Collaborators? Patients? Caregivers? As much as we strive to divide the world into categories, these tend to disappear the moment we talk about wellbeing and health. For over 85 years, Chiesi – a biopharmaceutical company represented in thirty countries – has aimed to improve quality of life for everyone, by having a positive impact on the environment and society. Underlying every action taken are the concepts of shared value and empathy. How do these two elements contribute to improving people's lives? We asked three members of the Chiesi Group's Diversity&Inclusion Committee.

Chiesi's identity has always been linked to scientific research, with the company's main goal being to improve health through innovative therapeutic solutions. Among other things, Chiesi is working to achieve a fully patient-centred approach, where empathy and an understanding of the real needs of people living with an illness are the key concepts. What are your thoughts on this journey and what challenges remain?

Research and collaboration with the scientific community have always been part of our DNA, so much so that over 20 percent of our revenue is invested in research. There is a continuous exchange of knowledge with all stakeholders, with the aim of creating innovation to benefit patients’ health. Patients are primarily people, not just recipients of care. After all, the role of the patient has undergone important changes over time. Patients are increasingly protagonists in making choices related to their health. We believe that the concept of care must go beyond making medications available, to include the outcome of our actions on society. When we talk about patients' needs, having a mindset that is open to diversity and inclusion becomes crucial: diverse teams that do not engage in homogeneous thinking are more likely to be innovative and to approach people’s needs empathetically. Only if we are constantly listening to patients can truly useful innovation take off, and dialogue with the patient community allows us to plan strategies that can create appropriate responses to their real needs.

However, in addition to patients there are also caregivers: relatives, friends, colleagues. What is Chiesi doing to centre this group of people as well?

For Chiesi, involving the entire community, both patients and caregivers, is crucial. The pandemic has increased the burden on caregivers. In Italy, for example, about 14% of the population is engaged in caring for frail family members. As a pharmaceutical company, we insist on the process of systematically including the perspectives of both patients and caregivers, and we activate support programmes through educational opportunities for patients and family members. Finally, in order to truly make an impact, it is crucial throughout patients’ journeys to raise awareness using digital channels and all the tools that are currently available.

How does Chiesi approach the issue of disability inside and outside the company?

At Chiesi, we have been reflecting deeply on disability, and disability has become our main D&I focus in 2023. The goal is to create a working environment where people with disabilities, whether these are temporary or permanent, feel completely included. We operate in many very different regulatory environments, depending on location. After identifying the relevant law, we create an ‘awareness path’ that is supported by actions that can break down all kinds of prejudices and barriers. We have, in addition, established Affinity Networks, voluntary groups of colleagues who reflect on specific areas of diversity. We want to fuel conversations through proposals shared by our employees, both internally and externally, and with the collaboration of relevant associations and organisations. Indeed, it is important to understand how other organisations are working to learn about new best practices.

At Chiesi, among the more than 6,000 employees, there are of course many people who are patients or caregivers themselves. What perspective do you think they bring or could bring to a pharmaceutical company like Chiesi?

Chiesi's philosophy centres the patient. Our employees’ contributions are therefore fundamental because they allow the organisation to have a greater impact and to have a clearer grasp of patients’ and caregivers’ expectations. The starting point of any Affinity Network is therefore precisely people’s daily experience, as well as listening to all of the voices involved, which is made possible through educational workshops that stimulate reflection and awareness. In this sense, a welcoming and inclusive work environment is needed to improve all our employees’ experiences of the workplace.

The concept of caring for the community and pursuing the goal of creating shared value for people, society and the environment is in Chiesi’s DNA – Chiesi is a Benefit Company and B Corp certified. How is this identity reflected in actions that improve quality of life for the people (within and outside of the company) and communities where Chiesi operates and has a presence?

The key concept for Chiesi is that of shared value, which guides business decisions with the aim of combining the creation of value for the company with social progress. In recent years we have, therefore, structured our sustainability strategy based on this concept, to ensure it is integrated and applied in all dimensions of our business.

Even before embarking on the path that led Chiesi to become B Corp certified, the company's focus on its people and community was already strong. My role, established in 2015, was initially created to deal with the company's impact on the local community. But that wasn’t all! The ultimate goal of improving quality of life for patients and people, and the specific focus on local communities, were included in our bylaws when Chiesi became a Benefit Company in 2018: this means that the company is also legally committed to achieving and verifying these goals.

Specifically, what is it critical to emphasise when thinking about the Chiesi Group's identity and its work involving the most vulnerable, such as those living with a disability? How does this theme fit into the values of the company and the B Corp community?

In recent years we have been developing an increasingly structured path for diversity inclusion. We are paying particular attention to the issue of disability, which is very important to our colleagues and the entire community in Parma. Internally, among other various actions taken, for example, we activated a job station, through the Itaca Parma Project, which provides for the inclusion in the company of people with a history of mental health issues.

As part of our community development activities, we support and work with local organisations that make it possible for people with disabilities to enter the workforce, and we have supported the activation of a support network for frail people living in Parma. This is a complementary commitment to what the company does internally, reflecting the values that guide us every day.

by Francesca Lai

‘Seneca said that luck does not exist: there is the moment when talent meets opportunity. I often think about this sentence. If talent, until proven otherwise, is equally distributed, why shouldn't the opportunities to put one's talent to use also be?’ Cristina Scocchia, Managing Director of illycaffè, quotes the greatest Roman Stoic philosopher to talk about inclusion and diversity.

In a room at the Illy Caffè in the Giardini Reali of St Mark's Square in Venice, over a cup of coffee, an interview with one of the most successful managers Italy has ever had turns into a profound reflection on art, the social role of business, and the importance of restarting the ‘social elevator’, which is 'indispensable in any democratic society'.

'If not now, after a pandemic and with a war going on, when should we prioritise merit in organisations? Companies grow, the country grows, people grow,' commented the CEO.

The occasion is the inauguration of the new Illy Art Collection dedicated to the Biennale Arte 2022 and inspired by the theme of the 59th International Art Exhibition, Il latte dei sogni (The Milk of Dreams). Included in this new collection are six artists who are all profoundly different in terms of style and origins, chosen by Cecilia Alemani, curator of this edition of the Biennale Arte. They are the recent winner of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, Cecilia Vicuña, and Felipe Baeza, Giulia Cenci, Precious Okoyomon, Alexandra Pirici and Aki Sasamoto. Infusing each cup with the flair of their art, these six artists have created a unique collection that brings together different approaches, from sculpture to painting, via poetry, photography and choreography.

'Art and culture must be within everyone's reach,' says Scocchia. Just like a cup of coffee.

VENICE, ITALY – APRIL 19: A general view of the illycaffè Art Collection 30th Anniversary event at Giardini Reali on April 19, 2022, in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Giorgio Perottino/Getty Images for Illy)

Dr Cristina Scocchia, from reading your biography, it is apparent that you had very clear ideas from the very beginning. Your experience at Procter & Gamble was important (1997- 2012), because of the company climate, the experience and career opportunities, and the international mentality. How has cultural diversity influenced how you have grown?

