Nurturing and retaining female talent at Honeywell is key. The company’s focus on maintaining a diverse and inclusive work culture underlies everything it does and reinforces its performance culture.

To support a diverse workforce, Honeywell operates an impressive Women in Technology Employee Network chapter that has its own mentoring program that connects mentees with mentors to share relevant experiences, learn, and grow.

When the Women in Technology Employee Network was founded, one of its original goals was to provide opportunities for mentorship as these relationships can be valuable for both the mentor and the mentee. A challenge, however, is that mentor relationships can often be hard to start. Sometimes someone has a desire to be mentored but does not know who or how to ask. Other times, someone may have the desire and skills to be an inspiring mentor but has never been asked to support.

Honeywell’s Women in Technology mentoring program provides support by pairing members. The mentoring program is voluntary and potential mentors and mentees are asked a series of questions to help with the pairing process of members. For example, mentors list areas of expertise while mentees list key learning areas sought.

Where Women Work interviewed several mentors and mentees involved in Honeywell’s Women in Technology mentoring program to find out about their responsibilities within Honeywell, their participation in mentoring, and their advice for considering a career with Honeywell.

Ana Campos, Honeywell Business Systems Analyst

Ana Campos is a Business Systems Analyst at Honeywell. She is part of Honeywell’s Launch IT Early Career Program.

Ana works on Honeywell’s Commercial & Customer Experience team in the eCommerce area helping to make a better experience for Business to Business eCommerce by enabling customers to access more information on their orders through a portal.

Ana is a mentor on Honeywell’s Women in Technology mentoring program that provides useful exposure across the company and to important networking opportunities.

“Commitment is key at Honeywell,” says Ana. “The mentoring program is an example of this. Everyone is very committed because as a company, Honeywell helps its employees to grow and, in turn, employees are committed to helping Honeywell grow.”

“Trust and confidence are also important at Honeywell,” continues Ana. “Even if you make some mistakes, there is always someone willing to support you and to help solve any issues.”
Participating in Honeywell’s mentoring program, Ana says that she is always open-minded and tries to pose the right questions for her mentee to guide her and help find a path into how she can be supported. “I believe in mentees being honest when they may not know what they need to learn, and in being open to accessing support and direction via a range of useful resources.”

When looking for a mentor, Ana suggests that women first observe their workplace and its teams - and if they identify someone who does something particularly well that is of interest, then approach the individual and ask if there is interest in being a mentor and helping to develop some collaborative learning. Ana also suggests that it is always important in any mentoring program to remember to treat others the way you would want to be treated. Respect, trust and open-mindedness are key.

Claudia Cebulok, Honeywell Global Business Services Director

Claudia Cebulok is Director of Global Business Services for Honeywell Building Solutions. She manages a team of 90 people geographically dispersed across India, Europe, and the Americas. Her work focuses on enabling business transformation through Business Analytics + Digitization and Program Management.

Claudia is a mentor in Honeywell's Women in Technology mentoring program. “The purpose of the program is to connect ambitious women from various businesses, geographies, and backgrounds with each other to help each other grow,” explains Claudia.

Claudia believes the mentoring program helps develop some of the very qualities that are highly valued at Honeywell. “I believe three of the most important skills at Honeywell are to be curious, to be open for challenges, and to try something new. Furthermore, Honeywell requires strong communication and collaboration skills in the global and diverse work environment.”

Claudia has two mentees and she is getting to know each one in terms of their experience, aspirations, and interests. Previously in her career, Claudia has been both a mentor and mentee.

She believes the key to a successful mentoring relationship is to align on expectations early in the relationship and have an objective prepared for each meeting. “I find it important to have a positive click between each other because if this does not show early on, it may not make much sense to continue. Mentoring often sees very in-depth and sometimes personal discussions and, as such, the relationship can require a deep level of trust. Both parties need to be able to be open with each other.”

Claudia suggests women should ask people they trust to be potential mentors. She says that it can be good to branch out of one’s own immediate network because it can be useful to find mentors from different backgrounds or business areas to avoid their support being too involved or biased. “Do not expect the mentor to solve problems, although they can be a great sounding board. Mentoring is often about the mentee taking ownership.”

“Mentees should focus on their strengths for development while being aware of their weaker aspects,” says Claudia. “This way, mentees can drive their energy towards something they enjoy and hence may progress much faster and have more fun.”

Stanislava Vesela, Honeywell Customer Support Specialist

Stanislava Vesela is a Customer Support Specialist at Honeywell who works for the IT Workplace Support Services team that supports Honeywell’s employees and tries to resolve their various IT issues.

In her role, she works on marketing and supporting the standardization of Honeywell’s various services to make sure they provide exceptional user experience for all employees, helping them be as productive as possible from an IT perspective.

Stanislava is a mentee in Honeywell’s Women in Technology mentoring program and values the opportunity to connect with someone willing to share experiences and life lessons. “Mentors not only share their successes, but also the challenges they have experienced,” explains Stanislava. “Learning from other people’s experience and looking at things from a different point of view is something I have always found beneficial. Sometimes you need to hear clear messages from someone else’s perspective to fully realize a meaning. A further great benefit I see in mentorship is to discuss and receive unbiased opinions about your work situation, career plans or current projects as well as getting to know how aspects operate in different areas of IT.”

“I am very pleased that I have been paired with my mentor via Honeywell’s Woman in Technology mentoring program because as one of my goals is to seek advice on which potential skills I should focus my development on in order to further my career in the field – one that has been traditionally male-dominated.”

Being early in her career, Stanislava is still trying to identify different areas and skills where she can further develop herself, so any technical training advice or direction is greatly appreciated. “A specific skill that I would like to develop and learn is in managing a team and influencing stakeholders. I believe these skills and expertise are important for career progression.”

Stanislava says that women should not be afraid to ask around and learn about what new opportunities and support programs are available to them within their company. Programs that provide networking exposure are particularly useful. “For me, to have a good relationship with the people I work with is really important,” says Stanislava. “Sometimes through the work I am doing, my colleagues can be my biggest mentors not just from a work perspective, but also from their advice about life in general. Plus, having good and reliable team members around you makes work even more enjoyable.”

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