Leveraging The Differences: A Case Of Reverse Mentoring

The purpose of this study is to describe reverse mentoring process within the scope of Social Exchange Theory, to explore how it is applied practically and the outcomes it creates in a foreign-owned bank in Turkey. To this end, following a literature review, information is gathered from secondary sources, such as the website of the bank, annual reports, interview videos on the web and articles in the national media organs. Additionally, in the context of single descriptive case study method, semi-structured interviews were conducted with two mentors being employed in the bank and nine research issues were investigated. The findings state that reverse mentoring has started to be perceived as a valuable tool to manage generational conflict. Besides, it allows mentees to gain insight about young generations, social media (the terminology, the range of different platforms and their impact), technological improvements and their effects on the banking industry. In addition to these positive outcomes, mentors benefit from reverse mentoring in terms of industry practices, leadership development, participation in decision-making, developing a network of executive-level contacts and observing problem-solving techniques from executives of different backgrounds. Despite the high level of power-distance in Turkey, it is anticipated that reverse mentoring applications will be used as a silver bullet in the near future of Turkish banking industry, due to the benefits it creates for organizations and participants.