Thinking of how to reward high-potential employees? Allow them to grow further in their roles and provide them with a fresh perspective of a mentor! This is exactly the approach adopted by Merkle. We spoke with their Regional Talent Manager, Eliška Horáková, about Merkle’s experience with employee mentoring and how it benefited the company.
To begin, tell us a bit about yourself and what you do at Merkle
My name is Eliška and besides working I enjoy spending time with my hyper-active French bulldog, going to the gym and reading one book per week – yes, bit of a book nerd.
I just started my 4th year in Merkle, a dentsu company, as Regional Talent Manager. My role covers usual corporate processes such as performance development and talent mapping, but also Learning & Development, which I enjoy the most. I am creating and delivering talent programs and different trainings, such as one on leadership, which allows me to travel across our offices in Europe.
What led you to pursue a career in HR? Were there any key defining moments on your career path?
I got into HR by accident. :)
I studied communication and because of my language skills I joined Plzeňský Prazdroj as executive assistant of HR Director and that’s when it all started. I became quickly interested in the HR agenda and started to learn what it means. I still consider Catherine Sinclair as one of my biggest mentors in my career. My other defining moment would be cooperation with my friend, Adam Čížek, who is an excellent facilitator, and I was always amazed by his sessions and now we do these together, and I keep learning from him how to be even better facilitator. My last defining moment just started – I am becoming an Ericksonian coach (ICF) and starting my own coaching practice.
What made you want to join our mentoring program for companies? Have you had any experience with mentoring before?
For that, I have to thank Lucie Neumanová (CEO and Co-founder of Femme Palette, Ed.). A few years ago, I became a Femme Palette mentor, and I enjoyed every second of that. And when I was designing a talent program for our high-potentials, Lucie told me about the new opportunity – mentoring program for companies.
On the whole, what goals or challenges did Merkle want to address by providing employee mentoring?
I believe my colleagues can benefit from an outside perspective, learning new approaches from their mentors, and it can help them thrive in their roles and prepare them for their next ones.
How has mentoring helped Merkle employees? What results are you seeing?
All of our mentees were amazed by the program and the incredible matches with their mentors. I am seeing that they have definitely learned new approaches on how to deal with their daily topics, and furthermore, many of them have also applied to become mentors in our internal mentoring program. Thank you for that!
What would you say to other employers who are thinking about investing in a mentoring program, but aren’t sure if it’s the right decision?
Don’t hesitate and do it! It can only bring you benefits! I truly believe it's a great investment of budget.
Has the mentoring experience at Merkle inspired you to bring mentoring to your company? Check out Femme Palette’s Mentoring program for companies to learn more about our offer and solutions. We’ll be happy to talk to you about your company’s needs to build the best possible experience for you!
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