Happy National Mentoring Day to all of our CAES mentors and mentees!
In 2021, the CAES Mentorship Program was launched to create stronger networks within the company. Since its start, the Mentorship Program has been a great way for employees to come together and share their experiences, both professional and personal. The program provides a simple framework that can be leveraged for both individual development and groups of employees. Mentors and mentees are paired after completing a short profile, which Human Resources then uses to create the matches.
In honor of National Mentoring Day, we chatted with several pairs of CAES mentors and mentees to learn more about the program and their experiences.
Bethany and Diane
One of our mentorship pairs includes mentee Bethany Crompton, a customer service representative in Lansdale, PA, and her mentor, Diane Ellis, senior manager program finance in San Diego, CA. Career growth was one of the main outcomes for this mentorship pair. Through this experience, Diane has been able to help Bethany realize that she would like to work toward becoming a project manager here at CAES.
“I think any employee who wants to grow should utilize the resources around him or her,” said Bethany. “And here at CAES those resources are really other individuals who encourage personal growth and development, and for me, Diane, my mentor, was that.”
Daniel and Ian
For mentee Daniel Taylor, a senior supervisor production test, and mentor Ian Brooks, a quality assurance manager, leadership was a key focus, as Daniel is taking on a leadership position outside of the military for the first time. Ian says he enjoys the program because it increases knowledge transfer within the business, which increases the learning culture and helps build people into future company leaders.
“Being a representative of the leadership team has helped me increase my professional development and accountability,” said Ian, “and [it] helps me support future CAES leaders.”
Jaybea and Jamie
The final pair we spoke with was mentee Jaybea Velbis, a production test technician, and mentor Jamie Lehto, vice president of engineering. With the help of Jamie, Jaybea was able to build up his professional network and increase the skills needed to progress in his career. After Jaybea went back to school to get his MBA, he realized that the field of supply chain interested him, so Jamie set up a zoom call with Matthew Covington, the senior director of supply chain, which later led to more face-to-face meetings.
“I think it is very valuable to have someone you can see as a role model or someone that can help you … reach that goal that you are trying to get to,” said Jamie.
National Mentoring Day aims to educate, inspire, connect, and support mentoring to effect positive change. Here at CAES, we aim for the same goals everyday within our mentoring program, and hope that more employees take advantage of all that the program has to offer.