Baoli Zhao was introduced to Carl German from Siemens through the Be the Business Mentoring programme. The Allsee Technologies MD had expressed interest in finding a mentor to help with his expansion plans.
“The business was established and growing rapidly. We needed to take on more staff, which meant we had to consider new larger premises. We initially wanted a mentor to equip us with the necessary management and process skills required for such a move,” Baoli said.
Manual processes hindered company potential
Carl had his own reasons to get involved in the mentorship scheme.
“I got involved in mentoring to give something back and for my own professional development. I was delighted to be paired with Allsee Technologies and could already see that the company potential was being hampered by overly manual processes.
“I invited Baoli and his colleague to visit our site. During the visit, I introduced them to two of our agile coaches, who were able to provide agile project management support.”
Baoli’s experience of the site visit had a crucial impact on his business.
“Seeing Siemens, together with the introduction to agile project management, opened our eyes. We realised we needed to address the automation and digitalisation of our processes if we wanted to successfully continue our ambitious growth plans. We implemented a management system which has made a huge difference to our productivity.”
Gaining the confidence to make changes
“Carl provided us with his experience and insight, giving us the confidence to develop and implement something which we had no prior knowledge of. Carl has saved us time, money and helped us to increase our productivity,” Baoli said.
The experience has been incredibly rewarding for Carl too, enabling him to see potential solutions in action and working successfully.
Since the mentoring experience, performance at Allsee Technologies has hit new heights – business productivity has increased by more than 25 per cent.
Headline takeaways
Clarity drives focus
Having a clear idea of what you need help with, like Baoli did, helps drive conversations and produce results.
Fresh approaches
Seeing how other businesses, large or small, do things can help you get out of an unconstructive "this is how we've always done it" stance
Power of confidence
The conversations Baoli had with Carl have given him the confidence he needed to press ahead with important changes and developments.
