Returning to the office full-time to mentor your employees isn’t the answer — this is.

Picture this: A large tech company decides to hire employees Back to the officeBelieving that this would encourage guidance and support Organizational continuity. For example, consider what Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said in spring 2023. podcast: “For our new employees who are coming in, we know empirically that they do better if they’re in the office, meeting people, onboard, trained. If they’re at home and not going through that process, So we don’t think they are that successful.”

That’s why Salesforce decided to completely change its previous policy Flexible model. For example, Brent Haider, the company’s chief people officer, wrote in a September 2022 company memo Blog Post that “At Salesforce, we have never had office orders and we never will.” However, in the spring of 2023, Salesforce required that sales and marketing staff come into the office four days a week. We are seeing many Tech, finance And other leaders make similar claims and adopt similar policies.

Certainly, these changes at Salesforce and at other companies represent intentional efforts Develop a career and performance of junior staff. Unfortunately, the evidence shows that they are misguided in the post-pandemic world. The result? Disgruntled senior staff, disappointing guidance and a suboptimal work environment. Here’s why, and how to fix it.

Broken Osmosis Strategy: When Senior Staff Feel Resentful

Many leaders, influenced by memories of their pre-pandemic times, believe that forcing employees to return to the office will naturally Mentoring and Development. However, the pandemic has shown senior employees that they can be very productive outside the office, and many of them now resist the idea of ​​returning. When I ran focus groups helps 23 companies their figure Back to office and hybrid work In adjustment, I saw that many senior employees were forced to return to the office, frequent, wear headphones and avoid communicating with anyone, effectively canceling the desired osmosis effect.

Consider, for example, a former client, a regional insurance company where senior staff, resentful of mandatory compensation, became less available. Guidance, leading junior staff to struggle to adapt to their new roles and responsibilities. Insurance company productivity and Employee morale The result was a hit, which they hired me to help address.

Related: Why Employers Are Forced to Return to the Office Leads to Greater Workforce and Unionization

The Mentoring Mismatch: Rewarding Soft Skills Over Technical Competencies

This Forced to return to office May lead to disparity in guidance. Focus groups revealed that the only junior staff who were mentored in this “forced return” scenario were those with strong initiative and social skills. Unfortunately, this approach leaves out those who need it Guidance Most of all — employees lack social skills and initiative — in the cold. Finally, those who need guidance the most are those without strong initiative and social skills, as guidance helps develop these soft skills. Moreover, strong social skills often do not correlate with the ability to do technical work well. Thus, those who receive mentorship often have good soft skills, but poor technical skills.

In the case of a large professional services firm that asked me to consult for them, this particular situation played out. Employees who benefited from forced compensation were those who could expertly navigate social interactions, while technically skilled but socially awkward employees were left behind.

At another client, a late-stage SaaS startup, a similar situation occurred. Remaining employees Interpersonal skills managed to secure the attention of senior staff, while their colleagues with strong technical skills but poor social competence struggled to get the guidance they needed. This imbalance can lead to a skills gap that hinders the overall performance of the organization.

The Way Forward: Hybrid Mentoring Programs

Instead of forcing everyone to return to the office and hope for osmosis-driven guidance, it is imperative to create that. A hybrid mentoring program in which person and Virtual guidance Elements of such a program have been successfully implemented for many of my clients, such as the previously mentioned companies. The result was happier senior staff and more effective mentoring.

Why are senior staff more willing to come into the office rather than be guided by command? Well, my focus groups with senior staff showed that they overwhelmingly understood the value of personal mentoring: not only did they receive personal mentoring, but they also recognized it. Personal connection Building trust is very important. It allows juniors to be vulnerable when they ask questions that show vulnerability.

Such a policy would not require an indiscriminate mandate to return to the office three to five days a week: instead, it would require people to be in the office for certain tasks. Senior staff are happier and more likely to help and have buy-in to come into the office and provide guidance when they know they have a good reason to be in the office for a guidance meeting. They won’t be nearly as offended by what they feel is an arbitrarily forced office return biased Reflecting on pre-pandemic realities, which resulted in resistance, attrition, disengagement and morale problems among senior employees.

In contrast, established employees feel that their individual and specific skills and contributions are being valued when they are specifically asked to come into the office to conduct mentoring meetings; Additionally, they spend less time in the office if they have several mentoring meetings per week than if they have to be in the office for a full three to five days. Thus, company leaders get what they want, senior employees get what they want, and junior employees get what they want. Win-win-win for all.

Related: A surprising reason why many leaders force employees to go back to the office

Key Components of a Successful Hybrid Mentoring Program

From my experience, a hybrid mentoring program requires several key activities:

• Individual lunch sessions with senior professionals: One-on-one interaction with senior professionals is the most powerful form of mentoring, but given the time constraints of senior professionals, this should not be the only mentoring activity.
• Virtual Coffee Roulette with Senior Professionals: The reduced time burden for senior professionals, although less impactful than individual lunch sessions, allows for a more accessible mentoring arrangement.
• Group Lunch Sessions with Senior Professionals: A senior employee takes a few junior employees out for lunch, which facilitates knowledge sharing and relationship building in a time-efficient way for senior professionals.
• Group Guidance: A senior employee mentors a group of junior employees, a Collaborative learning environment and reduced time demands on senior staff.
• Personal support sessions: A senior and several junior employees work together for a few hours in shared spaces in an office on their individual tasks. Junior team members can ask questions as they arrive, while a senior staff person can check on their work every half hour. Doing so promotes teamwork and organic knowledge transfer while reducing the burden on senior staff.
• Virtual Collaboration Sessions: Similar to in-person collaboration, but conducted via video conference for increased flexibility.

Successful mentoring programs include a number of important guiding principles:

• Goal Oriented Guidance: Ensure that mentoring programs have clear goals and incentives to increase engagement and effectiveness. Align the program with the organization’s values ​​and objectives, so that both senior and junior employees understand its purpose and importance.
• Regular evaluation: Evaluate the progress and success of mentoring initiatives to ensure continuous improvement. Solicit feedback from both mentors and advisors and use the insights to refine and enhance the program.
• Mentor Training and Support: Equip senior staff with the skills and resources needed to be effective mentors. Offer training sessions to help them develop their coaching and communication skills, and provide ongoing support to ensure their success in a mentoring role.
• Customization and Flexibility: Recognize that different employees have unique needs, and design a mentoring program that can be tailored to accommodate individual preferences and needs. This approach will help maximize the impact and effectiveness of the program.
• Accountability and Follow-up: Establish clear expectations for both mentors and mentees and track their progress throughout the mentoring relationship. Encourage regular check-ins and follow-ups to ensure both parties are meeting their commitments and making progress toward their goals.

A bold new approach to a post-pandemic world

The key takeaway? Forcing employees to return to the office in hopes of fostering mentorship by osmosis is a relic of the past. In a world where remote and hybrid work is now the norm, it is time to adapt and implement hybrid mentoring programs that meet the needs of both senior and junior staff. Embrace this bold new approach and watch your organization thrive in times of change.