FedEx launches Linc-UP mentoring programme

At an event attended by Human Resources yesterday, FedEx Express launched its Linc-UP mentoring programme where they announced the mentor and mentee pairings for this year's course of the programme.

Linc-UP will give selected FedEx Women’s Network (FWN) members the opportunity to be mentored by FedEx Express leaders. The programme will take place from June 2018 to March 2019.

The 9 month-long programme partners 15 mentors with 15 mentees. The mentors will be from various senior leadership roles while the mentees will be those who are at a managerial level and have shown high potential and a strong interest in developing new and critical skills.

The key elements of consideration for the programme are:

• Mentee's profiles and personal goals
• Functional background/ Working experience
• Personality/ Insight colour preference
• Skillset/ Consistency gap
• Country base

The programme aims to help participants expand their range of professional competencies, gain better confidence in interacting with senior executives, broaden their strategic thinking skills, and better plan their individual career pursuits.

It is also in line with FedEx's goals of fostering and developing a diverse and inclusive working environment. It is jointly-organised by the recently launched FWN and TNT Lincnetwork.

Grace Fu, minister of culture, community and youth, officiated the event launching FedEx's inclusive programme. During her speech, she noted on Singapore's gender inequality index, highlighting that Singapore ranks second in the Asia Pacific region, falling behind Korea but ahead of Japan. The country has shown promise in this aspect but much more can still be done as there is still a gap in labour force participation.

She said: "We continue to have gap between the male and female workforce but I am highly encouraged because as more women move up in the company, eventually this gap will flatten. To do that, we need to start looking from the top, at all areas - HR practices, talent development and identification, training and overseas rotations."

Fu added that that FedEx's mentoring programme is a healthy contributor in bridging the gender gap in the workplace as it gives women opportunity to access and network.

Responding to queries by Human Resources during a media interaction, Mark Shorney vice resident – operations, SEAsia, FedEx Express, said: "It's important to get a diverse workforce because you are able to make better decisions after being exposed to different perspectives. You also get to tap into a wider labour workpool and with some markets it's becoming increasingly difficult to find good people, so you increase your chances when you include a diverse workforce into your considerations."

He has seen many women move up to more senior positions after participating in the mentorship programme, underlining the positive result of the programme.

He elaborated on how it is not merely a one-sided mentorship. As a mentor himself, he has experienced instances where his mentee has provided a unique outlook that served as a catalyst for new ideas.

"The experiences between mentee and mentor are different because you want the diversity of differences to give you a better outcome which is why we try not to have people from the same functional background," Shorney added.

"Mentees want to participate because they feel a need to develop their perceived gaps and  the programme finds somebody to help bridge that gap."

Shorney says that each partnership is very individual, which provides many opportunities for passing knowledge and gaining insights.

Lead Photo / Supplied Photo / Supplied