Mentoring: Give Experience. Gain Perspective.
Brand New Video Podcast Out Now!
This year for International Women’s Day, MAHLE is bringing the global theme “Give To Gain” to life — acknowledging women, their career development, and everyone who supports and empowers them.
This new video podcast series highlights the power of mentoring. In three episodes, colleagues from around the world share what they learned, how they grew, and how supporting each other shaped their development.
Listen to them sharing their stories now – and let’s celebrate International Women’s Day together!
The video podcast is recorded in English and includes subtitles in 18 languages.
Check out all three episodes on different aspects of mentoring!
There are many ways to engage, learn, and grow through meaningful exchange — and it doesn’t always require a formal mentoring setup: Often, development begins by reaching out to people in your own network, connecting with colleagues, or initiating informal conversations that spark new perspectives.
However, if you are pursuing specific development goals, formal mentoring can provide structured support and guidance over time.
Sounds like this could be you? Express interest in….
Contact forms are available until March 31st.
FAQ – more answers to your questions on mentoring:
What is mentoring about?
- Mentoring enables employees to benefit from the experience, knowledge, and perspectives of more seasoned colleagues. As a mentor, you provide guidance, share your expertise, and support mentees in their individual development—without any disciplinary or evaluative role.
What goals can I or can’t I achieve through mentoring?
- Typical goals are: extension of professional network, career development, onboarding to (new) company culture, extension of professional network. Please note that mentoring is not suitable as a performance improvement measure.
- Mentoring is not suitable for performance management or correction, for emotional crisis support, task delegation, career sponsorship, technical training or to substitute manager´s responsibilities
Who can become a mentee?
- MAHLE is working on making mentoring accessible to more people who have a dedicated development need. Pre-requisites to become a mentee are concrete development goals, openness for feedback and reflection as well as the willingness to take ownership for their own development. The alignment with the line manager regarding goals and expected outcomes of the mentoring (e.g., as part of the Talent Cycle) remains the foundation for a targeted and sustainable mentoring engagement.
Who can become a mentor?
- Mentors are usually more experienced, senior colleagues, as a big part of their role is to pass on knowledge, work hacks and perspectives they gained over the course of their careers. Besides the experience and hierarchical level, a passion for people development and the openness to share are crucial prerequisites for stepping into a mentor role.
What are the costs of mentoring?
- Outside of the time investment, there is no financial cost associated with a mentoring engagement.
How am I being matched with my mentor or mentee?
- Ideally, you should already have an idea about who could be your mentor when you sign up for mentoring. Together with your manager, you will have the best insight into who could support you well.
- In addition, MAHLE’s mentoring platform MentorcliQ supports the regional Talent Management teams in matching mentoring requests with suitable mentors taking experience and development goals into account.
How is mentoring structured?
- We recommend a mentoring period of approximately one year, with a regular exchange of about one hour per month, either digitally or in person, depending on individual arrangements.
What are the next steps if I´m interested in becoming a mentee?
- Align with your line manager: Discuss the specific development goal you want to pursue through mentoring (e.g., during your Dialogue Meeting in March).
- Identify potential mentors together: Explore whether your line manager can recommend suitable mentors from their network and ask them to check their openness and availability.
- Submit your information: Complete the contact form to share all relevant details needed to initiate a mentoring engagement.
- Get support if no mentor is identified: If you and your line manager cannot find a suitable mentor, the Talent Management team will help match you with an appropriate and available mentor as quickly as possible.
- Join enablement sessions: You will be invited to sessions covering the process, roles, and success factors for a productive, mutually beneficial mentoring relationship.
- Begin your mentoring journey!
What are the next steps if I´m interested in becoming a mentor?
- Submit your information: Complete the contact form to share all relevant details needed to initiate a mentoring engagement.
- Join foundational enablement session: You will be invited to a core session introducing the mentoring process, roles and responsibilities, and key success factors for a mutually beneficial relationship. Afterwards, you can choose from additional optional enablement offerings to further prepare you for your role.
- Get matched with a mentee: Based on detailed information about the mentee’s goals and preferences, you will be matched with a mentee whose development needs align with your experience and strengths.
- Hold an exploratory meeting: A strong match is essential for a successful mentoring relationship. Use the first meeting to exchange expectations, clarify goals, and agree on practical frameworks (e.g., cadence, confidentiality, collaboration style).
After the discussion, both sides should take a deliberate decision on whether they feel fully committed and confident that the mentoring engagement will provide meaningful value.
Your Development Matters.