Mentoring Boosts Careers in the Air Navigation Industry | Best Practice by skyguide
Skyguide provides air navigation services for Switzerland and certain adjacent parts of neighboring countries. With its 1500 employees, comprising 34 nationalities, at 14 locations in Switzerland, the company guides some 1.2 million civil and military flights a year safely and efficiently through Europe’s most complex airspace.
This best practice was first published in the Gender Intelligence Report 2020.
Skyguide attaches great value to diversity, along with the equal treatment of all employees and a harmonious collaboration among their different cultures. Skyguide offers attractive employment opportunities to newer and older members of the working world alike: in 2019, around a fifth of its workforce were either younger than 29 or older than 55. That sounds like we are home and dry, right? Well, not quite – there has been continuous focus on building and maintaining an inclusive and diverse culture.
… and better discussions lead to better decisions”, such is the conviction of Alex Bristol, CEO skyguide. In 2013, skyguide introduced a diversity program. The priority called the skywomen initiative was to promote women’s careers and increase the proportion of female specialists from entry to management to board level. Indeed, internal analysis showed that skyguide had the potential to promote more women in the male-dominated aviation and air navigation services environment. It is not just about numbers but also about empowerment: We want greater involvement of women in business decisions and in shaping the company. One of the measures to achieve this is mentoring.
Head People & Training Development and Head Diversity at skyguide
We launched a pilot program in 2014 with 6 pairs of mentees: hand-picked women with potential and interest in personal and professional development, and mentors on the level of executive and top management. The program had very clear specifications for both parties and they signed a confidentiality charter. It put the mentee under an obligation to steer the mentoring process and make a commitment. For 9 months, the pairs met once a month for 1 to 2 hours, exchanging experiences and career paths, discussing professional issues, job opportunities and more.
The mentoring program is a great opportunity to take a step back from your daily business and to undertake meaningful changes.
– Anne Barraud, Project Manager at skyguide
The mentoring program now has up to 10 pairs per year. HR and Diversity Managers shortlist both those selected and those who have applied, and the participants of each annual mentoring wave are finally selected by the Executive Board, who are also the mentors. To make it fair, interviews are conducted with the candidates, who talk about their motivations and perspectives. The Executive Board chooses the candidates and creates the mentormentee-pairs. The mentees introduce themselves at an Executive Board meeting at the beginning of the mentoring and at the end, the mentees present their feedback. At first, only a few Executive Board members were mentors, but after the promising and positive feedback of 2 or 3 rounds, they all wanted to mentor a mentee every year. The Executive Board decided then also to extend the program from 9 to 12 months.
At the beginning, we deliberately wanted to empower women and so men were not included. However, understanding that gender equality needs to involve men, from 2016 men have participated as mentees.
Since 2018, mentees and mentors have also been exchanging experiences and growing with our partner organization Advance – Gender Equality in Business. The insights into other industries and company styles is extremely enriching for both sides.
In addition to the rewarding contact and stimulating discussions, the exchange within the Advance mentoring program with a manager from another company allowed me to discover another corporate culture. It was challenging and very enriching. I would like to point out that the analysis of the profiles that will make up the mentee/mentor pairs is extremely well carried out by Advance. Beyond the mentoring exchanges, a human bond has been created and we are still in contact, my mentor and I!
– Martine Froissard, Human Resources Business Partner and Case Manager at skyguide
We have now gone beyond national borders and skyguide is a partner of the international Inspired Women Lead (IWL). We are part of IWL’s intercultural mentoring program with mentors and mentees from all five continents. It consists of two parts: being mentored for six months and for the next six months being a mentor to another woman, thereby paying it forward.
What I like about the IWL mentoring is the opportunity it gives to broaden my view on leadership through discussions with women from different backgrounds, cultures and generations. It is an asset for understanding the benefits of diversity.
– Corinne Gingins, Technics Management Safety at skyguide
Alba Caraballo, Kerstin Knopf and Corinne Gingins were the first participants in the intercultural mentoring program of Inspired Women Lead (IWL) with mentors and mentees from all five continents.
Today, mentoring is an established part of our diversity program. We have seen that mentoring fosters drive in the participants, particularly:
Of the 38 mentees who took part in the program between 2014 and 2019, 63% have taken on expanded tasks, a new function and in some cases a higher position. All of them achieved greater visibility throughout the company and were asked to participate in new projects. We will now take a further step with a post-mentoring project. Women who have completed the mentoring programs to date are now becoming mentors for young female managers or employees: An inspiring self-generating system is in place.
Skyguide’s Mentoring Charter – The Relationship
Even if the number of participants eligible for a mentoring program seems small in your company, don’t let this put you off. We warmly recommend introducing an organized and structured mentoring program no matter what the size. Mentoring is suitable for all levels or career stages: Experienced managers sharing their know-how with those that might be at a career crossroads is powerful. Mentoring is a great way to encourage development. The time for those exchanges is well invested and mentors learn as much and become sensitized to areas of D&I they otherwise may not be.
The selected mentees receive two prominent appearances before the Executive Board. At the beginning of the mentoring they testify to their motivation and commitment, and at the end of the program they present their experiences and learning. On the photo, the participants of the 2019 mentoring wave.
We are happy to share more insights on our mentoring initiative with interested decision makers and experts. Please don’t hesitate to get with me at christiane.damal@skyguide.ch.
This Best Practice was first published in the Gender Intelligence Report 2020.
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