Professionals looking for mentorship opportunities

It has been my distinct impression throughout my career that besides wanting more in salary, employees simply want to learn from other successful people. A recent Deloitte report concludes just that. According to the report, young workers are more eager to contribute and take on responsibility earlier in their careers. They are not content to “pay their dues” and get promoted in due course. Unlike previous generations, they DO trust older people and are eager to learn from them.

As I read the report, I cou

ldn’t help but think that this is especially true of the Technology industry. All my co-workers, partners and customers were sincere and hard workers, always eager to learn and contribute more. Unfortunately, employee development is non-existent in most companies, except for a few 

like IBM. People are expected to know how to lead from the get-go. It’s a sink-or-swim approach and those that are able to swim get ahead. While it can definitely be argued that such an approach does bring out the natural, born leaders amongst us, it leads to many more employees becoming demoralized, c

onfused and disconnected from their superiors. A small number of companies, IBM being among them, make employee development a core activity. They rotate employees around to different departments, help employees overcome their weaknesses and pair them up with mentors within the organization. It is no wonder that IBM has survived a long time.

Regardless, a sink-or-swim approach is unlikely to work in the coming years. Younger workers in the workforce are hungry for knowledge and direction. One might say that having a good manager should suffice. However, unfortunately today’s managers have had the same sink-or-swim approach tried on them. No doubt, there are good managers, but most are unable to come up with anything but a seat-of-the-pants approach which leads to conflicting directions and confused employees. They also have their own vested interests in the process. As an alternative, employees should reach out to “non-partisan” advisors – people outside their immediate group/company, people who have no other vested interest besides the wellbeing of the employee. They can provide impartial advice keeping the sole interests of the employee in mind.

This is especially true of modern day workers who have grown up in an information age. The Deloitte report referenced above finds that younger workers value opportunity more than security. They cannot be tied down with perks. They have grown up in an era of unprecedented prosperity. They are seeking a higher purpose in life. They need to be inspired. Inspire your workers, find them diverse learning opportunities and you will find them loyal and competent workers who contribute more effectively to your group.