Is a mentorship program the best way to bring together and manage a multi-generational sales team? Does anyone have experience with this?
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CTO in IT Services4 months ago
1:1 mentoring is one of the best ways to culminate seasoned thoughts of the experienced generation with proactive dynamic thinking and freshness of the younger generation. CSO4 months ago
I've found mentorship to be powerful in coaching specific skills. If someone on my team has a specific strength in a skill and another needs help in that area, linking them together can be a powerful way to leverage a mentor. The key is having a coaching plan that outlines the strengths of each of your people along with your key areas for development.Sr. Director, Commercial Learning4 months ago
Historically yes, sales leaders have successfully leveraged mentorship programs to bridge generational gaps within their teams. In my experience, success has been rooted in the mindset that each participating generation has unique -and value adding- perspectives, strengths, and experience for the others to draw from. My concern is the time it takes to design, interview/select mentors, assign and reassign a mentee (equitable value = mutual respect) all while knowing full mentorship programs are 1:1 model. Given today’s technologically enabled environment our goal should be 1: many.Consider using social learning technologies (e.g., SFDC – Chatter) to broaden the reach of what’s shared between the generations in real-time. This type of tech is not new, and in my opinion highly underutilized by organizations that are looking for a way to bridge generational gaps and accelerate the team’s collective ability to share knowledge, experience, and insights with each other.
Here are two architectural frameworks that I have used successfully in support of 1: many
- New Hire Cohort (private group) – all new hires are assigned here during the on-boarding (first 90-120days), regardless of their experience and geography. Group discussion is facilitated by a sales training manager and at least two infield sales trainers/HighPos. This provides the new hires with a safe place to learn, share, and grow together as they acclimatize to their new role, with the guidance of trusted and proven coaches. At the conclusion of their designed on-boarding time new hires are invited (and excitedly welcomed) to their respective regional groups. Often the insights and trends gleaned here can influence changes to the way sales training teams engage new hires, distribute content, coach performance.
- Regional Cohort (private group) – Sales leaders, their teams, and all field sales trainers are assigned here. Each individual member of the team can openly share insights (i.e., customer’s executive team transitions, individual and team wins, competitive intel, customer base insights, industry trends) and ask questions (i.e., competitive threat, client objections, cross-functional account management, territory management, etc.). Often the insights and trends gleaned here should be shared -as appropriate and applicable- with other regional teams and internal sales support teams for things such as thwarting competitive threats, objections to new products, etc.
Each of the above focus’ on providing a psychologically safe place to share, learn, and grow together as a team.
I've also had success with a mentor program. The expectations that have flipped the narrative from a traditional program that is only role-specific performance have been: Mentor 1:1s are guided by the mentee's career aspirations and strengths. Mentors are encouraged to share constructive feedback, help with personal goal-setting, and maintain confidentiality. Mentees are expected to come prepared for 1:1s with career needs they cannot solve with their manager, updates on goal progress, and insight to discuss their developmental needs.