It has influenced me so much. I was lucky enough to encounter Procter & Gamble at university, during a career day. I fell in love with the company at exactly that moment: I heard about diversity, inclusion, valuing the uniqueness of the individual, values that still had no place in Italy at the time. So I wrote a curriculum in which I underlined my experience, which at the age of 20 was obviously not yet extensive. I wrote about Girl Scout activities, volunteering for the Red Cross. I talked about the young woman I was, and something must have struck the recruiters. After my first three-month internship at P&G, I had the good fortune – which you also need in life – to present the budget to the managing director. I thought: 'This is an opportunity that will never come again.' I knew English very badly. I learned the presentation off by heart and in the end, they hired me as if I had already graduated. It’s been 16 years since then. The first few years were very hard: I worked for over 12 hours a day and studied for my last few exams at night. It was intense but wonderful. Then when I kept my promise to graduate with honours I was sent to Geneva, the European Headquarters, the heart of diversity. There were people from all over the world in that building: there was cultural diversity, religious diversity, language diversity, gender diversity. This diversity enriched me as a manager and, above all, as a person.

After a few years in Geneva, your career took a different turn.
I thought I was immersed in a different world and then Procter gave me a gift I don't often talk about: after four years I was promoted to associate director and appointed trend marketing manager for CEMEA (Centre and East Europe Middle East and Africa). I was the only woman in a leadership team of over 20 men. Although Procter was an American company, the team in this region was made up only of men, so the challenge of Eastern Europe and the Middle East was not only gender-based but also cultural. It was a wonderful two years in the field. Here I discovered the true value of diversity, which one must embrace and value. This experience made me realise that assertive leadership gets you nowhere. Leadership influences others when you put yourself on the line, put yourself in the other person's place, try to understand what the other person is thinking when they see you and hear you speak. That moment, on a managerial and personal growth level, made all the difference.

Were there occasions when you yourself had to find value in your diversity, during those two years, which you’ve described as wonderful?

They were wonderful precisely because there was so much diversity that it was experienced by everyone as a positive value. I never felt like I was treated differently. On the contrary, I felt like I was treated with great respect. Of course, at times I made and experienced good-natured cultural gaffes. But everything that was said to me was meant to highlight my unique position as a woman. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about when I returned to Italy after many years working abroad. In July 2013, I left Procter & Gamble to become managing director of L'Oréal Italia. I was certainly happy to return to Italy; with my work I was contributing to improving my country, as well. But I could never have imagined that I would feel different, for the first time, right at home. Because I was a woman and because I was young (I was appointed CEO at the age of 39), something that was often emphasised in Italy. Not at L'Oréal, which like P&G is a company that has always respected diversity in all its forms. I noticed it when I went to congresses or conferences, because of the sexist jokes, and the situations where all the men are 'Dr' while I was 'Mrs’.

Could you give us another example?
I remember one situation. Some directors and I were waiting for guests at L'Oréal. The guests, once they arrived, greeted the directors, saying: ‘Good morning, doctors.’ Then they turned to me and said, ‘Madam, do you mind if I give you my coat?’ I politely took the coat and then I introduced myself as the managing director of L'Oréal Italia. Nothing like that had ever happened to me abroad.

After your experience at Procter, you returned to Italy with a new and very important role: CEO of L'Oréal Italia. Is it still exceptional, in Italy, for a woman to become CEO?

Unfortunately, yes. In Italy it often happens to me – and this also happened to me at Kiko – that when I am in meetings with all men, they think that they are the decisionmakers. In Italy it still weighs heavily on us that only 3% of CEOs are women. The gender bias in our society is undeniable when the ratio is 97% against 3%. The numbers speak. But I want to be optimistic: I am convinced that the pandemic has taught us the value of merit. If you field the best team, regardless of gender, religion or language, it is easier to win, not only for the company but also for the entire country. What better time, if not now, a time defined by the pandemic and war, to do this?

The problem with career plans does not relate only to top positions but is much more widespread in middle management positions. Where does our country stand in that regard?
In Italy we are starting to see female country managers, but that is different from being a CEO. The next step will be to see women who then make the leap, who become heads of companies and who have the opportunity to manage an organisation globally, from marketing to human resources to the supply chain. I think it will still take some time. From this point of view, I have never liked playing the victim. I believe that reaching top positions is very difficult for everyone. But for women it is undoubtedly more difficult. Seneca said that luck does not exist, there is the moment when talent meets opportunity. Until proven otherwise, no one has ever proved that women are less talented than men, but if talent is equally distributed, the same cannot be said of the opportunity to prove that one has talent. We should all strive culturally to make it clear that men and women have the same right to professional fulfilment. This is still not the case. For example, if a young boy says he wants to do a certain job at a certain level, we say ‘Wow he has leadership skills!’ If a girl says the same thing, she becomes ‘a bit ambitious’. There is a significant difference, culturally, between 'leader' and 'a bit ambitious'. Also, everyone should cooperate in families, because as long as women are in charge of 70% of the work that needs to be done in the home and family, there will be no gender equality. And institutions must play their part. The number of kindergartens I have seen in Switzerland is not comparable to the numbers found here. I would like to see more talk about gender equality in schools, too, so girls see STEM careers as a real career opportunity. Today only 16 out of a hundred female graduates graduate with a degree in a science subject.

This issue of DiverCity is dedicated to the theme of inclusive cities. Illy has always been committed to supporting cultural initiatives (in Mantua the festival, in Turin Artissima, in Venice Guggenheim, etc.). Today it is at the Biennale to present the new 'Illy Art Collection' project. How decisive is the relationship between companies and cities for development and innovation?
I believe that more and more people are realising that companies play a social role. Organisations cannot be focused only on generating profit but must create value for all stakeholders. For shareholders, for employees, for suppliers, for the cities and communities they operate in, for the environment. How can we have a positive social impact? Illy has always been committed to this. It’s a concern that starts with the green coffee farmers. We help to build local schools for the community where the coffee is grown, to spread knowledge about regenerative cultivation. We want to have the same commitment for our 'outlet' communities and for Italy. One of the sectors we are committed to is art because knowledge must always be shared. What I love about the 'Illy Art Collection' is that it allows a small, everyday object to become the blank canvas on which an artist can express his or her creativity without limitations. In this way, a small object becomes a contemporary work of art that is accessible to everyone. We must also keep in mind the diversity of means, which affects our ability to express our talent. I was reading a report that stated that in Italy, if you are born to parents who do not have a university degree, you have a 92% chance of not graduating from university either. The social elevator should be the cornerstone of a democratic country. An object of art, simple and usable, like a cup, opens up many possibilities: drinking coffee makes you want to get to know other works of art, to google the name of the artist, to discover a world that will fascinate and shape you for a lifetime. This is what I appreciate about 'Illy Art Café': the link with culture, creativity and accessibility.

It is now well established that DE&I, on a global level, is spurring and directing big companies to do more and better: gender equality, LGBT+ rights, exchanges between generations, valuing different abilities, multiculturalism, etc. How will Illy pursue this path towards change?

We start with a corporate culture that has always been based on respect for and appreciation of diversity. Even before such issues became fashionable. Illy became a benefit company and then one of the first B Corps in Italy. For us, having a strong moral compass is part of our DNA. The value of diversity, inclusion and respect for social and environmental sustainability is part of our roots. We want to continue to grow. Being a B Corp allows you to be assessed by others – we underwent an objective, third-party audit, which assessed our company culture, our way of being and doing business. This is not an end point, but a starting point: for each of the areas where we were assessed we have an action plan. My goal as managing director is to help the company to do better and better in all these areas.

Interview with Cinzia Marzano

by Francesca Lai

There is no instruction manual for becoming a diversity manager. Nor is there a model to follow, a precedent to learn from. How, then, do you become a good diversity manager? 

‘You need diversity in your cultural background'. Cinzia Marzano, International Diversity, Equity and Inclusion manager at McDonald's, was probably born to do this job. Having always been fascinated by other cultures and traditions, she has been an enthusiastic traveller since she was fifteen. Her story begins in high school, when she was studying to become a pilot.

