»Regardless of where you are in your career, you will always have that guardianship«
»When I first opened my computer, I had received two emails. One was about my buddy, and the other was about my mentor« – Ola Phillips
Ola Phillips joined Netcompany as a manager in February 2023. Like all employees in Netcompany, she was assigned a personal mentor to help her settle in and provide her professional guidance and advice about her development. That mentor was Netcompany principal Tim Derville.
»Tim and I met on my first day. I saw him at the office, walked up, and asked, “Are you Tim? Hi, I am Ola. Your new mentee!” That was our first interaction, and it quickly became apparent that we got along exceptionally well.«
»My role as the delivery manager is to mix it all together. Like when you’re baking a cake, and you need to make sure that the cake doesn’t come out burned«
Ola Phillips
Finding your feet at a new job
At Netcompany, Ola is a manager responsible for overseeing her team and ensuring the end-to-end delivery of projects. With almost 15 years of experience with project and delivery management, Ola has a lot of know-how to draw on. However, she still finds it helpful to have a mentor to help her navigate and be able to ‘pick his brains’.
»You’re always trying to find your feet when you start a new job. Understanding the company’s culture and determining how best to succeed in the role. And I get all these things from Tim.«
»When your mentee hits the manager track, the mentor-mentee relationship changes«
Tim Derville
A mutual exchange of ideas
»When Ola and I have our talks, it tends to be a reciprocal exchange of ideas. We sort things through together. It’s never me trying to lead the conversation. It’s almost like a trusted friend. I think there’s a lot of mutuality in this, and I think that’s what happens when you get to this kind of more mature level of mentoring.«
»Hearing Ola talk about her role and responsibilities is interesting because it makes me realise how much value I’m gaining from our conversations«
An everlasting guardianship
For Ola, the importance of having a mentor is undeniable. She describes how your mentor is always available to provide guidance, offer input on your development, assist in overcoming obstacles, and troubleshoot anything that isn’t working for you.
Like Ola, Tim also considers the mentor-mentee relationship to be one of the cornerstones of Netcompany. As he puts it, projects, managers, and team members might change throughout your career, but the mentor stays the same.
»I think that consistency is an important thing. Regardless of where you are in your career, you will always have that guardianship. But it’s important to find the right fit. And I know that we’ve found that in each other.«
