Co-creating a culture of equality: a partnership approach to diversity and inclusion

Sabrina, for years you have been working on managerial training and supporting generational transition processes. Is female leadership a matter of gender or culture?
Gender is the starting point, but culture is the soil where opportunities either grow or stall. Leadership is still often associated with rational, competitive, control-oriented models. Meanwhile, the most evolved organizations today recognize the value of more relational and collaborative leadership styles, where listening and empathy become strategic tools, and care becomes a universal principle at the center of organizations: care for people in their diversity — not only gender and culture, but also generationally, in language, and in career paths.

The UNI/PdR 125 certification is one of the most cited references in gender equality. What role does it play in a company’s journey?
It is the main framework that helps make inequalities visible and monitor progress, providing a structured methodology for gap analysis, planning, implementation, auditing, and review. It involves evaluating various aspects of the organization, such as culture, strategy, governance, HR processes, pay equity, and work-life balance. The goal for organizations is not just obtaining certification but transforming company culture and promoting an inclusive culture at all levels — executives, middle managers, and employees who identify with the change — defining processes of strategic and cultural co-creation.

What happens when a company decides to take on the challenge?
The recent case of Sperlari, a historic confectionery company, serves as an inspiring example of how companies can successfully approach this journey and reap its many benefits. Sperlari, a virtuous company in all matters of gender equality, wanted to further evolve its DEI strategy through focus groups that led to a shared co-creation process. The goal is to build a concrete gender equality strategy with clearly defined objectives and an action plan, capable of translating equality into daily behaviors, policies, and language. In the focus groups, we collected feedback, identified areas for improvement, implemented well-being surveys, conducted training on biases and inclusive language, and reviewed corporate work-life balance policies. The result? Sperlari’s journey demonstrates the power of a co-creation approach to DEI and the importance of integrating gender equality into the company’s overall strategy. UNI/PdR 125 certification combined with a new awareness, new collaboration methods, and a widespread sense of belonging and trust. Equality, when lived, improves work quality for everyone. It is a lever for well-being, not declared but built every day, together.

You mentioned co-creation. What does it mean in practice?
In companies, I have been implementing activities for years using a co-creation process that simultaneously promotes ideation, change, and the realization of new organizational cultures, modules, and processes for people, processes, and business. With co-creation, organizational change is born and developed with ideation and implementation, not left to a post-hoc phase. Companies increasingly recognize that a diverse and inclusive environment not only promotes innovation and creativity but also improves employee satisfaction, strengthens brand reputation, and positively impacts performance. However, there is no universal recipe for building a truly fair and inclusive culture: it requires a tailored approach that considers the identity, values, and specific challenges of each organization. This is where co-creation comes into play. There is no single model, no ready-made solutions. Every company has a starting point, a language, and resistance. Co-creation is a collaborative process that involves partnership between consultants and organizations to develop and implement inclusion strategies aligned with their needs and goals. This approach includes defining organizational assets, transparent recruitment and talent management processes, inclusive decision-making, identifying DEI activities, defining DEI KPIs, drafting DEI reports, training, and coaching to support change. Each company has its own path, and the most effective solutions are those developed in collaboration with organizational stakeholders: we work together with HR and managers to identify and define shared practices and indicators, policies, and tools. This makes change more authentic and lasting.

Sometimes resistance remains strong. Where does change begin, and what role does training play?
The cultural legacy we carry is deep and must be freed from stereotypical visions. Training with coaching techniques provides a transformative space that helps work on awareness and language, focusing on and creating a culture of equality: it is not a quick solution, but an ongoing journey requiring time, commitment, collaboration, and the willingness to adapt and learn. By embracing a co-creation approach and collaborating with experts, organizations can develop tailored DEI strategies that drive meaningful change.