Dr Marzano, how did you become a diversity manager?
My path has not been linear. I studied for five years to be a pilot, but in the end, I realised it was not for me. After a Bachelor's degree in foreign languages and literature, I went to Vancouver for a study abroad experience because I had always been fascinated by cultures other than my own. Here I came across the subject of Corporate Social Responsibility for the first time. It was 2008, the concept of D&I did not yet have its own autonomous dimension but was included within CSR, which in North America was already highly developed. In Italy, on the other hand, corporate social responsibility was still receiving little attention. So I did my Master's degree in Languages and Cultures for International Cooperation at the Statale university, writing a thesis on CSR and Crisis Communication, in Cardiff.

During your university days, the concept of D&I did not yet exist, but the seeds of diversity had already been sown in your academic career. What was your first job after you completed your studies?
At that time, the profession of diversity manager did not exist. Not only that, but they also didn’t even hire CSR managers: it was an area of responsibility for HR or people within the company who did voluntary work in their spare time. After graduation I started to work at the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Santo Domingo, where I did communication work. The Dominican Republic was at the time a strongly male-dominated environment, where I discovered what the British call 'colourism'. Although it is a predominantly Black society, the lighter their skin tone, the more likely a person is to occupy a position of responsibility and success within society. This sentiment is so widespread and internalised that it is also reflected in the everyday life of Dominicans, who try to strip themselves as much as possible of any outward sign that reminds them of their origins. This experience gave rise to my passion, within the field of CSR, for diversity and inclusion issues.

The shift to diversity manager happened at IKEA, how did you come to this organisation?
Back in Italy, I started doing work experience at Bocconi university in the International Relations department. The leitmotif is always encountering other cultures: my task was to include foreign students, make them feel comfortable and help them to understand Italian culture, and at the same time to create valuable partnerships with other universities around the world. While working there I was contacted by IKEA regarding the position of mobility coordinator, which required a deep knowledge of cultural diversity to facilitate the adaptation of managers and families to everyday life in Italy and vice versa. In 2018, IKEA began a process of global transformation that led to the creation of new roles, such as that of diversity manager. I applied and it became my profession.

How do you learn a trade for which there is no manual?
You need diversity in your cultural background. That's why my experience as a pilot was important: it led me to develop more technical skills. You need curiosity, to constantly study, an analytical approach to things: all skills that you acquire from studying the humanities. Now we are also starting to see books, and I also recommend getting information through less traditional channels, such as social media, where excellent trainers often convey very useful content.

Did your many travel experiences help you prepare for this role?
Definitely. I have acquired a mindset that comes from having different experiences around the world. You can approach travelling in different ways. When I travel, I try to stay in the homes of local people, not in hotels. I speak a different language to understand the culture and get to know what is different. I have also travelled a lot on my own. And I have been doing it since I was fifteen.

Now you have been living in London for a few months, after moving there to work for McDonald's as a diversity manager. What was your first impression of the city?

The diversity you find in London and how it is valued is something that strikes you immediately. I say this knowing that I am a scholar of the subject and someone who has travelled a lot. For example, as soon as I landed at the airport, the nurse who swabbed me was a young woman wearing a veil, which is extremely unusual in Italy. Also, on the first weekend after I moved, on a walk along the Thames, I met a boy who had cross-dressed. Something we are still not used to in Italy.

Why do you think that is?

We are still too bound by how we are judged based on our appearance. If you are a young blonde woman wearing lipstick, you always need an extra 15 minutes when you are speaking in front of an audience to be considered authoritative. I have experienced this myself and seen it with other female professionals. I have witnessed development interviews in the past where people were advised to change their appearance, which was well-intentioned. In London this does not happen.

What forms does inclusion take in London?
Any service for people and citizens can be provided digitally, and this can be a truly inclusive form of support that can help individuals with any unique issues. 

It is extremely common to see people of colour in leadership positions here. In Italy this does not happen yet, for historical and cultural reasons. When I worked in Italy and held workshops in companies, I was told that discrimination did not exist there, and would ask: name one Black person occupying a leadership position in this company. There was no one, whereas in London it is the norm.

Do you feel that your work can contribute to improving the city you live in, in terms of inclusiveness?
That’s a question I ask myself constantly. People often ask me: ‘Is your work just a trend or do you really feel you can make a difference?’ Currently there is a strong focus on these issues, so it could also be a fad, although I don't believe that it is a passing trend. Being potentially a fad is not necessarily something negative if it can make a difference in terms of people's well-being. Of course, there is also a brand reputation factor, that is undeniable. Companies live to sell, be it a service or a product. But that does not take away from the fact that you can have a real positive impact on cities and society. It will take years to achieve a mindset change but it is something we can do, especially big companies and brands, which have great power of language and representation.

Do you think that organisations are fully aware that they no longer have real boundaries and that everything they do internally, at the D&I level, can have a positive influence on the outside?
I don't think there is full awareness yet. Especially in Europe, when compared to the USA, where DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, ed.) comes from. The problem is that in European countries this model is often applied blindly, copied and pasted: the result is that diversity is not recognised. ‘We don't have this problem,’ I hear in interviews I do for work in EU countries. Diversity is seen as a problem, not as something that brings benefits, especially for the bottom line, and is seen as a less relevant sector, which has no reason to exist in Europe. There isn’t full awareness and, therefore, we have to do everything we can to be inspired by the American model but to adapt it carefully to the target context.

What characteristics must a city have to be truly inclusive?
At the ideological level, it must be able to listen to its citizens. Let me give you an example: a very dear friend of mine, who has been using a wheelchair for a long time, went to the municipal offices in Milan to apply for a passport. Unfortunately, that day she could not access the offices, which are located upstairs. This needs to be fixed. The staff offered to carry her: why would an independent woman of thirty-five accept such a thing? She then highlighted the situation, but will that have consequences? We need to create listening spaces where people who do what they need to do can express themselves and share their needs.

You are a passionate traveller. What is the most inclusive city you have ever visited?
Definitely London. I was also extremely impressed by the diversity in Vancouver. On the bus I would see women in burqas sitting next to girls in tops and shorts. At the time I did not have the tools to assess whether there was also equity and inclusion in that city. What I can say is that my travels and passions usually focus on countries that are not very inclusive and where equity is a distant dream, such as in Latin America and Africa. Among the less inclusive cities is Santo Domingo, a city that is structurally inaccessible: it is difficult to walk on the streets because of crime and accidents and open sewers on the sides of the roads. I have observed the same thing in many cities in Central America and Indonesia. As well as during my last trip to Ecuador, where universities and services we consider essential are very expensive and therefore inaccessible to most. If there is no accessibility, there can be no place for equity and inclusion.

What does Italy need to have more inclusive cities and organisations?
There is beginning to be diversity in our country because the course of events dictates it. What is lacking is equity. We need certainty of access to the same opportunities, to ensure that everyone has the tools they need to benefit from everything that cities and organisations have to offer.

Michele Lanci

Television has changed profoundly over the last few decades, as well as its language and structure, but even more importantly, there has been a reversal of the very role that the medium of television has in relation to its users. In the past, television dictated the trends of the moment, anticipated changes and significantly influenced reality in a predominantly one-sided relationship with viewers. The advent of new technologies and social networks has made this relational one-sidedness anachronistic. Those who watch television no longer do it passively, adapting to the linear schedule they find by zapping, but can, thanks to new digital platforms, decide what to see, and when, where and how to do it. Furthermore, viewers can comment instantly and freely on what they are watching using social media, for example, thus influencing the development of the story told on television. In fact, therefore, television no longer has the disruptive persuasive force that was intrinsic to it historically, but is now conditioned by the tastes and feelings of those who watch, in a relationship that has become fully bilateral. It follows that television no longer determines reality, but is more often found to describe reality by absorbing its language and trends. The language of television has therefore become that of people's daily lives, sometimes characterised by violent and unpleasant words, and at other times conditioned by the possibility of everyone being able to express their opinion, thus having to be more attentive and sensitive and, at least in part, more inclusive.

