• SEAT S.A. leads the Cross-Mentoring programme, a collaborative initiative that seeks to boost talent by connecting professionals from different companies and sectors
• Mentors and mentees are matched to encourage the exchange of viewpoints, innovation and collaboration across corporate cultures
• David Albós, Head of Sales for Central & North Europe and a mentor at SEAT S.A.: “Cross-Mentoring helps us to see other points of view, other ways of working and to be able to grow together”

Prepe Martín, who’s the Regional Sales Manager for France, Denmark and Croatia at SEAT S.A., felt it was time to take his career to the next level of professional development. It wasn’t just a question of making technical improvements; he was committed to exploring and maximising his potential to further his own personal and professional growth, which is why he decided to participate in the Cross-Mentoring programme as a mentee. As for David Albós, Head of Sales for Central & North Europe at SEAT S.A., he decided to join the programme as a mentor, with the aim of contributing his experience in the sector and his vision of team management. Together with Carmen Caballero, Digital Payments Group Manager at Nestlé, Prepe’s mentor, and Gemma Carrión, HR Talent, Leadership & Culture - Diversity & Inclusion at BASF, David’s mentee, they are four of the 56 participants in this project, which seeks to boost talent by avoiding biases and breaking down barriers to enhance personal and professional development over and above corporate culture itself.

A two-way relationship. Cross-Mentoring brings together professionals with management skills and young talent from different companies, also giving priority to potential gender, age and/or nationality diversity when pairing participants. For six months, mentors and mentees get to share experiences, ideas and challenges. Prepe takes a very positive view of the whole process: “They were absolutely right to pair me up with Carmen. From the very first day I felt we were on the same page and that made me feel more confident that I’d be able to get through the whole process.” Each session is a space for knowledge exchange, reflection and mutual growth. It’s essential that there be positive energy between mentor and mentee so that both can take an active, collaborative role in an atmosphere of mutual trust to confidentially share experiences or moments of vulnerability.

The perfect match. A key point for the success of these two-way relationships is the matching phase between mentor and mentee, which is one of the most complex and critical tasks of the programme. Natalia Rincón, Diversity & Inclusion Specialist at SEAT S.A. and who coordinates the project, ensures that each pair is diverse enough to maximise their potential to achieve a deep, rewarding connection. “We must be very careful with the matching process” says Natalia, “but seeing how the couples achieve a genuine connection and the impact it has on their growth is very satisfying.”

Transformative leadership skills. Based on the mentors’ experience and knowledge, another of the main goals of this initiative is to provide more tools to help mentees develop their people and project leadership skills in an inclusive, innovative, collaborative manner. For Carmen, it’s been “a great pleasure to be able to use my experience of the last 25 years to reinforce Prepe’s knowledge in terms of team management and leadership.” Gemma seconds this opinion, as she found in David a magnificent counsellor for her development: “Thanks to Cross-Mentoring, and especially the sessions with David, I’ve grown professionally in many ways. Through his experiences, he’s helped me tap into my full potential and improve my communication and leadership style.”

New perspectives. At the end of the sessions, the programme includes a three-day stay at the mentor’s company, allowing mentees to immerse themselves in a new organisational culture and gain a broader view of reality. David points out that “Cross-Mentoring helps us to see other points of view, other ways of working and to be able to grow together. It teaches us that not everything we do is perfect, but that there are different ways of addressing the same challenges.”