NEEDED: PROFESSIONAL MENTORSHIP

This summer we’re experiencing hurricanes, heat domes, flooding, water shortages. People in Arizona are trying to cope with the month-long 110+-degree heat. Out with the old weather, and in with this screeching, toothy, earth-beating harpy that’s decided it’s had enough of us.

It’s impacting the choices we must make in how we protect and insulate our houses, how we adapt, and implement energy alternatives. It will also increase the stress on health and work productivity, and how our kids and grandkids manage at school. Our next generations.

As the weather is having a significant impact, so is the changing work climate for Gen Z who were born into smartphone technology and have an almost innate tech understanding. Their knowledge of apps and programs is to my lame Canva attempts as Spirited Away is to Steamboat Willie

This generation, born between 1997 and 2002 is entering the workforce. In 2020 the number was 67.06 million members in the United States, according to Statista. The 2023-2024 job market is about to be further flooded with graduating high school and college students (Freedman, “Understanding Generation Z in the Workplace”).

 In their job searches –still largely tech – Gen Z people want high salaries, excellent benefits packages, and perks such as free food or employee discounts. However, they tend to be uncomfortable with a hierarchical corporate structure., and how to develop and maintain professional dialogues with colleagues and supervisors. Think about the effects of the post-COVID generation bringing that level of anxiety into the workplace and being expected to adjust to a professional environment where there are new, strange rules and older people with whom they have no idea how to communicate.

They are, in fact, at the most vulnerable part of their careers. For many who encounter these kinds of workplace road-bumps, they might endure for a short time but will most likely switch jobs.

Corporate management needs to have a firm finger on the pulse: how to address intergenerational dialogue and how to make sure young employees are coached not only to adjust but to have access to steep and accelerated career trajectories.

These types of training cannot be done from within the organization. Just because someone is an experienced attorney doesn’t mean they know how to effectively convey the benefits of that experience to a new associate.

Mentorship is offered in a growing number of organizations but in-company mentorship is tantamount to an oxymoron. How can an in-house mentor offer dispassionate career support to a young professional – or any professional regardless of the stage of their career?

How mentorship is delivered is crucial. Mentors need to know how to create mentor-mentee relationships that address, for example: how to develop clear expectations in the mentor-mentee relationship or how to develop listening skills to target key phrases, and ask questions so the mentee can develop autonomy and problem-solving skills. Also, there are numerous professional strategies a mentee needs to know that may not occur to the mentor to implement, such as teaching the mentee to increase their visibility and expand their networks, or how to target and approach sponsors.

This is where external mentorship training programs excel with a dispassionate and professional approach. Mentors trained in these programs have no vested interest in the hiring organization and can offer clear-eyed feedback and an unbiased focus on the mentee's career path and goals.

Without this type of training, mentorship is mostly a supportive buddy friendship with professional perks. With training, going from peer-to-peer mentorship to mentor-mentee bonding and practice, the mentor can help their mentee achieve success on a much steeper and accelerated career trajectory with a contexualized approach to career goals and pathways.

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NOT generated by AI