At QVC, a multi-platform shopping channel that has combined TV, digital, mobile and social networks since its inception, we have by our very nature always had a more direct relationship with our viewers than other television channels. The motivation is intuitive: the needs of those who watch us and buy the products directly affect our business, and therefore listening is necessary to integrate their needs and desires into our identity.

QVC during the pandemic

With the Covid-19 pandemic, television found itself an uncomfortable and impossible to ignore guest and had to put itself at the service of reality to tell viewers what was happening, trying to inform and reassure. Television has therefore recovered a centrality that had been hanging in the balance. Information and entertainment programmes have understandably devoted themselves to the story of the pandemic and its dramatic consequences. We at QVC could not reinvent ourselves so substantially, but we wanted to stop and reflect on what could be the right way to continue doing our work while respecting our viewers’ sensitivities and the drama of this particular historical moment. This is how the #NoiCiSiamo multi-platform campaign was born, which was developed through an interactive digital initiative and which made it possible to put those who needed help in contact with those who could provide it, through a schedule of special content on social channels and with a fundraiser to support activities to contain the Covid-19 emergency that were being carried out by dedicated laboratories in some Italian universities. We also rethought the programming of our social channels and added content, suggestions and discussions, bringing the language to an entertainment level and tying it less to products. Obviously programming for our channel has continued; we have adapted what products we offer, focusing mainly on categories such as food, cooking, fitness and personal care because they are more suited to the context, not only for obvious business reasons, but also as a sign of listening to our users – who are prevalently female – and their needs. We have reinvented how we use language by making it more sensitive and attentive and avoiding using unsuitable language, focusing mainly on dialogue and in-depth studies rather than on the incentive to buy. We listened to reality and our shows became, therefore, not only opportunities to shop, but also to take a break from suffering and worrying.

Kind storytelling 

Paying attention to reality is the basis of our language, which wants to be kind. To achieve this, we have worked on a number of specific principles that we are happy to share:

- Listening: we listen actively to our audience;

- Offering solutions: we always respond and do it by offering solutions;

- Being reactive: we respond as soon as possible by showing we are present;

- Engaging in continuous dialogue: we converse with everyone with the same passion, because everyone is important to us;

- Keeping our promises. 

Based on the understanding that the way that television communicates is now the result of a relationship between speaker and listener, QVC's intention is to establish valuable relationships, so our language is based on genuineness and understanding; it is carefully curated but not complicated, easily understood by everyone without being impoverished. Listening to reality means not placing oneself in a position of superiority, but rather speaking at the level of our interlocutors while maintaining a ‘courteous distance’; being present and close to customers without being aggressive or intrusive. What is important, and in keeping with this new form of watching television, is that everyone feels at ease and that the language used does not exclude anyone.

By the Editorial staff

With regard to language, the subject of corporate communication is very important. What do we mean when we talk about ‘corporate communications’?

What is meant is a fundamental strategic lever for creating, maintaining and strengthening the trust that is established between companies and their target audiences, both within and outside of the organisation. It goes without saying that the effects it aims to produce have different facets depending on the target: pride, a sense of belonging, commitment to and participation in achieving a common goal (if we are thinking of an internal audience); knowledge, consideration and preference, for example, if we go outside. In any case, corporate communications aim to protect and enhance the image and, above all, the reputation of the company over time.

In what way?

Through the dissemination of information to key stakeholders, developing messages that refer to the company’s strategic plan, of which they are the declination. Adopting a corporate communication approach, therefore, means communicating that the company is a unitary entity, enhancing its unique personality and distinctive identity, managing the coherence of the narratives that revolve around it, passing through different channels and touching multiple interlocutors: colleagues, authorities, institutions, consumers, suppliers, competitors, investors, media and local communities. Given the breadth of the range of action, the issues covered by corporate communications are also the most varied and transversal. An example above all is that of communication on the theme ‘sustainability’, which aims to enhance the company's efforts to integrate social and environmental concerns at all stages of the process, organising messages, channels and narratives in a coherent way and finding its own tone of voice that differentiates it from others. But it is not only this. Crisis communication, company results, values, significant events such as acquisitions, demergers and integrations all fall within the issues addressed. Basically all the actions that the company carries out and which have a significant impact on one or more of its target audiences.

How is corporate communications articulated in Mutti? What are its ‘core’ elements?

In everything I have told you about so far, with one characteristic that is particularly evident: our communication is factual, linked to results and evidence, easily verifiable by the recipients of our narrative. In these first 9 months that I have been working on this, we have shared concrete messages that were in profound and authentic harmony with reality. I am thinking of the donation made to the Ospedale Maggiore in Parma when the Covid-19 emergency broke out, as well as the latest innovation by Mutti, the ‘Sul Campo’ sauce project, the first to be produced directly at the tomato harvesting site. Our communication is based on certain pillars: quality, respect for people and the environment, care, attention, continuous improvement. Our organisation’s work on corporate communications, which, together with other corporate functions, such as Human Resources and Marketing, aims to identify the key messages of the organisation in order to work in an integrated manner on Mutti’s purpose and to help the group's unique and distinctive heritage emerge and be known. These messages will make up our Corporate Narrative Book, which will also be accompanied by the company's corporate guidelines, always with a view to total coherence between actions and messages.

And who does the Mutti Corporate Narrative Book project involve?

It is a project that concerns all Mutti people, because it serves to tell, to record in black and white, what Mutti is and, therefore, to record who we are as we bring a piece of ourselves to work every day. It also concerns all employees because it is a communication project and communication without collaboration makes no sense. If the messages we identify are not used first by us – every time we deal with our interlocutors – whether they are customers, suppliers, journalists or contributors, it does make any sense to have identified them in the first place. The goal is to outline, in an increasingly strong and distinctive way, our group’s identity, which grows and changes at the speed of light, so as to obtain (first of all for our own understanding!) a clear vision of who we are and what we want to become, in order to be able to effectively transmit it externally.

What results are you expecting?

I expect important but gradual results, which grow as the company itself evolves, because the goal of this work is to create a culture of corporate communication, as a strategic lever to enhance and make everyone’s work more effective. Since we are in the agricultural and food sector, we can describe the work as sowing seeds, caring, paying attention and listening, which, in the long run, as in our case, always pays off. Of course, then in the meantime other things must and will happen, but the result that I hope most to see is the immense value of the heritage of this company emerge in a clear and powerful way for the benefit of all its stakeholders. Much has already been done from this point of view in these 120 years of the company’s history, but there are still several opportunities to be seized, and that is exactly what we want to do.

What are your wishes for the near future? 

My desire is to continue to have fun doing my job, just as I have been so far, and to be able to find new ways to include, through the use of words, and therefore through communication, more and more people, making them aware of the history of quality and commitment behind every single bottle of Mutti tomato sauce or can of tomato pulp that they choose to bring into their homes. Communication can be a very strong tool for inclusion when it is based on concrete and coherent actions and when you manage to find this correspondence, you cannot wish for better.

