Appunti del direttore

2021-11-27 Zenia Simonella

Neurodiversity Rhymes with Flexibility: The Case of IBM

Persons with disabilities are still victims of certain stereotypes that hinder their full integration into the labor market. In evaluating a person with a disability, attention is often focused on what they cannot do, rather than what they know how to do, or could do. The case of IBM in regard to neurodiversity shows how it is possible to construct projects that can include all workers. We discussed the issue with Consuelo Battistelli, Diversity Engagement Partner for IBM Italy. December 3 is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. For the occasion we have decided to deal with ...

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2021-11-22 Zenia Simonella

Violence Against Women Is Not Only Physical

Economic violence against women occurs through a series of behaviors that deprive the victim of her independence: financial isolation, control and absence of income sharing, loss of autonomy and access to family resources, dispossession and economic abuse. It is carried out with greater force when women don't work or have an extremely fragile position in the labor market. With a circular letter of November 8, 2021, the Italian social security institute INPS illustrated the rules on the "Freedom Income," launching the possibility for women residing in our country to immediately request the ...

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2021-11-16 Stefano Basaglia

The Silence of Business on LGBTQ+ Issues

The main business associations said and did absolutely nothing before, during, and after the discussion on the Zan bill. For these associations, LGBTQ+ rights do not exist. At the level of single companies, we have to distinguish between a small group of "enlightened" companies and a large majority of others that resist addressing diversity and LGBTQ+ issues. The low level of interest on the part of Italian businesses and their management on the themes of diversity and LGBTQ+ inclusion stands out even more when compared to what is happening in the United States, where the activism of CEOs, even ...

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2021-10-21 Simona Cuomo

The "New Law" on Pay Parity? A March More Than 40 Years Long

The extension of the obligation to draw up a report on employment and pay of male and female personnel to companies with 50 or more employees – already approved by the Chamber of Deputies and now before the Senate – revives principles already enacted by the Italian legal system in 1977 and reaffirmed 20 years later by the Equal Opportunity Code. This additional specification seems to allude to the fact that, until now, this obligation has been fulfilled only formally and episodically. "Hi Mom, do you know that the law on pay parity has been approved? You must be happy…". "No, my dear. ...

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2021-10-11 Zenia Simonella

When Discrimination Comes from an Algorithm

Companies are increasingly trusting algorithms to accelerate their personnel selection processes. However, the scarce attention paid to the issue of inclusion in the use of these tools can lead to true cases of discriminatory practices in regard to male and female workers with different ethnic origins, abilities/disabilities, gender identities, and so on; a risk companies need to be aware of. A short time ago, the website of the magazine Internazionale published an interesting video entitled "When Artificial Intelligence Decides Whom To Hire."[1] The video shows that the absence of diversity ...

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2021-09-20 Simona Cuomo

The Post-Emergency Return to Work: Can We Speak of Smart Working?

The Covid-19 emergency has accelerated the transition towards an organization of work based on digital technologies, that in turn, has allowed millions of people to work remotely. This mass experience is often generically classified as smart working,[1] generating confusion and distortions on this conception of work and how methods of return to work can be constructed once the emergency phase is over (that was recently extended until December 31, 2021). On this issue, the debate is focusing on the percentage of workers who can physically return to work in order to identify, in relation to the ...

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2021-09-02 Simona Cuomo

Polo Circolabile: Beyond Protected Job Placement

A project launched by Loro Piana has made available a space for artisanal work, integrated into the company, in which workers with disabilities perform activities with fabrics and finished products that were previously done outside of the company. The project greatly enhances professional skills, and in the near future could be transformed from a Social Hub in which reverse-mentoring activities take place, into a true organizational division with its own financial accounts and a dedicated budget. The employment rate for persons with disabilities in the OECD is 44% (versus 75% of people without ...

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2021-07-29 Zenia Simonella

A Workplace Without Harassment

As has already taken place on a social level in the wake of #MeToo and #WeTogether, the action to combat any form of violence or harassment in the business world must also shift from the individual to the collective level, adopting policies able to involve various levels of organizations. As demonstrated by various studies, in aggressive workplaces there is an increase of absenteeism, a fall in motivation, a reduction of productivity, the deterioration of relationships between workers, an increase of turnover, and lower perceived levels of empowering leadership and equity. This year, Italy ...

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2021-07-15 Simona Cuomo, Zenia Simonella

"Diversity and Inclusion" Are Not (Yet) the Business of the BoD

According to the results of a study conducted by the Diversity, Inclusion and Smart Working Observatory of the SDA Bocconi, ten years after the introduction of the "Golfo-Mosca" law, the theme of "diversity and inclusion" has not yet reached the proper level of attention in Boards of Directors. As a consequence, it does not seem that a transmission belt has been created between the BoD and the organization that could have more forcefully promoted gender parity at all organizational levels. With the introduction of Law 120/2011, known as the "Golfo-Mosca" law, listed and public companies were ...

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2021-07-02 Stefano Basaglia

Pride Always and Everywhere: Some Post-LGBTQI+ Pride Reflections

LGBTQI+ rights are increasingly becoming a political and geopolitical question. The companies that have promoted initiatives in support of pride month in recent days cannot however limit themselves to cosmetic initiatives in the countries where they are present, but must commit to adopting concrete diversity management measures. In Italy, despite the recent echo in the media, only 5.1% of total companies have done so. The end of the month of June marks the conclusion of a series of initiatives and events dedicated to LGBTQI+ pride organized by associations and businesses. Starting in 2016 in ...

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