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WUN's mission is to help women to connect with other women, so they can share learnings, build confidence, and develop their own passion for the fast moving utilities space. Through our podcast episodes, we aim to provide our listeners with the skills they need to build long-lasting and fulfilling careers in the sector.
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WUN4ALL
Ep. 20 How mentoring can boost your career with Sarah Porcelli, Southern Water
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In this podcast episode Joanna talks to Sarah Porcelli, Head of Talent & Development at Southern Water.We discuss the importance of mentoring and the key benefits it offers to both mentees and mentors, as well as employers. We also hear more about Sarah’s fascinating career journey in the water and energy sectors.
Hello, everyone.
Speaker B:Angela Peart here, and welcome to the Women's Utilities Network One for All podcast, our corner of the world, where we will be talking all things utilities, careers and everything in between, equipping you with the knowledge and skills you need to build a long and lasting career. Enjoy.
Speaker A:Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to today's episode of the One for All podcast, which will focus on mentoring, a very important topic for one. My name is Joanna Bogdan. I'm one of the advocates at Women's Utilities Network, and today I'm joined by Sarah Porcelli, who is head of Talent and Development at Southern Water. So welcome, Sarah. Really delighted to have you here. Thank you.
Speaker B:Thank you so much for having me. I'm delighted to be here.
Speaker A:Great. So, Sarah, just as a starting point and a form of introduction, could you tell our listeners a bit more about your story, your background and also your career journey to date? Sure.
Speaker B:My background actually has a lot to do with mentoring. So I started off consulting as an organisational psychologist in Australia, in Adelaide, and absolutely loved it. Seeing different organizations, different experiences. What I felt was that I was only seeing part of the story. So I was seeing what felt like the fun part, sort of the middle, exciting part of the story as a consultant. But you never saw the why was an idea or a concept or a program being put in place, what problem was it trying to solve and then how did it land afterwards? So I wanted to really see the whole part of the story. So instead of just the middle chapter of the book, I wanted the whole book, the whole series. So there was an opportunity to join what's now known as the South Australian Power Network. So I joined there and I was there for a number of years. And then I really wanted to grow and expand my career and I was looking to either work interstate in Australia or overseas. And I opted for overseas for London. Yeah, and it's where mentoring massively helped me because I talked to a number of people about the opportunity and the experience. And when I finally made the decision to come over, the CEO at the time helped to connect me to one of our sister companies in the uk. And while they didn't have sort of formal program of moving between companies, I was able to get an opportunity in the London business in UK Power Networks. I started off on a three month contract there, which was amazing as I was just going to be traveling around and working at the same time. And then eight and a half years later I was still at UK Power Networks. And then an opportunity came up at Southern Water to really Sort of grow and expand my skills in the talent development space. So I grabbed it with both hands.
Speaker A:Great, great story, by the way. Yeah.
Speaker B:So you've been in the UK for 11 years now.
Speaker A:11 years.
Speaker B:Oh, wow. Time flights. Great.
Speaker A:So, yeah. So you had some experience with mentoring and in your own words, what would you say mentoring actually is? And also you probably briefly touched on your experience with mentoring, but would be interesting to hear more about the kind of skills that you've developed when you're participating in a kind of more structured mentoring program.
Speaker B:I think it was really about the opportunity to connect and network. So that definitely opened up for me. It was also about learning to be more confident in my own skills and backing myself. Having the confidence to go out of your comfort zone knowing that you had somebody else as a trusted ally, as a supported counsellor who was going to be able to help you through it so that you knew you weren't on your own. So I think it definitely helped me with expanding my network, strengthening my knowledge, building my confidence. It definitely helped with, I think, interpersonal skills because you start to build those skills with. Because a number of my mentors were people that either had more experience or were at different levels in terms of progression. So some might have been directors, some might have been CEOs or senior managers or subject matter experts. So you really got to develop your interpersonal skills with people at all different levels, which was really, really helped.
Speaker A:Okay, so you've spoken about the, you know, the benefits that a mentor would gain from a mentoring program. Would you say it is a two way street, you know, whereby you as a mentor, a mentor would also benefit from participating in a program like that and helping a mentee develop professionally?
Speaker B:Definitely. So having been both sides, being a mentor and a mentee, I think I can see the benefits from both sides. So as a mentor, what I really valued was seeing how my sort of experiences and what I'm sharing is benefiting that person, but also being able to see it from their perspective and being able to almost revisit that experience from a different point of view, I think can be really valuable. It also helps you build up your own network as well because actually you're opening up the mentees network to you as well. So I think that comes from both sides. And for the mentee, you're getting the benefit of this wealth of experience and knowledge. You're gaining a champion in your corner who's going to be helping you to progress and develop your career. And that could be whether or not that mentor is in Your company or outside of your company. I think you're both benefiting from the experiences and the perspectives that both bring.
Speaker A:Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I can see that. And you said you've had a few mentors and you've been a mentor yourself. What would you say makes a great mentor? What sort of qualities or personality traits or experience? Probably a mixture of all of these three things are needed for one to become a really good mentor.
