Cross-Generational Mentorship 2020 – “Welcome to the world of Mentworking”

This year was challenging but we keep learning and SAP never fails to give us opportunities.
This time around, I got a platform where I was paired with colleagues from different generations with the goal of mutual learning and growth where multiple generations share experiences, skills, and knowledge, thereby enabling employees to create a bridge over Generation Gaps. Cross Generational Mentoring (CGM) took on these gaps head-first by opening communication between individuals with different views. This program assisted individuals to become familiar with the differences and strengths of each generation with mutual understanding and create a more positive and productive work environment.
I liked the mentor matching strategy of this program where we were asked to provide our areas of interest or roles and then we were mapped to the mentor based on that. I believe it must have been very challenging for the organising team to do so. Everyone had to play the role of mentor and mentee. ETs were encouraged to take the role of mentor and seniors were urged to listen as a mentee as ETs will have fresh ideas, new perspectives, and a lot of differences. Preparing for these inevitable changes within the organization will make the workforce more cohesive and successful.
Today the line between mentoring and networking are blurring.

It started with the Kick-off Meeting where CGM core team explained the program in detail and the insightful workshop on “Breaking Generational Myths” which filled me up with a whole lot of expectations and motivation. Before this meeting, I did not much idea what to expect from the program.
The experience itself turned out to be quite rewarding. I was paired up with energetic, curious, willing to learn and share with colleagues. For three months, my understanding of topics like networking, knowing the outlook of leaders, how they multitask and plan efficiently and the available career paths have evolved and changed. To keep the learning in the motion, we connected almost every Friday with more casual and deep discussions. It was full of fun and I now carry a lot of valuable learnings. It made me more competent to define my career path better in the direction that I want.

The journey with this program was made more exciting with the captivating Milestones Names namely:
TORCH -> BOOTCAMP – > KNOW THE COURSE -> WARMUP
->PASS THE BATON -> RELAY -> FINISH LINE -> PODIUM

Some of the key topics we covered were Technical vs Functional career growth, Know about Docker and Kubernetes and How is it used in BAF?, Networking related topics like Resistance/Beliefs about Networking, Steps of Networking & Practice and Social Media (LinkedIn, Twitter), UX review and functional overview of Cloud Solution ByDesign, Discussion on the SAP strategy and organisation, Education and Coaching Culture SAP India and many more.
I feel proud to be a part of this mixed-age family at SAP.

Over ‘n out