By the Editorial staff

In a globalised and digitalised world, verbal communication has become an indispensable tool for expressing oneself and interacting with people who are different to us (in terms of gender, language, sexual orientation...) from all over the world. Language is the most powerful medium we possess: the expression of thoughts and feelings, it reflects who we are, confirming our individuality within an international ecosystem without borders that is characterised by diversity. Dell Technologies, one of the largest technology companies in the world, believes in the immense power of language. It is evident that international communication is still influenced today by cultural differences. Each culture has, in fact, developed its own language based on rules and values ​​and has handed it down over time, for generations. For this reason, within a work team, people from different cultures may have different approaches to the business, or the strategy to be adopted to achieve common goals. Understanding how to communicate effectively has become fundamental for us.

Diversity at Dell Technologies translates not only into cultural or linguistic differences, but also into the way people perceive, and perceive others, as these impressions influence interactions and communication strategies. In fact, even when the same language is used, people can often interpret information differently, due to unconscious and involuntary mechanisms, which determine their way of seeing the world and the reality that surrounds them. The unconscious leads us to favour individuals who are more like us, while underlining flaws in people we see as less like us. Furthermore, the unconscious leads us to seek or interpret information that confirms our perceptions, highlighting what confirms our point of view and undervaluing aspects that could contradict it. This allows us to create a sense of group identity on which to base our position in society. We believe that unconscious bias can concern different aspects, from ethnicity to gender, as well as previous work experience, and can create barriers that prevent a culture of diversity and inclusion from developing in the workplace, damaging relationships that could have fostered creative and innovative ideas. This could cost the company, through the potential loss of talent, the ability to make ethical decisions that would have a positive impact on the global market. At Dell Technologies it is imperative that team leaders and managers are ready to communicate effectively with workers from different cultural backgrounds. Unconscious bias can also hinder communication between individuals with different sexual orientations. In fact, although it is known that women and men communicate differently, they usually end up corroborating a common thesis based on different communication models. Many of us think ‘men don't listen’ and ‘women are not very concise and too emotional’: these examples represent unconscious stereotypes which, if not addressed, do not allow for mindful communication. Furthermore, these prejudices, even if unconscious, often lurk in our cultures, so it is fundamentally important that we all become aware of them.

At Dell Technologies we have begun to experiment with our behaviours and to review our beliefs to discover new ways of communicating and to work together constructively, with the aim of supporting diversity and creating an inclusive culture that addresses unconscious prejudices responsibly and seriously. According to a study carried out by Deloitte, as many as 64% of respondents said they have experienced and/or witnessed prejudice in the workplace. At Dell Technologies, we are ready to create a new era, in which diversity becomes a pillar of our success and a source of inspiration and innovation in the technology sector. With the MARC (Many Advocating Real Change) programme we offer all employees, customers and partners a tool that aims to break down the prejudices and behaviours that hinder the creation of an inclusive environment. The programme includes seminars, forums and discussions in which prejudices or beliefs are faced honestly, to mitigate unconscious behaviours that stand in the way of inclusion. We recognise, in fact, that such behaviours between individuals can have profound implications in the workplace by not facilitating the innovation that we advocate for on the market. In structured sessions and forums, we discuss the stereotypes found in our society and in the way we communicate. We imagine what it would be like to find ourselves in someone else’s shoes in order to be better people, ready to face any form of discrimination. To date, over 20,000 employees around the world have been able to train with the MARC programme. All team leaders have successfully completed it. Our goal is for all employees globally to complete MARC by the end of 2021. Session after session, we will help our employees to look at the world from other perspectives, creating empathy in the ocean of diversity that characterises our community.

Unconscious bias and non-inclusive language are traps that we can all fall into without even realising and, as a result, we may deny ourselves the opportunity to embrace diversity, share different ideas, new points of view, and learn new ways of doing things. Viktor Frankl argued that ‘Between stimulus and response lies a space. In that space lie our freedom and power to choose a response. In our response lies our growth and our happiness.’ There is no one solution to this challenge, on the contrary, the solutions will be unique to each of us.

Patrizia Brognoli

Decathlon Italia's commitment to inclusion is inspired by our company’s aim: to make sport accessible to as many people as possible, without exception. The inclusion of a ‘special’ person is an important moment for us, especially when we welcome people with cognitive disabilities. Successfully including means overcoming stereotypes and fear of the unknown. For years we have been promoting internships in the company for individuals who belong to the most disadvantaged categories. The project that best represents this commitment is that dedicated to young people with Down syndrome. We previously worked on projects dedicated to people with physical disabilities, and having had no other experiences, we felt unprepared to deal with different disabilities. We have changed our minds. Our approach changed when we met Davide (not his real name), a competitive swimmer with Down syndrome, who helped us overcome our barriers. Welcoming Davide, learning about the syndrome and participating in integrating him into the workplace and growing together, showed how this disability is a good fit in a healthy environment like ours. What helped us? A passion for sport and the desire to share it. Practicing a sport with group dynamics is a strong accelerator for developing bonds and interpersonal relationships, a wonderful aggregator.

Decathlon Italia signed a national agreement with the AIPD association about three years ago. The association accompanies us on this journey: the tutors helped us to learn about Down syndrome, and understand the value of communication and working alongside new workers to best welcome these young people. The association's tutors are important addition, especially during the first few weeks of the internship, as they flank both the interns involved in the project and the Decathlon employees. Before being launched, the project is presented on the site (retail or logistics): this provides an opportunity for exchanges and discussion with all employees interested in undergoing training linked to inclusion and it is an opportunity to respond to any questions and to provide reassurance to those who need it.

When we talk about inclusion we do it through moments when we raise awareness: having a shared experience of these issues is essential because it helps to create greater awareness. We know that working in heterogeneous contexts facilitates new, more effective and efficient practices, but daily flanking is essential. It is a growth path that Decathlon strongly desired to take and included in its strategic axes, involving all employees in order to identify and enhance every talent, each with its own characteristics and uniqueness that brings value to the company and to the individual.

By the Editorial staff

Language crystallises reality, shapes thought and, consequently, culture. The words we use are often not neutral and we risk falling into the trap of prejudices and stereotypes. This is a very topical issue in the context we are experiencing, considering the stigma of physical and psychological illness. One of the lessons of this crisis is the importance of starting with language to rebuild a more supportive, inclusive and sustainable reality, in which companies (also) have an important role to play, as social realities made up of people.

‘It is a key issue for AXA Italy,’ said Simone Innocenti, Director of Human Resources, Organisation and Change management of AXA Italy - who has long been committed to creating an environment where all employees are treated with dignity and respect and where individual differences are valued.

‘We offer equal opportunities in every aspect of life in the company and we work every day to create an environment where you can serenely express your individuality, be at ease and to give your best to colleagues, colleagues and customers.’

‘One AXA,’ continues Innocenti, ‘is exactly one of the Group's founding values, which means being inclusive, capable of listening to and rewarding all types of diversity as differentiating elements’. 

The Group is committed to numerous projects and initiatives, including digital webinars on the importance of inclusive language for all our approximately 1,800 employees, carried out in collaboration with Parks, an association that deals with diversity within the company. Among the new features, there is also a complete revision of all HR policies and documents, all incorporating the theme of inclusion.

‘We are active on all fronts of inclusiveness: enhancement of female leadership, inclusiveness for the disabled, LGBT+ employees, multi-generational inclusivity, projects on different abilities, on ways of expressing oneself and also on being able to limit unconscious bias - which affect all of us because they are an integral part of the learning process - to learn to recognise and manage them, to look at the other as a person who can enrich us by bringing what we do not have.’ 

