The Wall Street Journal recently published an article on young professionals based on a Mercer Study that found young employees have higher job satisfaction, but also more willing to leave. As a young professional myself I can tell you that taking on new responsibilities and leadership roles that broaden my skill-set keeps me engaged and willing to go the extra mile. I agree with the study in that as long as developmental opportunities are available, young professionals will be highly satisfied employees.
So what keeps me motivated? At MasterCard, I’ve had the pleasure of working with my colleagues across businesses, geographies, and demographics to launch the MasterCard young professionals Business Resource Group (BRG), also known as “YoPros”. The mission of YoPros is to build a global network of young professionals to both inform MasterCard’s business strategy and create an environment that fosters information sharing and relationship building among young and seasoned professionals within the organization.
Earlier this year, us YoPros supported the First Annual Youth Summit where we all came together to collaborate and prioritize new products that took into account the needs of young people today – many of these ideas are now even being piloted within MasterCard Labs! It’s very exciting that YoPros has made an impact internally by piloting new tools and technologies that are transforming the way we collaborate as an organization.
One of the keys to YoPros success is enabling an environment where young professionals can learn directly from senior management and network across different business groups. To enable exposure to senior management, we’ve hosted a series of lunch sessions that foster innovative idea sharing between all levels of the organization, such as IT Transformation through new technologies and building digital brands through Facebook and Twitter. We also launched a reverse mentoring program called ‘MConnections’ where young professionals can volunteer as mentors to managers of incoming college recruits to help the managers better understand the generational differences and how they can drive a more productive and effective workforce.
By working closely with MasterCard’s Philanthropy Group, we’ve also established a partnership with the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) where YoPro members can volunteer to make a real impact in the classroom by sharing experiences in business, business plan coaching, and being competition judges.
Whether it’s participating in product brainstorming, contributing to a strategy discussion, or posting a blog on the intranet, MasterCard has enabled my YoPro colleagues and I several opportunities to share our perspectives and inform business strategy. I’m encouraged by the progress the YoPros BRG has made within just one year, but how can we continue to grow? What are the lessons learned from other organizations or other young professionals?
3 Comments
Congratulations Ryan and all the YoPros on your tremendous accomplishments. You have truly demonstrated how our Business Resource Groups can impact MasterCard’s business success and provide a great example for the other BRG’s to follow. Keep up the great work!
What a Great idea! Being a baby boomer myself, I love the concept of a reverse mentoring program. There is a generational divide, and having a formalized program in place to address it is great corporate policy.
Also, being stimulated on a job that allows you to grow, not only professionally and personally is what keeps Gen Y in the game. Keep up the great job, Ryan. You are helping MasterCard not only recruit great talent, but retain them. All the best, Suzi
This blog post really grabbed my attention. Starting a post kind of like this one forced me to do some research and I found your post to be quite helpful.The big problem comes when you can’t seem to translate that enthusiasm and drive to your team. They’re qualified and hardworking, but they just don’t really seem that fussed what happens to the company. You want them to be resilient, driven and – above all else – as motivated to succeed as you are.