Ongoing personal development

An ongoing mentoring program is one of the answers. “Mentoring for me is one of the key development activities we have at Freudenberg Sealing Technologies,” said Marion Prager, who is responsible for FST training and development. “It's more than career development; it's a great instrument for speeding up a person's development by using the experience of more senior people.”

Mentoring as a human resources practice began to evolve when the company began to closely integrate its business units in 2011 and 2012 and saw the need to leverage the knowledge and experience of its global workforce. As more Freudenberg employees take part in mentoring program, feedback has helped improve the program.  

“We talk a lot about the leadership experience, and when people talk about new challenges, it doesn't hurt to be able to talk to someone who has enjoyed similar experiences and has recommendations to offer,” said Stefan Politis, Human Resources, the Americas.

The practice also fits well with the  decidedly global perspective of Esther Loidl, who is responsible for global HR at FST.

“Our HR themes are always global,” said Loidl. “This applies to all the tools, systems and processes that we use.” And with a cross-functional, cross-regional organizational structure, the company is well positioned to take advantage of all that a global mentoring program has to offer, including flexibility and the participants’ ability to maximize their learning experience.