26

Reverse coaching

This is a relatively new idea in the coaching world where a younger junior manager works with an older senior manager in a reverse coaching scenario. This innovative approach has tended to come about because of an organisation’s clear commitment to coaching as part of their development philosophy. They have often received feedback from the younger managers that suggests that in the contemporary technologically driven world senior managers don’t understand the younger generations, don’t communicate with them and don’t think like them. It was this sort of feedback from a staff survey undertaken in 2008 that encouraged Charlie Johnston, HR Director at Cisco UK, to design a reverse mentoring programme. Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of reverse coaching is the opportunity for learning to take place by both parties.

Benefits of reverse coaching

Organisations that have incorporated reverse coaching into their development strategy together with their senior managers and their more junior coaches have benefited enormously in a variety of ways. For the more senior managers these include:

• A chance to develop an awareness of 21st-century skills and the needs of their Gen Y and Millennial colleagues.
  
• An opportunity to gain an understanding of what motivates and demotivates the younger generation.
  
• A chance to learn new technological skills and their benefits; for example, using social networks, tweeting, blogging as part of their communication process.
  
• A way to show a genuine interest in listening to, involving and operating a top-down and bottom-up organisation.
  
• An opportunity to re-energise – it can be hugely motivational to work with someone who is at the beginning of their career and who can challenge senior managers’ thinking and encourage them to look at the world through a new set of lenses.
  

For the younger managers the benefits include:

• An opportunity to have an official in-depth and open relationship with a senior manager who they would not normally have access to.
  
• A chance to develop their confidence and open their eyes to the challenges that come as you move up the managerial ladder to more senior-level appointments.
  
• An opportunity to provide opportunity for both knowledge and experience sharing.
  
• A way to gain a better perspective of the motivators and demotivators of the older generation.
  

For the organisation the benefits include:

• A chance to build greater loyalty and improve morale due to the feeling of being listened to and communicated with.
  
• An opportunity for cost-efficiency, as it is creating two-way learning channels encouraging managers who have different knowledge levels and experience to learn from each other.
  
• A way to contribute to talent management and succession planning processes.
  
• An opportunity to give the organisation an edge in that it will have employees that have a greater understanding of each other’s needs, aspirations and motivations, thus making it a more enjoyable and effective place to work.
  

It is also worth recognising that many young people are now successful and active in start-up businesses and some are already successful entrepreneurs. These people are very serious business people in their own right and have much to offer others in any coaching relationship.

As with any new idea there are, of course, limitations, challenges and hurdles to be aware of. However, if you involve open-minded people who are willing to work together in a committed and non-judgemental way, to challenge one another, to explore ideas and ways of working and to genuinely learn from each other, you will find that reverse coaching will be accepted more readily. Anyone taking part in a reverse coaching or mentoring relationship must go into it with an open mind. They must be willing to have some of their ideas criticised and challenged, and to explore new ideas and ways of doing things. One of the biggest hurdles can be that the more senior manager finds it difficult to have the less experienced younger manager offering them advice. Contracting at the beginning of the relationship can help with this to be sure that both parties understand the ‘rules’. Training, matching people and rapport-building sessions can also help, as can a good supervisory process where both the coach and coachee can call upon someone who understands the process to help them should they need it. (More information about coaching supervision can be found in Chapter 27.)

Reverse coaching is really a two-way learning process and both parties must be willing to listen non-judgementally, inquire to hear new ideas, deal with feedback, challenge each other’s thinking, be open-minded, show patience and take action. Having a game plan, discussing the rules for the relationship and agreeing a way of working together will be hugely beneficial. Reverse coaching can be both formal or informal. It can be a formal organisation-wide initiative, in which it is more likely that training and guidelines will be offered; or it can be informal, where the two parties simply agree between themselves that they can work together in a mutually satisfying developmental relationship.

It’s a situation where the old fogies in an organisation realise that by the time you’re in your forties or fifties, you are not in touch with the future in the same way as the young twenty somethings are. They come with fresh eyes, open minds and instant links to the technology of our future.

Alan Webber, co-founder of Fast Company

Tips for success

• Remember, we can all learn from each other.
  
• Active involvement in reverse coaching can help rid your organisation of complacency.
  
• Paying attention to younger people’s challenges and insights will help them to integrate, support talent management and reduce turnover.