As part of the gender equality strategies, FCA launches the Mentoring Program for Women, focusing on the development of women’s careers in the group.

October 02, 2020 - In June, FCA started the first edition of the group's Mentoring Program for Women in Brazil. After six months, 30 employees with leadership profiles will have been accompanied by mentors, in stages for training and development. The objective is to accelerate the career of FCA women in Latin America and strengthen the existing Diversity and Inclusion Program, with a focus on gender equality.

According to data from the World Economic Forum's 2019 gender inequality report, it would take another 257 years to balance the gender economic inequality in the world. “Therefore, we know that organizations need to intensify their efforts even more when it comes to equality in leadership,” says Elaina Santos, FCA's senior HR manager for Latin America.

For Elaina Santos, HR manager at FCA, mentoring programs support the professional growth of women.

In 2019, FCA in Brazil was the first vehicle developer to join the Movimento Mulher 360 (Women’s Movement 360), a company initiative to develop women’s economic performance. In addition, the group develops a series of internal initiatives associated with the Diversity and Inclusion strategies.

Elaina explains that women are more likely to be impacted in their professional journeys by unconscious biases, that is, prejudices incorporated into our daily lives, based on stereotypes of gender, race, sexual orientation and others. In addition, women are historically underrepresented in segments such as the automotive industry and continue to face prejudice in traffic. “For this reason, mentoring programs like this one are important to support the growth of women, providing future career advances, in addition to maintaining corporate leadership sensitive to gender equality”, completes Elaina.

Impacts of mentoring

According to Marcela Sampaio, FCA's Leadership Development for Latin America and the Women's Mentoring Program, are actions that work hand in hand with the company's positioning on the issue. “Diversity must be part of the way we make decisions and relate to each other. And we need to be able to recognize and develop talent in this regard”, she says. The objective is that, in the future, mentoring programs aggregate other audiences foreseen in FCA's Diversity and Inclusion strategies.

Marcela Sampaio is Leadership Development at FCA and the Women's Mentoring Program.

Today, the total number of FCA employees in Latin America is made up of 11% of women. In general, the company's strategies aim to increase this number and pave the way for more women to reach leadership positions. “We want to break the barriers in the automotive sector, which is very traditional, and connect us with the consumer of the future. We want our staff to represent our society. For this reason, diversity has to be a real and a practical value of our business”, explains Marcela. To date, in 2020, 50% of the people hired in leadership positions at FCA have been women. In July, Juliana Coelho, an engineer from Pernambuco and head of the FCA development area, in Belo Horizonte (MG), was promoted to plant manager at the Jeep Automotive Plant, in Goiana (PE). She is the first woman to run an FCA plant in Latin America.

Pamela Grazioli, FCA's Key Account for Latin America, is one of the thirty women selected for the Mentoring Program.

Pamela Grazioli has built her entire career within Fiat. Her first job, when she was studying Administration in Porto Alegre (RS, Brazil), was in a dealership of the group. As an intern, she took on the position of supervisor and then of manager. She managed the Direct Sales department when her husband was transferred to São Paulo. “I did a selection process for admission at Fiat in São Paulo and joined as a direct sales consultant. At the time, I was the only woman in that position at FCA in the entire country” she recalls. Pamela was promoted and today she’s FCA's Key Account for Latin America.

Pamela was selected to participate in the FCA Women's Mentoring Program and says that the initiative is an opportunity to look at her own career and develop important skills, which she had not yet managed to work on alone, due to lack of time. “It’s normal to seek advice from people close to you, who are generally from our area. But my mentor is from a totally different area than mine, so it will be interesting to have the perspective of a person who works in the same company but with a point of view from another sector”.

Elaina sees mentoring as an impact resource, especially in times of transition or when it’s necessary to accelerate one’s career development. And it’s an initiative that brings gains for the organization, through the promotion of an inclusive culture, which develops and maintains people with different perspectives and experiences.

Role of mentor

Camilla Correa, Human Resources manager, has already gone through mentoring programs and is now a mentor at FCA.

Camilla Correa, Human Resources professional, has been working in the automotive sector for 14 years. At FCA, she started as an HR Analyst in the Industrial area and today is a Human Resources manager. “The challenges, complexity and scope of action have been increasing over time and I have always tried to observe and approach professionals who were a positive reference for the organization”, she says.

As a Mentor of the Program, she says she has already undergone formal and informal mentoring in her professional career. "The opportunity to have a professional to exchange and share experiences with is a catalyst for the career of anyone who wants to develop and grow in a company", she says. "Dedicating myself to this role today is an opportunity to contribute to the career of other professionals."

Elaina believes that, in a mentoring program, not only the mentee benefits, but also the mentor. "It reflects on your own trajectory, you feel valued as a leader and you become a partner in building someone else's success," she says. It’s a vision also shared by Camilla. For her, the role of mentor is associated with learning and self-knowledge.

“The mentor is also an eternal apprentice and the relationship is always one of win-win. By sharing your professional experiences, you access them at a time of greater seniority and professional maturity, generating new insights, boosting mentors and mentees to a greater level of preparedness for new challenges”, reflects Camilla.

The Program’s Paths

The FCA Leadership Development team in Latin America, which manages the Women's Mentoring Program, selected the 30 participants to be mentored taking into account their professional aspirations and career moments. Mentors are directors and senior leaders of the organization, men and women recognized for their ability to help develop people’s potential and their alignment with FCA's leadership principles. The two groups of mentors and mentees- were then paired, according to their profiles, motivations and challenges.

Lau Verissimo, Senior Quality Manager at FCA, is one of the selected mentors. For him, the initiative promotes the sharing of important experiences to consolidate learning. “The pairs can be more direct in identifying gaps and working on them, and exchange specific experiences. In this process, I intend to share ideas, experiences and information on better behavioral and executive management approaches with my mentor”, he says.

The first month of the Program included preparation and engagement actions by the participants, including a chat between mentees and the Human Resources Director of FCA for Latin America, Erica Baldini. In August, participants started an online training path, with mentoring sessions, development workshops and Check-in Laboratories, which is when mentors and mentees give feedback on the Program.

The activities are scheduled to take place all the way till December, and in January the first mentoring cycle ends. “My expectation is that we will actually be able to contribute to the acceleration and construction of these women's careers. May they become references for other women in the organization and that, in the future, the mentors can become mentors”, reflects Marcela.

Words: Luiza Lages

Pictures: Marketing / Personal Archives