Subordinates teach their bosses, successful companies

King Odysseus of the ancient Greek kingdom of Ithaca had a concern while participating in the Trojan War. This is because he was worried that his young son, Prince Telemachus, would be able to properly lead the country in his absence. So, Odysseus decided to entrust his son to his best friend, Mentor.

Odysseus returns to Ataca after 20 years of war and chaos. he was happy This is because Prince Telemachus has grown into a wise and wise king. It was the power of a mentor. Here, mentors, meaning wise and reliable mentors, teachers, and counselors, came out, and mentoring plays a very important role in business.

But times have changed. In ancient times, when the elderly were regarded as “burning libraries,” information accumulated in the past overwhelmed new information. Mentoring is needed. However, in the current era, the amount of information pouring in is incomparable to that of the past, and it is being spewed out at an imperceptible speed. Now the old must learn from the young.

Jack Welch, CEO of GE, on a business trip to England in 1999, hears an explanation about the importance of the Internet from a young engineer he meets by chance. He saw through a young man much younger than himself an amazing insight he had not realized. Upon returning from England, Jack Welch instructs over 500 GE executives to learn about the Internet one-on-one with a young man. It was that executives who should play the role of mentors receive mentoring in reverse from the young men who were originally mentees. This is called ‘Reverse Mentoring’, and through reverse mentoring, GE will form a brilliant organizational culture that will overcome the uncertain future.

Reverse mentoring, which started like this, started to spread like an epidemic riding on the social media craze. At IBM, young new employees mentor seniors on how to use SNS such as Facebook and how to use new smart devices. In the case of Hewlett-Packard, employees themselves introduced reverse mentoring, and Ogilvy & Mathers, a world-renowned advertising agency, said that veterans learn the latest trends in fashion, music, and art from fresh newcomers.

Fast Company, an American monthly magazine specializing in economics and management, reports that over 40% of all companies in the United States are conducting reverse mentoring. Companies in Korea are also quickly introducing reverse mentoring, and employees in particular strongly want reverse mentoring.

Job Korea, a job portal, surveyed 408 domestic male and female office workers about their opinions on the reverse mentoring system. When asked what effect reverse mentoring would have if introduced, 37% said, ‘I think the company atmosphere will be better as the walls between positions are broken down.’ , decline in turnover rate, etc. And through reverse mentoring, they answered that they would like mentoring on SNS, smart devices, and the latest trends.

There is a saying that is incurable. It means that you are not ashamed to ask your subordinates. Young employees are willing to share their wisdom. If the incurable corporate culture is firmly established, wouldn’t it be possible to create an organization that is not shaken even in the rapidly changing era?