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When Shirley Lutz started working in construction 25 years ago, she said she and her co-workers did almost all of the project planning, bidding and estimating on paper.
With the advent of the Internet, tablets and apps, however, Lutz, a senior project manager at Texas-based Suffolk Construction, and other “old-timers” found themselves in the dark and wary of the paper-and-pencil transition .
To address this disconnect, the Boston-based general contractor has adopted a reverse mentoring program, where new hires coach veterans.
The concept is not new: HR professionals say practice it provides experienced workers with informal technology training, helps prevent brain drain when workers leave, and can improve and modernize culture, diversity and inclusion.
More than technology
The programs can also reduce intergenerational prejudice, Maggie Wooll wrote in an essay for the BetterUp blog.
“Older colleagues might see millennials as spoiled and entitled. And younger team members might think baby boomers are resistant to change,” wrote Wooll, former head of research from Deloitte. “With Generation Z entering the workforce, additional generational stereotypes are likely to form.”
In one example, Lutz noted that younger workers’ attitudes toward working hours differ from hers and many of her colleagues.
“There’s been times where I’ll see the older superintendent, the senior superintendents or whatever it is at the site — they’re like, we get here at 5:30, 6:00 in the morning,” Lutz said. “And they’re like, ‘Oh, these little kids, they’re not going to get here until 8:30 or 9:00.’ “.
Nancy Novak, chief innovation officer at Compass Datacenters, used the term “two-way mentoring” to describe the phenomenon. Novak, a former senior vice president of construction at Compass, said she has mentors outside her field to gain a different perspective.
“I have a mentor who is younger than me. She opens my eyes to new perspectives,” Novak told Construction Dive. “For example, I am very passionate about bringing diversity to the construction field. The industry is facing a major shift change with very few people lining up to fill retirees’ shoes. My mentor has heard me talk about it and helped me refine this narrative so that it ends up better with the audience he was targeting.”
Lutz said newer workers benefit from the intangibles that more experienced leaders in the workplace or office provide.
“At the same time that [younger workers share knowledge]they also learn so much from us and the older gentlemen that they would never learn in a classroom or in a book or anything like that,” Lutz said.
