Turn Your Too-Engaged Employees into Great Mentors
Most of us want engaged employees — and we talk a lot about how to achieve a thriving company culture with invested team members. But occasionally a senior employee is so involved that they get in everyone's way. And similar to disengagement, too much engagement is also a problem.
On a recent flight, I sat next to a frustrated CMO who shared this situation with me. See if it rings any bells.
Background: The sales team at her company had been hampered by an inefficient CRM system (customer relationship management software). The budget for a new system had been approved, competitive software options had been reviewed and tested, and she had tasked her sales managers to meet, agree on a solution, and prepare a final recommendation for her review.
While the CMO was away: The sales managers were meeting as directed when one of the company's long-time directors — let’s call him Alan — invited himself to sit in on their meeting about the new CRM.
Alan goes wild: Alan took the opportunity to raise several points during the meeting — which reopened decisions that had already been made. For example, he questioned the validity of using company resources to fund the new CRM when there were other pressing needs. He felt certain the CEO should be called in to re-evaluate what Sales and Marketing was considering. And because he outranked many people in the room, he got what he wanted.
Good intentions gone bad: Although Alan's intention was to safeguard the company, he had not been involved in all of the work that preceded the meeting, and his interference set the Sales and Marketing team back. The CMO was frustrated that Alan's proprietary sense of engagement had such a far reach, and that she couldn’t leave town for even a few days without risking his interference.
Alan is part of the company's DNA. While he had good intentions, unfortunately, his interference crushed forward progress.
In every company, there is at least one Alan. Sometimes, there are dozens. The Alan types are still trying to wear many different hats, even though the company is 30 or 40 times larger than when that was necessary. But, they can't see themselves in a narrower role that doesn't include their wardrobe of hats.
Of course, the solution is to have one of the company's most senior leaders explain the new world order to Alan and narrow his focus. But it hasn't happened because Alan's resistance is predictable, and no one wants to risk offending him or causing him to leave. So, the challenge is to focus his depth of experience, knowledge, and engagement in a new way.
And that new way is mentorship.
Mentorship is one of the most sought-after perks among 20- and 30-somethings, and one of the hardest one to find. It's also one of the most powerful tools for preventing valuable newer employees from leaving the company in pursuit of other offers. In fact, companies that offer mentorship do better in recruiting talent than companies that don't. This is where the Alans of the world can bring incredible value to their companies. They can pass on insight and understanding to younger employees to accelerate their development and engagement.
So, if you're struggling to work around those who have been with the company for years and are ultra-engaged, perhaps it's time to use your long-time staff to more advantage and leverage their experience to help others. A strong mentorship program can not only spread engagement across the organization, but it can also put those with seniority to higher use, while keeping them in their lane (and out of everyone else’s).