The importance of language underlies, at AXA, a more general attention to welcoming people and promoting a work environment that favours a balance between physical health and psychological and social well-being. The moment we are living through makes it even more important to demonstrate closeness, attention, listening and inclusion, if we think about how remote work loosens personal relationships and often erases the informal communication that naturally develops in offices between colleagues, while the sense of anxiety and fears generated by isolation are another factor.

‘We are experiencing a delicate phase, with levels of complexity that must also be managed at the family and personal level, which is why we have never lost sight of the human dimension, the importance of socialising and sharing, favouring moments of conviviality between teams, such as virtual coffee breaks or interactive webinars on the topic of resilience. On this path, together with our colleagues, we have always emphasised the importance of reciprocal listening, also through periodic surveys.’ 

AXA Italy’s is a path that is always marked by concrete action, therefore. On the psychological well-being front, for example, in addition to a very rich collective health policy - which also provides for the reimbursement of psychological therapy sessions - colleagues have a free 24-hour psychological assistance number they can access and a virtual counselling desk to manage stress, anxiety or any other difficult situations. In addition, with a view to guardianship and protection, we added the opportunity to carry out free and voluntary serological tests using some of the most reliable tests on the market, as well as an influenza vaccine.

‘With a view to creating awareness of psychological well-being, providing information on managing emotions (fear, anger, boredom, sadness) and webinars on well-being were successfully proposed, animated by colleagues who put their personal talents at the service of others (as part-time physiotherapists or yoga instructors, for example).’ 

To keep human contact alive and demonstrate closeness, the training we offered was then redesigned in the space of 4 weeks from the first day of the lockdown and can be accessed 100% online. Collaborators can also access a learning platform with 16,550 pieces of content, for free. The digital dimension has played a key role since the beginning of the emergency, with the company's commitment to helping employees to manage the changes, thanks to over 100 online sessions on the use of collaborative tools. These are issues that will see AXA Italy increasingly engaged in the coming years.

‘We will continue to move forward on this path of ‘People Care’ in the future, because it is part of AXA Italy’s responsibility, as the company wants to act to protect what matters, including the psycho-physical well-being of its community of people, which we will continue to preserve and nourish, so that it remains energising for everyone at all times.’ 

In addition to internal proposals, AXA Italy wants to make a contribution to society as a whole, with unique initiatives on inclusion and the empowerment of women, such as Angels 4 Women, the first Italian association of business angels to support entrepreneurship and innovation for women, or Punto Donna, in Milan, in the Giambellino district, to support women who are victims of violence or social exclusion. Together with the AXA Research Fund and thanks to a collaboration with Bocconi University, in order to make a concrete contribution at the country level, hoping for a more sustainable and inclusive future, AXA Italy is about to launch a three-year research project on Gender Equality, to promote studies capable of affecting the policies that are indispensable if we are to eliminate the gender gap and, thus, to achieve the goal set in the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda.

Carlamaria Tiburtini

The debate on gender neutrality in language is not recent. Already in 2008, the European Parliament began reflecting on the issue, becoming one of the first international organisations to adopt specific multilingual guidelines. Over the last decade, the importance of this topic has acquired relevance not only in the institutional and academic world, but also in the corporate realm. Organisations, in designing Inclusion & Diversity strategies, have begun to understand that inclusion is also about the manner and tone with which one expresses oneself at work and that this does not only concern gender but also, for example, disability.

‘On the gender front, our mother tongue is binary, but as part of a multinational company we usually use English for internal communications as well,’ explains Carlamaria Tiburtini, HR Business Partner and I&D Leader of Avio Aero. ‘This helps, not only because it is a universal language that brings colleagues with different nationalities in the organisation together, but also because of its neutral nature, which helps work towards inclusion.’

‘The deeper reflection, however,’ adds Carlamaria ‘regards each person’s way of communicating, the words we usually use. As Igor Šuran, Executive Director of the Parks – Liberi e Uguali association that we are a part of, states, the words that make you feel excluded are not necessarily vulgar or offensive ones. Very often, they are the same words we use every day that in certain contexts make those who do not recognise themselves in this expressive parameter feel excluded. This is very true in the field of disability, for example, where stigmatising expressions have been replaced by others that are sometimes just as inadequate, incorrect from a scientific point of view or, worse, paternalistic.’ 

At Avio Aero, paying attention to this aspect is part of the process of creating cultural awareness that the company has wanted to undergo. ‘In the case of our company,’ continues Carlamaria, ‘the factory is our operational heart, certainly the largest in terms of numbers and, also, the place where most employees are male. Over the years, talent acquisition and retention policies and our vision for a brilliant factory – a new approach to manufacturing based on technology and innovation, which completely transforms the traditional factory environment – have led us to include more and more women on the production lines, which brought problems relating to language to the forefront. These were then amplified by our opening ourselves to the LGBTIQ + world. At first, in some cases, sexist or vulgar language were also followed by inappropriate behaviours. Along with taking the necessary disciplinary actions, we began to work, at an organisational level, on the composition of the teams to make them as diverse as possible in terms of age, gender, seniority; and we also worked on stereotypes through targeted training and testimonials. Now we are focusing on personal awareness and intend to conduct pilot projects in our factories, which are open to all functions and professionals to help people appreciate the value of using appropriate language and, consequently, to increase their awareness of the language they use.’

Out of a personal, as well as professional interest, Carlamaria Tiburtini follows theories on the evolution of language in relation to inclusion with interest. ‘It is interesting to see how there is a lot of research into making language evolve so that it reflects current events and to find alternative solutions to the dominance of the masculine; I am thinking of the ‘singular they’ – the word of the year in 2019, chose by the American Dialect Association – which reflects American society’s focus on diversity, or the schwa – the symbol used by linguists to indicate pronunciation – in place of the asterisk at the end of words, to replace masculine or feminine endings. As a Human Resources professional, I feel a responsibility to look at language as a fundamental component of inclusion strategies, to create a culture of respect that is a prerequisite for collaboration. Generation Z is entering the workforce, and for them diversity issues are part of their value system, and they evaluate companies based on language and ethical behaviour. We cannot miss out on this opportunity.’

Chrystelle Simon

Words can inspire. And words can destroy. Choose yours well.

Robin Sharma (Author and expert on personal development and leadership)

We have known for a long time that language is a very powerful vehicle with which values, thoughts and messages are transmitted. We also know that language is often the bearer of stereotypes and prejudices, which inevitably influence our daily behaviours and our professional and personal interactions in the workplace. Communication therefore plays a central role in our daily life, as it activates our thoughts and cognitive processes. Language exercises a regulating and stimulating function on the mental mechanisms that preside over the birth of thought and its development, which, for reasons of necessity and convenience, often have to be fast and immediate. Here the power and transversality of inclusion come into play, which is also able to positively influence our language, making it capable of embracing diversity and breaking down those unconscious biases that often guide our vision of the world, our reasoning and what we express. Using inclusive language is therefore not only a more faithful way of representing reality, but also allows us to positively influence it and cultivate the perception of inclusion experienced and felt by people. Words matter. The words we choose to use have an impact on our ability to relate to others. Collaboration, dialogue and empathy are all characteristics that inclusive language stimulates and makes its own. Thus, language and inclusion, when developed in unison, find themselves carrying out a job that has a positive impact on the emotional and psychological well-being of people and on the organisation’s culture. 

