Saturday, March 31, 2012
Why youngsters at Bharti Airtel have been called upon to mentor their CXOs
Courtesy: Economic Times, March 31, 2012
At Bharti Airtel, it's not uncommon to see a CXO sitting in the canteen, in avid conversation with a young executive many levels his junior. They're likely to have an intense look on their faces and every now and then, they might punch the keys on a PC open before them. Those who know about such things might guess this is some kind of mentoring relationship, with the CXO passing on his gyan to the wide-eyed junior.
Why then is the younger person doing most of the talking and why on earth is the CXO nodding as if he's the one doing the learning? Over the past three years, Airtel has instituted a programme vide which every member of the management board has a young mentor.
Inspired by Jack Welch, who introduced the idea in GEwhen he was its CEO, the programme is meant to give the company's old-gen practical insights into how technologies of the future are actually being used. Welch ordered 500 of GE's top level executives to reach out to younger people in the organisation in order to learn how use the internet. He himself roped in an employee in her 20s to teach him how to surf the Web. Decades later, the idea has evolved as a management practice and gained a name: reverse mentoring.
At Bharti Airtel, it's not uncommon to see a CXO sitting in the canteen, in avid conversation with a young executive many levels his junior. They're likely to have an intense look on their faces and every now and then, they might punch the keys on a PC open before them. Those who know about such things might guess this is some kind of mentoring relationship, with the CXO passing on his gyan to the wide-eyed junior.
Why then is the younger person doing most of the talking and why on earth is the CXO nodding as if he's the one doing the learning? Over the past three years, Airtel has instituted a programme vide which every member of the management board has a young mentor.
Inspired by Jack Welch, who introduced the idea in GEwhen he was its CEO, the programme is meant to give the company's old-gen practical insights into how technologies of the future are actually being used. Welch ordered 500 of GE's top level executives to reach out to younger people in the organisation in order to learn how use the internet. He himself roped in an employee in her 20s to teach him how to surf the Web. Decades later, the idea has evolved as a management practice and gained a name: reverse mentoring.
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