Engage 4 Success: Employee Engagement – Inclusion in the Workplace

CA Technologies Reverse Mentoring Program

October 2016

Gabrielle Ferguson, Talent Development Partner EMEA

@gabifergusonx @https://uk.linkedin.com/in/gabiferguson

Agenda

CA TECHNOLOGIES, AN INTRODUCTION

REVERSE MENTORING OVERVIEW

ACTIVE LISTENING EXERCISE

MID-POINT REVIEW FEEDBACK

BREAKOUT SESSION

CLOSE

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CA Technologies: We eliminate the barriers between ideas and business outcomes

• One of the largest independent software corporations in the world

• Specialising in B2B commercial software in app development, agile

methodology and security software for cloud computing

• We count the majority of the Fortune 500 as our customers

• Just celebrated our 40th birthday as a company

• 11,500 employees globally

What is Mentoring?

“Off-line help by one person to another in making significant transitions in knowledge,

work or thinking”

David Megginson and David Clutterbuck

Reverse Mentoring: What?

Thrive Reverse Mentoring is a reversal of the traditional role of mentor and mentee.

Mentors will be high potential managers, who will coach, support, advise and share their personal and professional experiences with senior leaders (the mentees)

Mentors will typically be:- Less senior to their mentees AND - Have a diverse characteristic that is different to that of the leader they will mentor (e.g.

generation, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation etc.)

Let’s challenge assumptions!

Mentors:• Support the Thrive agenda by sharing personal and professional

experiences as a diverse employee

• Promote diversity in action: there are numerous research studies that diverse teams produce better business results

• Develop skills in leadership, mentoring, crucial conversations, giving feedback

• Develop confidence in building relationships with senior leaders

• Raise profile and visibility with senior teams

Reverse Mentoring: Why

Mentees:

• Gain an in-depth understanding of what it’s like to work at CA Technologies as a diverse employee

• Benefit from insights of a diverse perspectives on the current state of CA at a less senior level and the current working environment

• Gain greater self-awareness through feedback from the mentor • Start to create a robust pipeline to identify, employ, develop and retain

diverse talent

Reduces unconscious bias and challenges stereotypes/assumptions

Educate senior managers about the challenges that diverse employees experience

Increase commitment among senior managers to Drive Talent Success by recruiting, retaining, and promoting diverse talent

Enhance leadership and coaching skills of both mentees and mentors;

Enables a safe environment for conflict management - strengthening relationships while in encouraging creativity and promoting effective problem solving

CA Technologies:

Roles/Responsibilities: Mentors:

Be honest about your own personal experiences and challenges as a diverse employee

Proactively contact your mentees to schedule meetings and prepare for discussions

Confidently challenge your mentee

Help the mentee understand how his/her behaviour impacts others through constructive feedback

Provide mentees with honest feedback and perceptions

Understand that participation in this program is not a guarantee of future promotion or career advancement

Mentees:

Approach the mentoring experience with an open mind and a willingness to explore their own beliefs and behaviours

Be open to feedback from mentors and be willing to try new approaches, possibly outside of your comfort zone

Is open about own journey sharing both failures and successes

Communicate openly and honestly with their mentors

Prioritize time for meetings

Support both the mentor and the program

Reverse Mentoring: Success Measurements

Successful completion of the program from all pairs

Focus group data on tangible benefits/outcomes due to participation

Implementation of lessons learned within your own teams/day job

Improvement in diversity stats within team, interview panels and candidates

1.5 Hour Training with Reverse Mentoring Guidebook

6 Sessions minimum over 6 months

Halfway point check-in: September 2016

Pilot finish and Celebration: December 2016

Pledge board and blog posts for communication/promotion

Launch of wider EMEA program, rollout 2017-18

Reverse Mentoring: Next Steps

Active ListeningWhat is it?

Step 1. Everyone into PairsStep 2. Assign numbers 1 and 2Step 3. Speakers will speak for 3 minutesStep 4. Listeners will ask questions for 2 minutesStep 5. Listeners will summarise and reflect for 1 minute.

Awareness of Body Language- can be used to demonstrate that you are actually listening!

• Nodding• An appropriate facial expression – mirroring• Patterned breathing• Encouraging noises• Leaning in• Avoiding barriers!

What is a good question?- open and exploratory, giving your partner the space to elaborate

• Putting at ease• Re-establishing rapport• Checking understanding• Probing and guiding questions • Bringing perspective

The power of summarising - what can this achieve?

• Checks understanding on both sides• Brings clarity on the issue itself • Gives another perspective on the issue• Important to keeping a record – ensures progress for

partnerships

MID-POINT REVIEW

Key Topics discussed- Individuals’ Backgrounds- Current CA Technologies management team- Communication challenges with European teams - The wider diversity/inclusion agenda at CA - Mentors shared their own personal experiences

Summary:- All pairs had met monthly for 60 - 120 minutes - All agreed they had been matched well - First meeting was focused on rapport building, sharing backgrounds

and journey's including the “off-script” version - All discussed confidentiality at the start and felt open enough to

share experiences

MID-POINT REVIEW: MENTEES

• I’m constantly fighting fires in the UK and from my European bosses. Diversity just simply isn’t at the forefront compared to hard non-negotiable sales targets.

• Everytime I’ve moved up in my career I’ve lost the relationships with my peers. It’s actually quite lonely at the top and you need to be prepared for that.

• It’s actually not easy to go into the passenger seat and have a more balanced conversation than I’m normally used to.

• I would 100% recommend other senior execs to do this. It’s been great to have someone completely separate as a sounding board, who has a completely different perspective.

MID-POINT REVIEW: MENTORS

• The feeling of being “classified” as a BAME employee, and a senior female executive are similar. I was surprised by this, it was very touching and a strong learning point for both of us

• A little bit of extra explanation can go a long way and stop a diverse employee feeling victimised.

• “They sent a little Indian girl to fix the problem, let’s see what she can do” – overheard from a customer CIO

BREAK-OUT SESSION:

Half Inclusion Champions Half Senior Leaders How would you be convinced to become involved in reverse mentoring?

Talent Development Partner EMEAGabrielle.Ferguson@CA.com

Gabrielle Ferguson

@gabifergusonx

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/gabiferguson