At Deloitte, we use the keys of language and inclusive communication to spread respect and fairness, as they are the lifeblood of the promotion of that cultural change that characterises the journey of inclusion. To include - using communication and genuine dialogue without prejudice - means making people feel confident that they can express their authentic selves and their potential, leveraging sensitivity and respect. This is what we want for our people at Deloitte. This favours the development of "psychological safety". By this we mean the feeling of being able to express your ideas, your talent and your potential in tranquillity and peace of mind. According to recognised studies, psychological safety is characterised by four levels: a condition in which people feel included in the first place, being in a position of psychological safety to learn and grow, to contribute, and finally to challenge the status quo, without any fear of being marginalised or excluded. Where the organisation creates a safe work environment, free from fear even in the relationships between teams and colleagues, it becomes a driving force of benefits in terms of awareness and development of inclusive language, which in turn foster respect, innovation and growth. For this reason, and with the aim of bringing out and spreading knowledge and awareness of how our language and our behaviours are often driven by unconscious biases, we have created the communication campaign "Be Respectful, Be Inclusive", a series of impactful videos on non-inclusive and discriminatory behaviours, conveyed by non-inclusive and hostile language. These videos touch on various aspects of the diversity spectrum, such as gender diversity and sexual orientation, parental responsibility, work-life balance and leadership style. The main goal of this campaign is to make people think, to move something in the audience who may identify with the characters in the videos. The videos have received very positive feedback and considerable interest from our people, who have talked about them and commented on them, indicating how much need there is for continuous debate. Furthermore, these videos were shown during our training courses on the topic of Inclusive Leadership, launched in 2019, which were followed by an exchange with participants about their reactions and perception of the organisation’s culture. We truly believe that this continuous stimulus for reflection leads to an ever greater awareness of the weight of our words, by which a real chain reaction can be triggered: a change in mindset and behaviour and a change in the way we formulate thoughts and words. It is also important to work on leadership in terms of inclusive language, as the more inclusive the leadership is – covering 360 degrees – the more it encourages and fosters trust and collaboration within teams. Inclusive language is also a driving force for creating a greater sense of belonging, towards the organisation and within the teams themselves, between people. In fact, inclusive language and cultural intelligence are closely linked: leaders are not inclusive if they do not adapt their communication style to the diversity they face and which they address.

The communication campaign “Be respectful, Be inclusive” fits into a broader activity plan, which aims to raise more awareness of the power of words. We invite our people to take part in our interactive webinars on how to recognise and oppose discriminatory behaviours and unconscious biases. These moments are opportunities for each of us to make a difference in this journey of collective change. Thus, we have begun travelling on a clear path that aims to defeat stereotypes, biases and to develop increasingly inclusive language, involving our greatest wealth: people.  As the well-known American anthropologist-linguist Edward Sapir said: “Language is the most massive and inclusive art we know, a mountainous and anonymous work of unconscious generations”.

Silvia Candiani

Microsoft helps people and organisations all over the world to do more with technology. Today, the company provides businesses and individuals  with cloud computing , Artificial Intelligence and Security solutions to carry out digital transformation projects. The company has been active in Italy for over 35 years with over 850.000 employees and a network of 10.000 partners and over 350.000 professionals/experts in Microsoft technologies. Recently, Microsoft Italia launched a 5-year investment plan for Italy with a value of 1.5 billion US dollars, confirming its commitment to supporting innovation and growth in Italy, and announcing its intention to launch the first Regione Data Center of Microsoft Italy in Milan. Capitalising on and extending the ecosystem project titled “Ambizione Italia” launched in 2018, the new investment plan, titled “Ambizione Italia hashtag DigitalRestart” will create new opportunities to allow people and businesses to grow  and support economic development. Microsoft will allow businesses to access Cloud services locally and thanks to its renewed partnership with Poste Italiane (the Italian postal service) it will offer digital training programmes and support for smart working during the restarting phase, offering them access to “AI hub” and programmes designed specifically for PMI. It will also support the country by launching an Alliance for Sustainability to create an Open Innovation ecosystem on green topics.

How did Microsoft deal with the crisis?

Our unique role as a supplier of platforms and tools allows us to create an ecosystem of partners and allows organisations of all sizes to develop digital capabilities necessary to face these challenges; no company would have been able to manage such a dramatic situation on its own… On the other hand, while the world was reacting to this crisis that was exploding, our thoughts were with the individuals who were hit by this and the professionals and doctors who were working to help those in greatest need. In this spirit, at Microsoft we guaranteed our employees’ safety and immediately activated to promote the health and wellbeing of the communities we work in and to offer technology, suggestions and resources to our clients to help them to do their work as best as possible remotely. Specifically, we made certain solutions available for free to allow people to collaborate and share remotely and, with the support of our partners, we offered our skills and consultancy to help businesses to embrace these new models. In terms of Education,  we trained over 100.000 in the use of different types of digital learning tools, reaching over 1 million students who were able to continue learning through the use of these technological solutions. Over 70% of Italian universities embraced our Team product to continue to stay in contact with students. With regard to health, we launched a number of programmes: these included the Healthcare Bot to help users better self-evaluate symptoms and various research projects.

What type of resources were needed, and which did you find at Microsoft?

The most important resource was without a doubt our colleagues’ strength, who, with a strong sense of responsibility and empathy faced up to a very difficult moment, supporting each other and adding value to our ecosystem. There were also many initiatives to help those in need; we increased capacity in our data centres to better support clients and partners in key sectors, such as healthcare and education. We also created ad hoc solutions for hospitals to be able to quickly visualize and add data regarding ventilators, staff, ongoing patient discharge procedures and Covid-19 patients, a digital display dashboard for the Italian Civil Protection Agency, which could be shared with and used by the entire population and which reported aggregate data for national cases divided by region and city, as well as solutions for dealing with crises and contagion within the company. Furthermore, as we moved into phase 2, we made available solutions for anonymously guaranteeing distancing between employees within the company, as well as, with the same aim, creating a solution for reserving desks upon the employees’ return to our offices.

What values were already present in the company and which emerged in this moment of need?

Microsoft’s strength are most certainly the people who work for the company, the employees all over the world who work every day to gain our clients’ trust and to help them to be successful. Every employee embraced our mission during these months and virtual teams were created to help businesses, teachers and non-profit organisations to use digital tools to manage the crisis and the recovery that followed it. One area we’re particularly proud of regards diversity and inclusion - which continue to be a fundamental priority for Microsoft - and which saw clients, partners and associations collaborate to make the country more accessible during the pandemic.  We also organised a digital Hackathon, asking all developers and anyone else interested to design innovative solutions that would resolve problems relating to disability. There were incredibly interesting projects and the winner created an application that makes it possible to instantaneously read sign language during a video call. This demonstrates how barriers can be torn down with technology and artificial intelligence.

What role have your colleague played in this? 

Our colleagues were at the forefront of activities that ranged from providing support to schools (to enable them to continue with lessons) to universities (which, through Teams, were able to move forward with their planned activities), to churches and non-profit organisations. We worked with Parks and with Milano Pride, supporting them in holding some of their meetings (through a Teams communication and collaboration platform). We organised ourselves like a real community, with each of us contributing what was needed in order to support each component so that they could keep going with their business, their campaign to support those in need, and their fight for gender equality.

How did your clients and suppliers react to the emergency?

During the pandemic, we worked with our partners to continue to support businesses in making the best of the digital world in order to manage the emergency and plan for restarting. Our clients distinguished themselves by accomplishing incredible digital transformations, which saw Microsoft Cloud and collaboration technologies to enable smart working adopted in record times. At the same time, our partners, who share the company culture and who were already in a position to work remotely, did great work in supporting clients, given the initial difficulties experienced due to distance. This is the ecosystem that we were able to create, believing both that it is possible to include and transform with technology, and believing in resilience in the face of critical issues that are not (and will never be) entirely predictable.

