“What is the empowerment in our opinion”

DOpe many years of battles, is it still worth talking about female Empowerment? Or are there other terms more suitable for today’s situation? We talked about it with six women who arrived at the top of their companies. They spoke to us of trust, responsibility, autonomy. Of barriers that resist, how to overcome them. And also of what they are doing concretely to help the growth of workers, and encourage work life conciliation.

The six top managers are: Anna Grassano, Sarah-Jane Morgan, Mara Panajia, Silvia Rovere, Cristina Scocchia, Cinzia Tagliabue. And here are their answers.

“We have to be the first to change”

Mara Panajia, President and CEO of Henkel Italia, a multinational consumer multinational

«Once the empowerment was to offer the same rights and the same opportunities. Today you have to go further, provide tools and give confidence. We must help women become aware of their value and push them to come forward. When there are many on a stage, this will no longer be considered an exception. To get to this milestone, on the one hand more responsibilities must be formed, on the other hand you have to equip them for the tools to be autonomous and reactive.

Unfortunately, there is still a problem of awareness and self -esteem. Women, when they are about to speak in public, wonder if their speech will be relevant. Men, no. But There is a way to stem uncertainty: it is preparation. If you document ourselves, there may be an initial fear, but it is overcome. Sometimes the impostor syndrome resists, that is, not feeling deserving of one’s successes. It happens more often to women. The positive aspect is that it pushes to study. As, When they manage to access the same opportunities as men, they are more trained, more structured. The company must recognize that they should not be put at the head of the companies only because the female percentage is improved and it is a good impression, but they must appreciate its value.

It is proven that companies with women at the top have better results, because Female leadership has positive characteristics: listening, inclusion, welcome, long -term vision. We must not be afraid of being at the forefront; If we want the world to change, we must be the first to change. In Henkel we work both on the sponsorship, and on the mentorship. With the Municipality of Milan and the universities we push on the sponsorship, which means opening their net to people. Mentorship instead is to help step by step, give advice. We also do the master’s degree for employees: they are sessions with pediatrician, psychologist, educators ».

“We believe a lot in the new generations”

Cinzia Tagliabue, managing director of the Savings Management Company Amundi Sgr

«I believe that the term Empowerment still has its own value. Today inequalities and salary gaps resist: women for motherhood slow down their career and the possibility of increases, with the consequence of a pension gap. There is still a strong gap in employment: according to the PWC network studies, The female employment rate in 2023 was 20 percent lower than the male one. Furthermore, the culture of the woman always resists who not only must occupy children, with the consequence that many new mothers are fired, but also of the elderly parents: unfortunately we do not have a welfare that helps, as in France. This gap has consequences on GDP.

It is now proven that female occupation brings a contribution to the economic growth of a country. If we want to be a competitive society, we can no longer allow ourselves to leave the talent and energy of women behind. Promote female participation, independence and independence and awareness is not only a matter of equity and justice: it would lead to a greater return to GDP and improve progress.

In Assogestioni, the association of managed savings of which I am vice -president, we created in 2018 the Diversity Committee to raise awareness of the managers in order to raise female hiring, training and career rates. As for Amundi, who in Italy has 50 percent of women employees, we were among the first management companies to obtain the certification of gender equality. We were also among the former to predict parental leave for dads, and young people are taking it. We believe a lot in the new generations. We have to commit ourselves to explain – inclusion, diversity – for them are natural, as well as collaboration at home.

The problem is that our sector has been historically seen as male, it is often difficult to find candidates. If there are few candidates, they are even less the managers. Because of this we make financial training in universities, also with testimonial. There is still much to do, we can’t take anything for granted. There is always the risk of taking steps back, if you are not careful ».

“Empowerment? We must judge only on the basis of the merit “

Cristina Scocchia, CEO of Illycaffè

«I don’t like the word empowerment, I prefer merit. Seneca said: “Luck does not exist, there is the moment when talent meets the opportunity”. Women have the same talent as men. What is not equally distributed is the opportunity to prove it. Giving equal opportunities means judging only on the merits. We women don’t need a bigger door to score. We need someone to pass the ball. Empowerment is to convince first of all that we have the same rights and duties of men. The same rights means that we have the right to realize professionally without guilt, or feel arrogant. Same duties means that both sexes must have the same family loads.

