By Emily Drzewiecki
Senior Xerox executives in North America have adopted a new program in which the likes of Mike Feldman, John Corley and Judy Novak are playing the part of student with up-and-coming younger professionals who have been assigned as their mentors. This role reversal, also known as “reverse mentoring” is one of Corporate America’s hottest trends. The intention behind pairing these unlikely pen pals is to cross pollinate ideas and techniques, share approaches to problem solving, and start embracing new cultural facets at Xerox.
Executive Vice President of Business Transformation & Human Resources Bala Sathyanarayanan founded the program after participating in several traditional mentorship programs. “We need to create a safe space where our young people can share ideas and connect with the leadership. We want to welcome fresh perspectives to how we approach innovation, product development, selling, marketing and . Thus, we created a program that would include our young professionals at the decision making table.”
Our executives spend time with their mentors every month getting to know each other’s personalities, strengths and career goals as well as challenges. Here’s a sneak peek at what some of Xerox’s mentors and mentees are learning about each other:
What intrigued you about the reverse mentoring program?
Kate Black (mentor): The reverse mentoring program presented a unique leadership opportunity to be paired with an experienced senior executive and share perspectives and personal experiences regarding a plethora of topics, including business, industry, career, etc.
Julie Hogan (mentee): The reverse mentoring program is an opportunity for open dialogue and new perspectives from a Gen Y/Millennial regarding business, strategy, and other relevant topics.
What is the most important thing you hope your mentor/mentee will learn from you?
Chris Dewaele (mentor): My hope is that Cathy will be able to gain actionable information or to spark new ideas from my perspective as a millennial and as a relatively new member of the Xerox workforce.
Cathy Nadeau (mentee): I would like to help Chris learn how to form productive relationships that are based outside of a direct reporting dynamic in the workplace.
What is one fun fact about your mentor/mentee? (Nothing too embarrassing!)
James Ribikawskis (mentor): Mike has a guilty pleasure for Reality TV. Here are the top three, in no particular order: Million Dollar Listing, House Hunter, Real Housewives of NY
Mike Feldman (mentee): James likes to go on long hikes. His last trip was to beautiful Glacier National Park, Montana.
Courtneay DellaValle-Jones (mentor): Bala likes to sing at work. Bala said, “People have caught him in the hallway while singing and he didn’t know they heard him.” Bala enjoys to listen to and sing Bollywood music.
Bala Sathyanarayanan (mentee): Courtneay has 2 dogs, Opie and Meekah She created an Instagram page for Opie, and has agencies contacting her about a video of Opie that went viral.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZhVMECHr3U/
Kate Black (mentor): Julie is a lifelong musician, playing in several bands, and currently wishes she was in a jazz band.
Julie Hogan (mentee): Kate considers herself a JFK expert and has memorabilia dating back to the 1960s.
If you had to describe your mentee/mentor using three words, what three words would you pick?
Samantha Dapier (mentor): Kind, compelling, open-minded
Judy Novak(mentee): Optimistic, thoughtful, engaged
Pretend: Xerox just invented a new product that would revolutionize the world as we know it, what would it be?
Mike Feldman/James Ribikawskis (joint effort): Electronic paper – Thin, flexible, paper-like material that one could send documents electronically and use just like any standard paper document of today.
Courtneay Delavalle-Jones (mentor): Medical 3-D printing (used in hospitals) and Holographic printing.
Bala Sathyanarayanan (mentee): Cloud based 3-D printing.
Chris Dewaele (mentor): The office assistant of the future – one that utilizes A.I.
Cathy Nadeau (mentee): A tool for automating responses to customer requests or RFPs using machine learning – continuously improving the quality of each response.
The magic of reverse mentoring
Reverse mentoring is not a new idea. Millennials and members of the up and coming Generation Z have become symbols for how expectations are changing for all employee, customer and partner interactions. The unstoppable modern team will adopt agile workflows that make more time for brainstorming and idea sharing, creating a think-tank culture that thrives on inclusivity and challenging the status quo.
At Xerox, we are all about setting the page free and looking beyond traditional systems of work. The reverse mentoring program has provided both executives and young professionals an opportunity to set the pages of their career free and do the extraordinary.
| The Mentees | The Mentors |
| Mike Feldman President, North America Operations |
James Ribikawskis Channel Sales |
| Mike Zimmer President, U.S. Enterprise & Graphic Communications Unit |
Somwatie Singh Delivery and Professional Services |
| John Corley President, Xerox Canada Unit |
John Miles Xerox Canada |
| Judy Novak Chief Financial Officer, North America Operations |
Samantha Dapier Service Delivery |
| Bala V. Sathyanarayanan Executive Vice President, Business Transformation & Human Resources |
Courtneay DellaValle-Jones Enterprise Sales |
| Julie Hogan Senior Vice President, Global Customer Service |
Kate Black Commercial Excellence |
| Kerry Sanders Senior Vice President, NAO Commercial Excellence |
Luke Schweitzer Production Color Sales |
| Kyle Gartner Vice President, U.S. Graphics Communications |
David Garabedian Enterprise Sales |
| Cathy Nadeau Vice President, Strategic Transformation |
Chris Dewaele Commercial Excellence |
| Toni Clayton Hine Chief Marketing Officer |
Brynn Aylward Enterprise Sales Samantha Ma Xerox Canada Jennifer On Channels |
| Alex Burgess Senior Vice President, North America Operations Service Delivery |
Benjamin Lucko Channels |
| Cathy Gueli Vice President, Offering Strategy |
Elise Kanaley Xerox Information Management |
Careers at Xerox
Xerox is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Visit xerox.com/jobs and discover your potential.
What’s the diversity mix in this program, and was that a consideration in the pairings?
Hi George, Diversity was a factor in selecting our mentors as you can see from our female to male ratio of 4:3; however the more important criteria was engaging our top performing talent as rated by managers. As the program expands past the pilot stage, we hope to engage even more of our top talent as mentors.
This is an amazing idea. So much of the older ways of conducting business and business relations are starting to no longer work. I have always been an advocate for the bottom up approach to business. All the best ideas and information, good and bad, come from the front lines. Those facing customers and the customers themselves.
As much as I hate the term, some upper management suffer from and Ivory Tower effect. They are so far removed they don’t detailed perspective. This will help bring in fresh ideas and techniques. I hope this project soars, it truly is a fantastic idea. Kudos Xerox.
This program sounds like a fantastic idea. I can definitely see the benefits Millennials can bring into a business and offering a fresh perspective. This will also help younger employees grow and build relationships with more senior employees. I hope to see it expand within Xerox.
Hi Bala! I met you when you visited Guatemala and loved the ideas you proposed to the managers. Do you think this program could be implemented here? I would love to learn more and also give ideas!
Hello Yani, It was great to meet you and other colleagues in Guatemala. I definitely think a Reverse Mentoring program would be a success at Xerox Guatemala as well . Please get in touch with Damilola Ashaolu- she can share some best practices with you and help you get started