Mentoring is an interactive way of learning that aims at the professional development of the mentee, also known as the actor. Rather than being a one-way transfer of information, mentoring is discussion in which both parties – the mentor and the actor – can expand their knowledge.
Through mentoring, the actor:
- Receives support and new information to develop their professional skills
- Learns to trust their strengths and use their strengths in their career
- Expand their professional network
In the mentoring programme, a mentor:
- Offers their expertise, experience and networks to the actor
- Learns to structure their knowledge and skills and gains skills for coaching and supervisory work
- Gains new, fresh perspectives on their work through the actor
Mentoring as part of Orion’s employer value proposition
Through its employer value proposition, Orion is committed to providing its employees with a wealth of career paths and development opportunities that support the development of innovative solutions, in addition to improving quality of life. The mentoring programme is part of this proposition.
“Orion has a host of expertise and skills that can be shared through mentoring. Orion has had a mentoring programme in place for more than ten years, and the experiences have been good,” says Susanna Sevón-Laakso, Team Leader, Learning Solutions.
At the core of mentoring are discussions between the actor and the mentor. The topics of discussion vary in accordance with the actor’s wishes and goals. Common themes include identifying your own expertise, steering your career development, working in accordance with your own and the company’s values and increasing your business insight, as well as supervisory work and support for networking. Mentoring also gives the mentor the opportunity to learn something new and gain new perspectives on and new energy for their work.
HR Consultant Laura Haapamäki: “Mentoring deepened and broadened my knowledge”
HR Consultant Laura Haapamäki applied to join the mentoring programme to gain a deeper insight into Orion’s operations and discuss themes related to her career development with an experienced Orion employee. Laura was paired with Juho Hellman, Head of Operations.
“Mentoring has deepened my professional skills, and I have learned valuable things about supervisory work, for example. This encourages me to further my career development,” Laura explains.
The agendas for the mentoring meetings were agreed in line with jointly determined goals. Before the meetings, Hellman collected examples related to the topics from working life and challenged Haapamäki to reflect on real-life challenges through them. The interaction at the meetings was open, the discussions were varied and the shared enthusiasm made time fly.
“Mentoring is a great opportunity to broaden your expertise. In a confidential atmosphere, it was easy to ask questions and gain valuable perspectives from a more experienced professional,” says Haapamäki.
“The programme brought variety, energy, motivation and meaning to my day-to-day work. In addition, my expertise became more structured when I shared my ideas with the mentee,” Hellman adds.
Senior Scientist Deepika Dhaware: “I was inspired by the discussions and learned to identify my strengths”
For Business Manager Anna Pitkänen and Senior Scientist Deepika Dhaware, the mentoring programme has included lively discussions, questions, answers, inspiration and new perspectives. The mentoring meetings and their supportive atmosphere have encouraged Pitkänen and Dhaware to think about their work from different perspectives and to network more widely.
Deepika was attracted to mentoring by a desire to get to know Orion employees from outside her organisation and by her interest in broadening her understanding of Orion’s operations.
“I was interested in seeing what the journey of a drug is like at Orion,” says Dhaware.
Mentoring also helped Dhaware to identify and use her own strengths. She believes that mentoring is a good way to pass on knowledge from one colleague to another, as it gives you a deep insight into their work and way of thinking.
As a mentor, Pitkänen agrees:
“It’s useful to get to know colleagues who work in different organisations and have different backgrounds and responsibilities. Mentoring has given me new perspectives on both my thinking and my work,” Pitkänen says.
