Women into Leadership: Paying it forward
Our Women into Leadership Programme was created in 2021 to accelerate the careers of female colleagues across the business.
In the second year of the programme, a mentoring initiative was added following feedback from the previous cohort about the desire to ‘pay it forward’ and the value that mentoring can bring. Participants from the first year of the programme have been mentoring our new cohorts. This has been a great way for women leaders to connect across the business, share their unique experience of the programme and create a sense of community among the participants.
In a recent survey to the mentors and mentees, they all agreed that the mentoring programme is productive to their Women into Leadership journey.
In conversation with our mentors and mentees:
Yusryn, a Finance & Insurance Manager based in Singapore, was one of the mentors for our Asia Pacific cohort and comments:
“I was thrilled to be a mentor and this mentoring journey taught me to be an empathetic listener and observe various perspectives from my mentees. I learnt to polish my questioning techniques to draw interaction and feedback from my mentees.”
Mentee, Melissa, a Customer Care Manager in our UK business, joined our Women into Leadership Programme in 2022 and explains:
“I was delighted to have had the opportunity to meet and learn from an incredible woman in our industry. My mentor encouraged me to grow my network and was a great source of advice both personally and professionally. What has been most impactful is that I haven’t just a met a mentor, but I’ve also made a lifelong friend.”
Maria, Head of HR in Greece, who mentors Melissa added:
“It was an honour and privilege to take part in the mentor programme. I urged Melissa to celebrate and recognise her successes and as a result I would hear my own advice back to me to follow too! It doesn’t matter if you’re a mentor or mentee, there are lessons to be learned on both sides.”
Mayte, a Project Manager in Peru, is also a mentee and new to the Programme and shared:
“As a Project Manager, I’m always thinking about the future and the programme has helped me focus on the present; enjoying the stage I’m in at the moment and trusting I’m ready for what is next.”
The Future of the Programme
The Women into Leadership Programme is one of our key global development programmes and we are committed to continuing to grow and improve the programme. In the future, we plan to expand the programme to include more participants, as well as to offer more specialised modules and opportunities.
We are dedicated to tracking the progress of all participants following completion of the programme and continue to provide support and resources to the participants and collect feedback to ensure that the programme is meeting the needs of our colleagues and business.