Speaker B:I think one of the best mentors I had was they were just really accessible. I could. I could reach out to them. I could. I mean, it was quite handy because I could walk into their office so they were in the. In the building. But I always felt like they made time for me. Yeah, I always felt like I had their attention. I had their full attention when I was with them, whether or not it was grabbing five minutes or a dedicated time slot. I also felt like they were genuinely interested in supporting me and in sharing their experiences and helping me learn. And while they were objective, I felt like they also pushed and challenged me. So I remember particularly as one mentor, he really pushed me to put myself out of my comfort zone. So he was challenging me of that. If I wanted to not just be known as a T and D expert, I needed to do something different. I. And that helped open up an opportunity that I wouldn't have otherwise thought of. And I did, still in sort of the training development, but it wasn't pure sort of soft skills training. It was in systems training and helping to roll out a big transformation project. And that was a really uncomfortable experience, but it was the best and worst experience I've had in my career. And I wouldn't have done it if I didn't have a mentor sort of supporting and challenging me and knowing that they were there. So I think it's not just that sort of. That willing to sort of challenge you, but also knowing that that mentor is going to be in your corner. So I think the other skill a great mentor needs to have is being authentic, following through. You're not just casting your mentee off, adrift into a situation you're still supporting from behind the scenes.
Speaker A:Yeah, no, definitely. And in your experience, or all the mentors that you. You've come across and you've worked with over the years, was it part of some sort of structured mentoring program or you just met these people throughout your career and, you know, perhaps you looked up to them, they were your managers, you reported to them and it kind of helped you develop personally, or did you actively seek these opportunities?
Speaker B:D All of the above. So I've definitely found benefit from having the formal mentoring program because I think that helps you match up to people that you might not have thought of. Whereas informal, you're tending to use people in your network, people that you know. So while I still think that's really valuable, it certainly helped me in my career. There's also value in having mentors that you might not have thought of or considered, but actually are a good match for what you're looking for and experiences because you get different perspectives and different insights, an exposure to either different parts of your own business or exposure to different industries. If you're going through a formal program, I think that's the real benefit in external mentoring programs is you've got access to someone that is not from potentially even your industry, or it could be an allied industry. You've got access to someone that's got a really different perspective and that doesn't know all the players that you might need support with talking through. They won't know all of the ins and outs of the situation. They can really give you that objective perspective. So I think there's definitely value in informal, which is just sort of. You sort of. It could be just a conversation. It's not necessarily applying formal mentoring labels. Yeah. But then I think there's also value for that formal structured, where you've got perhaps support on how you're getting the most out of those conversations.
Speaker A:Okay, brilliant. Thank you. And actually related question. I'm sure you are aware that we have a mentoring program here at wun and when I joined as an advocate a couple of months ago and was exploring that space and reading through for the bias of all the mentors at that time had on our website, I wonder at that time what skills or experience I should be looking for in my potential mentor. And I think it's probably different for different people, depending on what level you're at and also where you want to be in five, 10 years down the line. But what would be your advice to our listeners who are potentially considering participating in a mentoring program at the moment and need to make that decision? What do you think they should be looking for?
Speaker B:First off, I think it's really important that they think about what do they want to get out of the mentoring experience. So mentoring is brilliant and wonderful and it can really help you feel more confident in what you're doing or help you to progress your career. But I think answering that question of the do I want reassurance or support to do what I'm doing, my current Role really well, or am I looking for someone that maybe is going to help me in the career or is it someone that I just want to sort of bounce off because I'm having a difficult time or I want a different perspective. So I think that helps you narrow down then the what type of career people you're looking for. Yeah. So if you're looking for someone to help you expand your career, are you looking for someone that's in the same type of job family as you? So if you're looking to expand your engineering career, are you looking for someone that is also in an engineering career? If you're looking to sort of expand your management skills, then maybe looking at people that have got different management backgrounds and different levels of management going to be useful. So I think it really, for me it really comes down to what is the question or what is that burning platform that you've got that you're seeking a mentor to help you identify what you're looking for?
Speaker A:Yeah, definitely. And you mentioned you move from electricity or energy to water and obviously it may have been some things that were similar in those industries. And certainly your mentoring experience from energy translated into skills that you continue developing in the water sector. So it's not necessarily, I mean, would you agree with me? It's not necessarily that if you work in certain sectors and you interact with mentors who work in a similar sector, it doesn't mean that you would not be able to progress your career or completely change your career.
Speaker B:And that's what's wonderful about utilities is it's actually I think to say is that relatively similar? Okay, the utility, the item is going to be different. So you know, power, water, gas.
Speaker A:It'S.
Speaker B:All slightly different, but it's all slightly similar. You know, telco, it's all very similar. But your engineering skills or your HR skills, your customer service skills, your finance, all of that is going to be really transferable. Yeah, I mean, I think the only sort of difference is if you're sort of the boots on the ground like a jointer in power, it's a little bit harder, not impossible, a little bit harder to sort of transition to a water process operator. But still you've got some very similar skills. Just be retraining. So I think, yeah, I'd encourage people if you're looking to expand your career, you can definitely jump across utilities.
