many companies in diverse industries have leveraged these complementary goals by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/jacob-morgan\/3-companies-with-great-mentoring-programs-and-why-you-should-have-one-too-d6943034c00f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">adopting multigenerational mentoring<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, including reverse mentoring, where younger workers coach senior employees on new technology. These intentional relationships have far-reaching benefits \u2014 beyond the two people involved. Mentoring is another way that business leaders can foster collaboration, encourage professional growth, and promote an inclusive and welcoming workplace.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/library\/%20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-8041 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/TDM-Library-Footer-Ad-A-1024x85.png\" alt=\"Display ad for TDM Library. Text says &quot;Find more content like this in TDM Library. Start my free trial&quot;\" width=\"1024\" height=\"85\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/TDM-Library-Footer-Ad-A-1024x85.png 1024w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/TDM-Library-Footer-Ad-A-600x50.png 600w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/TDM-Library-Footer-Ad-A-300x25.png 300w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/TDM-Library-Footer-Ad-A-768x64.png 768w, https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/TDM-Library-Footer-Ad-A.png 1200w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/85;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/thediversitymovement.com\/team\/amber-keister\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Amber Keister<\/b><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is a Content Writer and Editor at The Diversity Movement. She has spent more than 20 years as a journalist for publications throughout the South. Connect with her on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/amberkeister\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Linkedin<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The benefits of mentoring are clear, so why leave these relationships to chance? Organizations with structured, intentional mentoring programs create better workplaces and happier employees. Plus, businesses benefit when experienced15<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6764,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,61,5],"tags":[113,110],"tdm_type":[92],"class_list":["post-6758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employee-experience-organizational-culture","category-inclusive-hiring-onboarding-and-retention-strategies","category-blogs","tag-generations","tag-mentorship-sponsorship","tdm_type-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bridge the Generation Gap at Work: Mentoring Boosts Productivity &amp; Reduces Turnover - The Diversity Movement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Organizations with structured, intentional mentoring programs create better workplaces and happier employees. 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