The Belden ECLP Program and Our ESG Goals

Belden’s ESG goals, announced publicly in April, contain elements the company is focusing on related to its environmental impact, social activities, culture for employees and governance of practices and operations. Socially, Belden’s goals are a demonstration of the company’s commitment to the wellbeing of its associates, suppliers, customers, and the communities where it operates.

Employee growth and development was identified as a Tier One, the highest priority element in the development and achievement of the social aspects of Belden’s ESG goals. Belden defines employee growth and development as the training, development, and career growth opportunities to attract, support, develop and retain skilled talent from around the world. The employee growth and development goals are:

• By 2025, 75% of Belden's top 150 positions will have been filled with talent that has been developed within our company.
• By 2025, over 200 professionals will have graduated from our Early Career Leadership Program and our Intern Program.
• By 2025, over 85% of team members will agree that they have the opportunity for development and growth at Belden.

Developing Talent through the ECLP: Meet Liesel Sorensen

Each of the employee growth and development goals are critical in achieving the company culture and thriving employee base Belden seeks to foster. The Early Career Leadership Program, or ECLP, is one exciting element that is already creating visible change and progress within the company. Its impact is clear when you talk with any current or former program participant, such as Liesel Sorensen.

Liesel Sorensen, a graduate of the latest cohort, has just settled into her first job assignment after completion of her ECLP rotations.

“The ECLP has three rotations. Each rotation is a year-long, and there are several tracks to fit what you want to do in your career, including Sales & Marketing, Operations, Finance, R&D and more,” Sorensen said.

Liesel graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing, and minors in Psychology and Sociology. She pursued the Sales & Marketing track of the program. Liesel’s experience was unique because she began her ECLP journey assigned to a role at Tripwire, a company that has since been divested from Belden. However, Liesel still received the intended ECLP experience. She was led and mentored by Belden leadership the entire time she was in the program and had the opportunity to take on projects and responsibilities that matched her skill set and aspirations. 

Liesel’s first assignment within the ECLP was as a Customer Experience Specialist, working on projects such as customer journey mapping and moderating Tripwire’s customer forums. She also started a customer nurturing email program that is still used today to onboard and educate customers about the company’s offerings.

In her second rotation, Liesel worked in content marketing. She was responsible for producing content for emails, landing pages, white papers, data sheets, blog posts and any other content needs the business had. As someone who always enjoyed writing, her second rotation was exciting because it allowed her to do something she loved and learn more about Belden products and solutions by partnering with subject matter experts across the company. Liesel’s content marketing role wasn’t originally designed for an ECLP member, but Belden is very intentional about accommodating where ECLP participants want to go in their careers and charting a course for that.

Liesel’s final rotation was another tenure in Customer Experience, where she continued to expand on her old projects, as well as take on new responsibilities such as Scrum Master for the CX team. As Scrum Master, Liesel learned how to implement scrum methodologies with the maturing customer experience team for a more agile response to customer and business needs.

Liesel’s Belden ECLP experience has officially concluded, and she is settling into her new role as ESG Project Manager, assisting teams in accomplishing Belden’s newly announced ESG goals and maturing the company’s ESG program. It’s evident when you speak with Liesel that her experience in Belden’s Early Career Leadership Program was quite the springboard for her career and a unique opportunity for a first role out of college.

“I had the chance to work in roles and lead projects that you don’t normally get the chance to do so early in your career,” Sorensen said. She mentioned several times how ECLP and Belden leadership took time to invest in her, learn about her goals and interests and ensure her experience was valuable for her personally and professionally.

While Belden’s ESG goals give the company a focus and a strategy that allows it to pursue the elements of its business that impact the planet, people, and the communities where it operates, the social element of the goals are truly groundbreaking. Belden’s goals and commitment to train, develop and promote its own employees from within is being carried out in a way that is giving employees the chance to pursue their personal passions and interests in their careers. It’s that kind of investment and authentic attention to employee interests that will create long-term careers and a culture of pride in the company.

As Liesel puts it, “I only have positive things to say. I can’t think of a better way to have started my career.”

To learn more about Belden’s ESG goals and the Early Career Leadership Program, please visit https://www.belden.com/resources/sustainability