Unlocking Potential: Piloting Personio's First Mentorship Program

For Franzi, one of those mentees, the Lift program was an opportunity to improve her communication skills as she works toward her ultimate goal of becoming a people leader at Personio. As an Associate Sales Enablement Specialist, Franzi is focused on training new Sales hires – where communication plays a key role. “I went in wanting to improve my communication, especially because English isn’t my native language. But I’ve learned so much more than that!”

Her mentor, Ana, is based in Dublin as a Quality Management Lead in the Customer Experience department. “As soon as I learned about the mentorship pilot, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. One of the things that I enjoy the most as a people lead is being able to help others grow their careers, coaching, advising, and sharing my own learnings and experiences. I love helping others navigate professional challenges, and helping them discover their strengths and what they really want. Being part of this program was a great opportunity to expand my ability to support others in this regard, outside of my immediate team.” 

Relatively new to the Personio team, Ana also knew that joining Lift would be a great way to learn more about Personio and the other teams across the company. “Hearing about Franzi’s experiences has given me awareness and perspective on the scope of work and challenges faced by teams I don’t have the chance to work with.” 

Franzi has also found it beneficial to work with another non-English native speaker – and a woman with multiple years of experience in the tech industry. “Ana has not only helped me become comfortable with the way I word things, but also with owning and being confident in my own personality. As women, we often second-guess ourselves and try too hard to be ‘nice.’ Ana is helping me realize the value of being myself, and how that can help me do my job even better.” 

As many mentors, including Ana, know, the benefits of a mentor-mentee relationship go both ways. “Franzi has such an enormous amount of drive, motivation, and desire for personal and professional development. She’s also very appreciative of Personio and her work, and she truly cares about doing things right and making an impact. I’ve found our exchanges very fulfilling, and have gotten great satisfaction from paying forward my experience, coaching, and advice to another person – especially as someone who has benefited from having a mentor myself.” 

While Franzi’s ultimate goals were centered around communication and leadership, their conversations have been wide-ranging. “Sometimes I want to tackle so many goals at once and I get lost. But Ana has already helped me to set clear, detailed priorities and intermediate goals for every step of the journey.”

It’s a journey from Ana’s perspective, as well. “As we spend more time together, the more I get to know and appreciate her singularities, and the more I see where I can help her, and where I can also learn from her.”

At the end of the day, the Lift Mentorship Program has been an unmitigated success for Franzi and Ana, and the other pairs like them.  

“I’m so happy for myself that I have learned to set goals and be more confident about what I can become. I know now that I am allowed to be myself, to be everything I want to be, and to own all of it! Sometimes it’s not the boundaries from outside that block you from your goals, but from within,” says Franzi. “I feel so lucky to have a mentor like Ana by my side who constantly reflects this, and shows me that I can succeed as a non-native speaker, a leader, and a woman.” 

While the Lift pilot is nearning an end, the success of the program means it is officially being added to Personio’s ever-growing list of leadership and development offerings. If you’d like to experience it yourself, come join Ana in Customer Experience, Franzi in Sales, or other Personios across the company. We’re hiring!