Mentorship Spotlight Pair
From left to right: Glendy Orellana and Melissa Hanna
The Mentorship Application Closes Sunday, June 30!
Apply here: https://lnkd.in/efxRU8Dw
What were your intentions coming into this Program?
MH: First, I wanted to understand my mentee’s career goals, where they were on their career journey, and successes and challenges they were experiencing. From there, I wanted to leverage my experience with talent development and provide guidance based on my learnings throughout my career.
GO: I love construction. I wanted to learn more from a mentor within the same industry, who had significant amount of corporate construction experience to leverage and best support my teams at Turner & Townsend. From the very beginning, I took the program seriously (luckily, so did Melissa). I wanted to cultivate a solid mentor/mentee/friendship type of relationship in order for us to truly trust each other. Once that basis was cultivated, it made it much easier to be engaged and work consistently with Melissa. I also wanted someone within this industry who was as friendly, and people oriented as I was. In this aspect, I think the committee did an amazing job pairing us together.
What did you leave the Mentorship Program with?
MH: That it is a really well-structured program and can be very impactful if both the mentor and mentee are engaged in it, align on the expectations and devote the time.
GO: Easiest course of action for the committee is to continue pairing mentors and mentees that have similar career backgrounds, while having the same level of interest within the program. That in mind, even if I was paired with someone outside of Human Resources, my mentorship program experience would be different if I was paired with someone who wasn’t entirely engaged and cared about my career/ personal development. Both mentor and mentee must be equally invested to truly gain the fruits of the program. I think it’s a valuable learning experience for both parties.
What advice do you have for future prospects as a mentor/mentee?
MH: To share goals, be very committed to it, establish a regular cadence for check-ins and try different things to know what works best. Glendy and I had some meetings via Webex, but we also met out for dinner several times. We also did a day outing in Greenwich with fun activities.
GO: On a mentee perspective, be direct and clear in what you’re looking for within the program. It gives the opportunity for the committee to best match you with the appropriate mentor that can fulfill your wants/needs. If you decide to take part in the program, PLEASE be sure to take time off for it. I understand construction is a non-stop type of industry, but like university, it takes time off from work to gain the applicable knowledge necessary for you to “get ahead”.
