November 13, 2008

When Connie Enghus of the Rockwool Group first approached her boss about wanting to attend the Strategic Leadership for Women program at IMD, he was very skeptical.

“The fact that there were only women in the program made him think that it wasn’t legitimate,” explained Enghus, business director at Rockwool International, a company that supplies products, systems and solutions for improved energy efficiency, acoustic performance and fire safety in buildings.

Despite her supervisor’s skepticism, Enghus won his support and took part in the four-day program. Contrary to her boss’ initial reservations, she found that being in the program with only senior-level women actually provided unmatched networking and learning.

“As senior-level managers all facing the same challenges as women, there was a common bond that really helped us share and be open, especially in our group work,” stated Enghus. “We didn’t need to waste time opening up or overcoming other barriers.”

Through such openness, Enghus was able to come up with a concrete idea that would make the Rockwool Group a more attractive workplace for women to develop their careers: a mentoring program. Enghus was first introduced to such a concept by a fellow participant who had implemented a mentoring program in her company. Strategic Leadership for Women Program Directors Martha Maznevski and Bettina Buechel provided invaluable feedback for developing such a mentoring program at the Rockwool Group.

Thus, upon completing the program, Enghus and a newly established network for women managers in the Danish Rockwool companies, worked together with Rockwool’s Human Resources Department on starting a mentoring program for 18 women. The mentors held more senior positions, while the mentees were young professionals. The mentor and mentee met every six to eight weeks with the mentee setting the agenda. Broadly, the topics focused on personal career growth, internal lobbying and work / life balance, among other areas.

“There is little doubt that this program has been a success for all involved,” Enghus said. “Those in senior-level positions were made aware of barriers while the mentees were able to learn aspects of the business from someone higher up in the organization. The mentees had someone they could approach in upper management as the result of a positive working relationship.”

The mentoring program was considered such a positive experience for the company that the management board at the Rockwool Group has decided to expand it across the entire organization, for both genders.

Enghus was also able to take away valuable insights from the Strategic Leadership for Women program for her own personal development at Rockwool.

“The program provided a global understanding of a male-dominated culture and how we as female executives can provide influence within the organization. Sessions with coaches, groups and IMD Faculty helped me see where I was at and determine where I wanted to go. It helped me realize how to achieve my goals and gave me the extra confidence to deal with senior management.”

When the Strategic Leadership for Women program did finish and Enghus offered a glowing review, her boss reneged on his earlier skepticism. Surely many of the mentees and mentors at the Rockwool Group who have benefited from the mentoring program as well as Enghus’ senior-level colleagues would agree.