November 26, 2015

The Carlyle Group has fostered a culture of philanthropy and giving amongst employees via various giving programmes, whether that be through monetary donations to charities or giving back through donating time to the local community.  When looking for an opportunity for our more senior management to share their time and skills with the charity sector, it seemed like a wonderful opportunity on both sides to run a pilot mentoring programme between The Carlyle Group and Langley House Trust, for personal and skills development.

We set out to replicate the mentor / mentee model that has worked so well internally at The Carlyle Group, and paired-up nine Langley House executives to be mentored, with nine Carlyle Group executives.  Each Langley mentee outlined a specific area or project that they wished to work on with their Carlyle mentor during a 6-month period.

Outward-facing mentoring programme

An outward facing mentoring programme is important to Carlyle because it supports our CSR objectives of supporting local communities by sharing our skills and knowledge; it improves development of our employees, and also renews commitment to Carlyle and its core values.

Langley identified that a mentoring programme would be important to their senior leadership team for personal development – growing by growing others; honing of skills such as coaching, listening, giving feedback and adapting leadership style. It also represents making a difference to the organisation, profession and the mentee and develops self-knowledge and self-awareness.  For a mentee, such a programme opens avenues for exposure to additional experiences, styles, and ideas; it provides a unique way to develop skills on an accelerated schedule; and it is an opportunity to receive non-supervisory and confidential input to career development and professional improvement.

At the end of the six-month programme, mentors and mentees were invited to provide feedback which was overwhelmingly positive indicating that both a mentor and a mentee can benefit from such a programme, facilitating thought processes on both sides with regards to position, goals and challenges.  As one mentee put it, a “brilliant opportunity”.

This blog is from Jessica Berg, Head of HR – EMEA, The Carlyle Group, 1st October 2015.