DiveIn Festival logo

Dive In to Reverse Mentoring

The Dive In Festival is the “Glastonbury” Festival of the Insurance Industry for diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I). Following on from the success of our first cohort we are delighted to announce that we will be starting cohort 2 in July 2024.

Reverse Mentoring is aimed at fostering connections between leaders across diverse segments of the Lloyd's market globally and individuals at all levels, allowing the sharing of experiences, perspectives and learning.

This program will enable new generations working within insurance to also have their input and help drive the changing society norms. There is a constant and evolving need to adapt working practices, culture and ideas in the workplace and through the Reverse Mentoring, greater diversity and inclusion will foster growth and innovation in the industry.

What is Reverse Mentoring:

Reverse mentoring is the process of senior leaders engaging with individuals at different levels within the industry, at a more junior level. This enables a shared learning experience with the goal of exchanging experience, knowledge, perspectives, and skills. It encourages professional interactions that break through communication barriers that form with rank, seniority, and generational differences.

Unlike normal mentoring, in these interactions it is the junior participant that takes the lead and mentors the more senior person.

What is expected:

  • Mentors and mentees meet once a month for up to an hour for a six month period
  • Up to 6 hours of Reverse Mentoring over the 6 months
  • Mentors and mentees agree on an actionable outcome of the process
  • Mentors will be matched with mentees interested in the same areas
  • Meetings can be held virtually if location doesn’t allow in person
  • You can choose from 16 topic from areas including Social Media, Technology, Speaking Up and Mental Health

Topics to choose from:

Micro-aggressions / Technology / Social media / Sexual orientation / Sponsoring diverse talent / Creativity and innovation / Disability and conditions / Lived experiences, ethnicity and race / Marginalisation and lived experiences / My culture (global cultures) / Mental health and wellbeing / Religions and beliefs / Generational perspectives / The future of work / Mental health, gender / Speaking up/ welcoming change

How to take part

Cohort 2 of Reverse Mentoring will be launching in July. The launch will be announced on our website and social media closer to the time.

You will then be able to register using the registration links to the mentoring platform and secure matches!

Whilst senior leaders may feel that the time commitment is an obstacle, all those involved in reverse mentoring have described the experience as a positive enhancement to their own development and to the greater promotion of diversity and inclusion in their workplace. The exchange of perspectives is fundamental to greater cultural and generational understanding and competence, which then generates innovative ideas and solutions.

"This was an incredibly rewarding and challenging experience especially in terms of learning how younger colleagues perceive management, the behaviours they value and those they don't. The most interesting was that often they don't want or expect leaders to share their own values and behaviours - but they do expect leaders to live theirs."
Feedback from a Mentor
"It's a wonderful space to expand my network. Really enjoyed and appreciated my mentors commitment to this dynamic."
Feedback from a Mentee

Benefits of Reverse Mentoring:

Bridging generational and cultural gaps

Make a difference, bring about change

Exchange of knowledge, experience and skills

Diversify your workforce

Encourage professional relationships

Building culture

Advance digital knowledge

Enhance employee's career goals

Increase employee engagement

Develop future leaders

Challenge your perceptions

Improve retention