How important was it to innovate in order to be able to manage this crisis?

The world made a leap forward in the space of two weeks, in terms of digital transformation, that usually takes two years. And digital solutions demonstrated that they were efficient tools for managing this emergency and planning to relaunch afterwards. Technological solutions enabled businesses and institutions to remain operational and enabled students to continue their studies. It is true that our country was behind in terms of innovation, which certainly resulted in some being left behind, in spite of the improvements that were made. I hope that the lessons learned during this period will allow our country to rethink the strategic role of the digital dimension for both the growth of our businesses and to create a more inclusive country.

What do you think people will take from this experience?

Our hope is that everything that individuals, organisations and institutions had to deal with (and are still dealing with) has created a watershed moment, a turning point that will lead us toward a new and more efficient way of working, studying, of viewing transformation ,and to valuing inclusion. I also hope that it leaves us with a greater awareness of the fact that, with the right tools and appropriate culture, it is possible to manage any emergency.

What about tomorrow?

We will continue to work side by side with our clients to help them build their own digital capacities and will continue to innovate the cloud to help our clients to grow, we will continue to invest in diversity and inclusion to create a better and more sustainable world.

By the Editorial staff

So Eugenio, what were you like when you were younger? How were you educated? 

I’m first generation Canadian and I had a wonderful childhood, as I was really closed to my parents and to my grandmother. My family had very strong values. My parents moved from Italy to Canada in 1958; I was born there in 1970. I’m the only boy after two sisters, so as the youngest one, I was always a bit energetic and still am today! I learned to enjoy humour even when I experience opportunities as I tend to look at both sides and try to find the best solution. People said I was already a mediator when I was 10, especially my grandma, who believed that it’s important to have a voice – “if you have something to say just say it… but in a positive way.” This is how I was raised. My parents had their own business importing and exporting food, so we were always exposed to many different cultures and people. Particularly, my mother was very unbiased: I remember I told her I was gay when I was 14 and she was very open-minded. It came a time when they had business issues and they went through all that staying very positive: this made me the person today who never gives up. 

What did you want to be when you grew up? 

I dreamed of being a dentist. I was fascinated by braces (I had them) and I thought it was a wonderful profession. But things run differently… In Canada you can’t officially get a job until you are 15 but I wanted to work, so my father signed a document and therefore, at 14 (while in school) I started to work at McDonalds. I loved it! It was really fun and I became a manager at 16 and I was running the restaurant by the age of 17. There, I discovered I really enjoyed hospitality so decided to study hospitality and tourism… the rest is history.

So what did you study?

I did all my education and studies in the Canadian school system from hospitality, tourism, employment laws and human rights. Employee experience and their human rights is very important to me.

Which of your post-graduate jobs most influenced the person that you are today and why? 

I grew up in hotels, starting as a room cleaner to my current role. I loved that first job and team. Being part of housekeeping, I was the only boy at age 18, and the other women were 40-60 years old and treated me like I was their son. This truly influenced me and although I did this role for 6 months, it was the best I’d ever had to date. I watched those incredible women who had 20 minutes to clean every detail in a room over and over again yet they smiled and took care of each other. It was very inspiring me to see that we needed to have such people working with us and give them a great environment to work in. After housekeeping, I worked in various jobs from the restaurant, front office, engineering and even finance. I had become a manager along the way, but I wanted Human Resources so I took a step down to get in. I started as a coordinator as I knew it was important to get on the right path and I was glad I did. Just after one week in HR I knew I found what I wanted to do in life. 

What was your first role in Dorchester Collection (DC) and what expectations did you have when you started here? 

I arrived in DC in 2011, as Vice President People and Organisational Development and became Chief People and Culture Officer in 2017. Working with people and seeing their careers develop is such a beautiful thing. HR’s job is not to give someone a “job”; this is part of it, but not our purpose. Our purpose is to give people an ability to live: giving someone a job means that they can live, eat, travel, have a family, have a boyfriend or a girlfriend… whatever they want. If we think of our role like this, it then provides true meaning to what we do. Our role is not about the payroll, the benefits, the hiring, the firing or planning a party. These tasks support our true purpose. 

How have you seen the company change in the last years? 

As we are a small Company, we soon realized we have much more opportunity to talk and listen to people and get to know them, and this is a true competitive advantage for us. Early on, we brought together both employee and guest engagement to ensure we brought both factors together on our journey going from strength to strength. We started this journey 8 years ago with the basics, keeping in mind growth, diversity, inclusion and our top 3 global drivers: meaningful work, purpose and inclusivity. Originally, our ambition was quite simple: a formula that stated “attraction + development x engagement = innovation” and it worked for our first 5 years. Then, the world changed so we had to change. We created People & Culture, elevating its importance in our business covering all aspects of Human Resources, Learning and Development, Guest Engagement, Employee Engagement, Innovation, Corporate Responsibility and Diversity/Inclusion. We moved away from being administrators to be truly operational. We became part of the business and achieved some amazing things. Then the world continued to change and we changed with it; even during our crisis, we still maintained all our employees and our employment engagement levels went up. We are very proud of our journey. We even opened an external training academy in London and sell and subsequently help train other companies in leadership and customer service. So, now, HR makes money too!

What are your best and worst characteristics?

There was a colleague in Beverly Hills Hotel who once called me “The Hurricane” because “so much was changing yet you’re in the middle and are so calm… it’s crazy”! I’m a risk taker and I’m not afraid of the unknown, as I like change and seeing people develop. On the other side I have to work on patience to see results and patience for people who don’t want to get on board too… 

What are the issues that need to be resolved today and what positive changes does the near future bring? How would you like to effect change?

Better education – Better communication. At DC we stay aligned to our values; we update but don’t change them. The hospitality industry is really affected by political situations, religion, wars etc. so we constantly have to adapt. However, even during our crisis, we never changed who we are. When there is a crisis in business, the first thing people normally do is cut – cut labour, cut product, cut service… DC did complete the opposite. We sustain and maintain. This is part of our culture and We Care philosophy. 

Inclusion and diversity: avoiding clichés and advertising buzz words, why does it make sense for a great Collection to use inclusion to drive innovation in 2020?

Inclusion shouldn’t be a ‘program’; it should be part of your culture. In our hotels, we have a multicultural workforce and our DNA is very diverse. Our oldest employee is 72 and our youngest 14. Gender, sexual orientation, disability, religions, ethnicity etc. are all represented in our company. It’s interesting when companies say “now we will look at diversity” because they should have always been doing that. It’s common sense. Moreover, often people forget the importance of inclusion and education. We may hire someone, for the first time, who is blind, which means we need to educate ourselves and others on what this means and how do we make it part of our culture. It’s about creating a safe and respectful environment for all. 

Where do you see yourself in five years? Where do you see DC in five years? 

I’m in a job that I love and before People and Culture, I worked in 18 different jobs! I see myself continuing doing just that and being more involved in operations. DC is a wonderful Company, who wants to stay small, yet grow in selected cities. We want to continue to deliver on our brand promises. I’m hopeful in the next few years that things will become much clearer for us all and truth will prevail. I want to live in a world where education is available to everyone. One thing I’ve learned from my good friend, Fabrice Houdart, OUT Leadership, formerly with the UN, is that change will be led by the private sector. This is our responsibility to create environments where human rights are respected and everyone has a voice. We have a great obligation to do the right thing, as education doesn’t stop when you begin work.