Speaker A:Yeah, definitely. Okay. Actually out of curiosity, now that you mentioned that, what would you say are the main differences between these two sectors you've worked in, you know, in the energy space. Now Water. Anything interesting that you notice over the years?
Speaker B:And I hope people don't get offended hearing this. It's just my personal perspective. So consider the sort of the rider there. I feel that having worked in power, I feel that water is a little bit more behind the times.
Speaker A:Mm.
Speaker B:My personal perspective would. It is being perhaps underinvested.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And whereas electricity is very much the forefront and obviously you hear a lot at the moment about bills and energy and gas prices spiking and we have some of the lowest water bills in the country. But there is probably less of an appetite for people to invest because there's a lack of understanding in some of the water network. So I think respect, because, yeah, it's a bit. I would say a little bit more backwards. But people and culture wise, I'm not seeing much of a difference. You're still working with really brilliant people who are really passionate about what they do. Water industry will make a massive difference in people's lives. It's really why I like the Southern water. Water for life.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So again, you know, people can't live without water. Obviously you can't live without power either. I certainly can't. I think I'd die if my phone didn't charge. But at the same time, I'm still going to need water. So I think culture wise, it's very similar. But I think there are some things that. Where water is still catching up.
Speaker A:Yeah. Yeah, well, yeah, definitely you hear much more noise about energy nowadays than water in the press, be it, you know, electricity prices or the net zero agenda. So, yeah, I can probably understand that. Fantastic. So thank you. Just going back to your professional career for a moment. Do you think it's important for employers to have a formal, formal, structured mentoring program? And why? What's the value in it from the employer perspective? We've spoken already about the benefits that mentoring program will offer to mentors and mentees, but what about employers?
Speaker B:I think it can be a real attraction to people wanting to come to a company. Not everyone is necessarily comfortable at seeking out their own mentors or making that first step or that first connection. You know, it's no different sort of making that first move. In a dating scenario, not everybody is comfortable making that first move. Whereas having a formal program helps you to broker that first interaction where you've got someone opening the door for you. So I think knowing that a company has a formal mentoring program and that could be internally or links to a company's externally formal mentoring, I think it signifies that a company shows that they are Very concerned about supporting people to develop and grow, that they are willing to put time and efforts into that development. And also that because they will have mentors from their own business, it shows that people in the business also value each other and want to develop and grow people. So I think if you're looking at a place to join and you understand that they have a mentoring program, you're looking at going, wow, actually they care about people. Yeah, they care about developing their people. And I think that's what having a formal mentoring program says.
Speaker A:Yeah. Now definitely it is a selling point probably, you know, when one is looking for a job and seeing something on a potential employer's website. Yeah, it's definitely one of those things that encourages you to send your application and just maybe. Final question for me is around remote mentoring. So remote work and hybrid work has become more common nowadays after the global pandemic, and so has mentoring. So what are your thoughts on virtual mentoring? Do you think it's effective and what are just general pros and cons of that?
Speaker B:Sure. I mean, I mentioned dating early. I mean, obviously during COVID we've all learned how to have virtual meetings and people have had virtual dates. And dating, you're a mentor and I don't think is much different to dating in some respects. You know, you're trying to find that relationship that works for you. So I think to a point virtual works. You can have that connection and this is just a personal point of view. Again, I think at some point like virtual dating, there comes a point where you want to meet people in person because there is something about that chemistry and that ability to build rapport in person. And I think if you're able to have that in person, I think that then enriches your virtual interactions because you have a bit more of an understanding of that person unable to connect. I don't think it would be one or the other. I think both are really valuable and really important. I think the benefit you've got in virtual is that it massively opens up the people that you could connect with and talk to. So I could connect to someone back in Australia or I have or people in different parts of the UK or in Europe. It opens up this whole new host of mentors that you might not otherwise have access to. So I think that's the real advantage of virtual mentoring. I think, like I said, that the downside would be it can sometimes be difficult to get those sort of natural interactions or build that full scale rapport. And like the example I gave earlier where I was able to just pop into someone's office to have a chat as and when I had a problem. I think the downside with virtual is you have to be more consciously making the time for it. You have to be asking that person or arranging a meeting time. It's not always as easy to just contact them in the moment that you're able to do when you're in person.
Speaker A:Yeah, now definitely it's probably similar to remote work or hybrid work as well. It's much more easier to just stand up and ask a question rather than set up calls and trying to make sure that it works for everyone, which is always quite challenging. So yeah, no, I agree probably with you here. Cool. Okay. So many thanks for joining us and it's been a really insightful episode and I'm sure our listeners will find it really useful. Thank you again and enjoy the rest of the day.
Speaker B:Thank you very much for having me.
Speaker A:To our listeners, thank you for listening to this episode. If you have enjoyed it, please hit subscribe or like on your podcast app of choice. We'll be back soon with some amazing speakers sharing their insights and experience, so please stay tuned and spread the word.