Essity – Elevating Employee Promotions by 20% Through
Impactful Mentoring
LS International
Essity, a global leader in hygiene and health products, saw remarkable success through its unique leadership initiative—the “Journey of Discovery 4.0” (JoD 4.0)—which integrated LS International’s curated mentoring program. Over 9 months, this combined effort led to impressive outcomes, including promotions, expanded responsibilities, and stronger leadership capabilities.
Results: Promotions, New Roles, and Leadership Growth
One of the most significant achievements was the immediate impact on career progression:
- Promotions: Two of the 10 high-potential mentees were promoted during the program, showing how the initiative accelerated leadership development.
- Expanded Responsibilities: Most of the other mentees saw their responsibilities increase as they grew more confident and capable in their roles.
- Empowered Development: The program helped participants take proactive steps in owning their career development, leading to a deeper engagement in their work.
“The program brought clarity on my improvement areas, and together with the mentoring, this led to actions.” – Karsten Kamin, Customer Marketing Director Central & East at Essity.
The mentorship also allowed mentees to reflect on personal development in new ways. Maria Estlander, Commercial Director Finland and Baltics at Essity, stated, “Since the start of the program I’ve started to work actively and intentionally with my development on a monthly basis. It has also allowed me to work on topics I would not have spent that much time on otherwise.”
The Power of Personalized Mentoring
The combination of LS International’s structured mentoring and Essity’s leadership development efforts provided mentees with personalized guidance tailored to their needs. By pairing mentees with experienced mentors from outside their immediate market, participants were able to gain fresh perspectives and make significant progress toward their career goals.
This tailored mentorship encouraged participants to take ownership of their development, leading to enhanced leadership skills and tangible business results for Essity.
Volker Zöller, President of Essity’s Consumer Goods business unit, explained the value of this approach: “The Elevate program is an essential part of our Senior Management Development initiative. The program offers high-caliber mentoring customized to the needs of the mentee. It’s an accelerated development journey for future top leaders. We could already see the development during the program, and the feedback from participants was outstanding.”