And then we have to collide with the male chauvinist culture for which if he wants to make a career he is determined, if she wants to do it she is ambiziosetta. Empowerment means making men and women aware of this equality. I replace empowerment with merit, because not only is it right that everyone has the same rights and duties, but it is better. If I put the best team on the field, winning is easier. We must teach women that nothing can be precluded on the basis of our starting point. We can decide whether to complain or try to make our dreams come true. Obviously the climb is harder than those born man. We can help couples with full -time schools, nursery schools, work flexibility, smart working. But equity has not yet been internalized in our culture. If we give the pink quotas without changing culture, we can reach record numbers thanks to the law. However, if we count the managing directors, we women are very few. I have been for 10 years and I am still considered exotic.

I introduced Smart Working in L’Oreal Italia in 2014. In Illycaffè there is Smart Working and incoming and exit flexibility, we also pay a percentage of the cost of nursery schools but in all the companies that I had the honor of administering I have never put the pink shares. I am grateful to Lella Golfo who promoted them because they are necessary at the country level. But for me it would be a failure to need it ».

“Women should help more women more”

Anna Grassano, General Manager of the Multinational Products for Care of Care of skin Beiersdorf Southern Europe

«Empowerment is responsibility and inspiration. I am the daughter of Italians who emigrated to France, where I was born and raised. For a year and a half I have returned to Italy, my country. I have a family with many women, though It was my father who pushed me to be independent. To become one, he said, you must have a degree and a license. This message inspired me. I feel responsibility for my position, and I would like to give young people that push the inspiration – which I had. I have always been attentive to gender balance and I have always tried to make “my” women also out of the company. What I do for Empowerment is summarized in three points: 1) Promote female leadership; 2) encourage networking; 3) Mentoring. But Empowerment also means gender equality. I believe that if you engage in Wellbeing, that is, on the well -being in the office, women are also annoyed indirectly.

In Beiersdorf we have no meetings before 9.30 and after 4 pm. We encourage men to take smart working because we do not want to translate, for women, in several family loads. We have obtained the UNI of gender equality certification, but what matters most is the balance between office and private life. Women should help other women more; Men have always helped themselves ».

“Obstacles related to invisible barriers resist”

Silvia Rovere, president of Poste Italiane

«The female empowerment has been and continues to be a central goal in my path and in that of Poste Italiane. I built my career in the financial sector where until some time ago the presence of executive women was an exception. In this context, I understood the importance of promoting female inclusion, opening spaces and recognizing the skills and vision that women can bring. In Poste Italiane, the commitment has translated into concrete policies that like merit, skills and results as the only criteria for access to growth opportunities. Today women are almost 54 percent of the corporate workforce and hold 59 percent of responsibility positions in post officeswith peaks of 70 percent in some areas. These numbers are the reflection of an organizational model that enhances female leadership and recognizes its role.

An example is the project “Mums at Work”To support the reintegration of newlyams With customized routes, coaching and comparison sessions. Women are making important progress in terms of autonomy, emancipation and decision -making power.Tuttavia, their careers can still meet obstacles and invisible barriers. It is necessary to continue to promote a culture of equity that recognizes and enhances every person ».

“Empowerment is to give space to the female leadership”

Sarah-Jane Morgan, CEO of QVC Italia, Shopping Multi-Walking Channel

“Empowerment is an effective term, which contains the ability, skills, trust in ourselves and authority. Perhaps in the past it was less used, now we talk about it more because the positive impact has been understood that Empowerment can have in companies and in society. On the one hand, workers need the awareness of their skills and the trust in being able to use them; On the other, the employer must give the opportunity to grow to grow.

We promote an environment in which women can express themselves at best. The Women in Leadership guarantees 50 percent of women’s senior leadership. To get to the top levels, however, you have to start from the junior figures; For this we guarantee a fair assumption process with the inclusion of at least two candidates in each phase of the selection. We have a sponsorship program and facilitate smart working. We have also obtained UNI for gender equality. ” © RESERVED REPRODUCTION

I woman © RESERVED REPRODUCTION