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"Growth is one of the main purposes of the programme. You gain new perspectives, new connections, and you’ve grown together through consistency and guidance," says Sine.
As an organisation in the business of sustainable development, NIRAS adopts a flat hierarchy and inspires a commitment to lifelong learning in the organisation. One way we instil this in our people is through learning initiatives that bridge the gap between individual development and mutual growth.
Organisations on a mission to build a brighter future must start from within. And often, it begins with inspiring its own people to cultivate the key values of lifelong learning and seamless collaboration. For the past year and a half, two managers at NIRAS successfully accomplished this internal mission – through a mentoring programme rooted in collective progress.
Initiated and organised by Director of Learning and Development, Sine Skov and HR Coordinator in Africa, Judy Kimani, the mentoring programme at NIRAS found resounding success in its first run, which recently culminated in a celebratory meeting. Colleagues from various fields, from project management and business development to gender and the environment, were grouped into nine pairings and linked according to their shared expertise.
In the close-out meeting, mentors and mentees talked about their experience – and all of them expressed taking home invaluable insights.
For Carolina de Silva Cristofaro, a project manager and tender specialist specialising in environmental and resilience planning, her mentorship under the Head of Climate Change and Natural Resources Management, Martin Becher, became instrumental in bettering the way she worked. This was made possible by the personalised guidance the programme encouraged.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity – the programme was a great support system and helped me grow,” says Carolina, who noticed a tangible change in the way she connected with project team members and stakeholders. “Each session became a space to bring up a topic I could use Martin’s guidance on, which made the support incredibly relevant and practical.”
Consultant and fellow mentee, Rachel Beattie, also saw the importance of having a safe space to exchange ideas with her mentor, Senior Programme Manager Khalil Ansara. To her, it gave them both the opportunity to allow creativity to flow in their discussions and spur ideas into action. “Having that kind of space to discuss things and creatively think outside of your normal working patterns...it’s something both my mentor and I were really keen to use,” she says, adding that an extra value of participating in the programme is the networking it promoted within NIRAS, an organisation with 62 offices and about 3000 employees around the globe.
Throughout the mentoring programme, the mentors and mentees were encouraged to have monthly meetings (most of which took place online) where mentees freely shared their goals and challenges, allowing mentors to support them in a unique and tangible way.
A safe environment for mentors and mentees to talk was fundamental to the mentorship’s success. And in the case of Marie Bonnet, a project and tender manager, this space enabled her to move past her comfort zone. “My mentor gave me a sort of nudge – that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise – to do things that are a bit daunting,” she shares.
Through the programme, Marie also boosted her confidence and became more proactive. This echoes the experience of Business Development Officer Xiaoyuan Ke who shared, “At the end of the programme, I gained confidence in my project management work. I became proactive.” Xiaoyuan considered the mentorship useful in fine-tuning her approach to the bid and project management process. “I feel better about networking with people and clients, which is essentially people management and an important skill in what we do.”
The mentoring programme is greatly informed by the mentees, showing how NIRAS values not just continuous learning but also open collaboration that moves past employees’ seniority.
During the programme, the mentees mainly took the wheel. This mentee-driven approach made the mentoring even more productive. Managing Consultant and mentor Kirsti Thornber found value in this setup: instead of mentors merely feeding mentees information and advice, the latter took charge of the course of their learning. “To have that opportunity where mentees drive the programme, they have to reflect on what they want to get out of it. And I think that's quite good,” she says. This sentiment resonates with Khalil, who also regards mentorship as one that furthers the company’s overall development.
While the programme’s design benefits mentees’ growth and learning, it equally supports the mentors. Business Development Manager David Shirley noticed improvements in his capacity to guide, especially given the year-and-a-half duration of the programme. “It’s important for a mentor to be agile and a bit flexible. Treat it more like a marathon rather than a sprint,” he notes. During this period, he first aimed to build trust between him and mentees Marie Bonnet and Xiaoyuan Ke in the beginning stages. “Refraining from teaching the tools in the first two weeks made conversation more natural and helped build trust more quickly.”
[The participants’] time, commitment and willingness to learn, share and grow together have been at the heart of the success of this mentoring programme...The journey does not end here, and we would like [them] to stay connected.
Judy Kimani
Throughout the programme, both Sine and Judy regularly checked in with the participants and discovered how adapting helped both mentors and mentees facilitate each other’s growth. “Mentees have grown in clarity on their career goals, and at the same time, mentors have grown themselves” Sine says. “Growth is one of the main purposes of the programme. You gain new perspectives, new connections, and you’ve grown together through consistency and guidance.”
Growth on both sides being a true highlight was hardly surprising. Head of Business Development and mentor Julia Miljevic Jakobsen’s experience was deepened by the exchange of knowledge, showing that no matter one’s role in an organisation, learning opportunities abound when you listen.
Now that the first cohort has completed this mentoring programme, participants were encouraged to keep in touch and continue their learning. At present, the second cohort is ongoing, while applications for the next round are expected to open in autumn, and mentees are being encouraged to pay their learnings forward – this time, as mentors.
