Iberdrola
Case Study
Title
At Iberdrola, the global leader of renewable energies, they focus on sustainability. Mentoring supports that philosophy through shared learning among colleagues and growth opportunities for employees to develop skills that will energize their careers.
Mayara Cesila de Farias, DEI Specialist at Iberdrola, has been involved in employee engagement programs, DEI initiatives, and mentoring programs during her time at Iberdrola. “Our main purpose with our mentoring program was to expand our offering in learning and development opportunities inside of the company and take advantage of all the knowledge that we already have in our organization,” said Mayara. With approximately 41,000 employees worldwide, Iberdrola saw mentoring as a way for people to build connections with one another and focus on collaborative work.
Our main purpose with our mentoring program was to expand our offering in learning and development opportunities inside of the company and take advantage of all the knowledge that we already have in our organization.”
DEI Specialist at Iberdrola
Global Mentoring Strategy
The global mentoring strategy at Iberdrola spans across six regions and various subsidiaries within the larger Iberdrola family. From Spain to Brazil to the United States and beyond, the talented team at this expansive international company found ways to build connections among employees around the world through multiple mentoring programs.
“I think what is amazing about mentoring that we are achieving [is that] we are addressing a lot of different needs that we have inside of the organization. So if you consider the sector that we are in, the utility sector, we are talking about highly qualified and specific knowledge and skills. So it’s important to make sure that we are transferring this knowledge inside of the organization,” said Mayara.
One program having a profound impact is the Digital Mentoring Programme. This program serves as a catalyst for accelerating and expanding the development of skills that are necessary for the digital transformation process at Iberdrola. It creates opportunities for employees to transfer knowledge, share experiences, and promote a collaborative environment.
Digital Mentoring Programme Design
- 1:1 mentoring
- Global audience
- Focused on functional upskilling
- Uses SMART matching and admin matching
“People from different countries, different backgrounds—we put them to work together, and they were satisfied and they were happy to work together. This was the green light for us…to convince top management that the program makes sense in the company,” said Mayara.
Results:
2020
Started In
14,464
Mentoring Hours
4.7
RELATIONSHIP SATISFACTION FOR MENTORS
4.9
RELATIONSHIP SATISFACTION FOR MENTEES
As Iberdrola builds their global mentoring strategy, they leverage mentoring to support not only global enterprise-wide programs, but also in support of local initiatives within subsidiaries and geographic regions. “We would like to achieve a moment where all of our employees think that they [can] find someone here inside of the company that can help them,” said Mayara.
Targeted Marketing
Marketing the mentoring programs to different teams and regions allows the program administrators to address specific needs for their audience. One administrator showcasing the power of mentoring is Amanda Foster, Talent Coordinator at Avangrid, a subsidiary within Iberdrola. Amanda’s creative marketing includes speaking at events, hosting a booth at talent and ERG events within Avangrid, and posting on LinkedIn to amplify the positive impact mentoring can have. The team at Avangrid even uses swag giveaways celebrating and promoting the mentoring program.
“All of these different programs are helping us to create a kind of ambassadors or believers of mentoring initiatives,” said Mayara. It’s easy to see how this energy for mentoring will sustain itself within Iberdrola.
All of these different programs are helping us to create a kind of ambassadors or believers of mentoring initiatives.
