Submitted by: Lindsay Gray, Recruiting Area Manager
The Speed Mentoring Event on Monday, September 25th was nothing short of uplifting and motivating. Our Workforce Planning Team did an outstanding job of setting up the logistics for this event so that different mentors and mentees within the program “speed mentored” one another, “speed dating” style.
This event was set up in our corporate offices in both Savannah, GA and Carrollton, TX. In the first leg of the event, mentees spoke virtually via video chat with mentors in a “speed dating” type of environment. The overall goal was for the mentee to get a quick snippet of mentoring advice from the mentor in order to continue in the quest of growing within their career. I believe the event was just as rewarding for the mentor to be able to give great advice and information on how their careers have progressed within and outside of the Company up until this point.
The Workforce Planning Team provided the mentees with some standard questions that could help them break the ice in a new conversation. As a mentee myself, this was extremely helpful because it led to very informative conversations within the three-minute window given. I was, surprisingly, able to have plenty of takeaways from this short amount of time. When the three minutes were up, we moved to the next available laptop and started conversing with the next mentor. We spoke virtually with about 8-10 mentors before we set up for the second leg of the event.
After a brief refresher, the event shifted into In-Person Speed Mentoring. While the three-minute window was still in effect, designated mentors within the program joined both sites to speak with the mentees in-person. It was a different atmosphere which brought an exciting element to the session. No longer was there the physical barrier of a computer screen between the mentee and mentor.
Again, because I was a mentee, I was very eager to talk with our mentors, whom I do not have much face time with on a day-to-day basis. These conversations were beyond valuable to my continued growth within the Company. The majority of the mentors I spoke with had at least four years of experience with the Company, held Director-level positions and above, and have been essential employees to the continued success of TMX Finance®. Besides the great advice I was given in each snippet from the mentors, I felt that I was developing as an employee just within those three-minute conversations.
All in all, this event was so fantastic for both mentees and mentors. I encourage anyone who is thinking about joining the TEAM Up Mentor Program to enroll, even for exposure to this event alone! I am so grateful I work for an organization that continues to raise the bar for its team members and is #TalentObsessed and invested in our growth and development!