Article 3
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 ...
"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 ...
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 ...
Privilege is Invisible to Those Who Have It
Too often, those who have (gender) privileges still do not recognize the economic and social significance of their condition. This lack of awareness produces effects of normalization of certain attitudes – such as insults, denigration, or a certain culture of rape – that should be publicly denounced. Three recent cases in the news demonstrate that reflecting on the nature of one’s privilege is the first step necessary to question it. Three episodes regarding gender discrimination have dominated the news in the past two months. The episodes are apparently unconnected, including due to ...
The Bill Against Homotransphobia: What Side Are Businesses On?
After 24 years, the Italian Senate is finally set to consider a bill against homotransphobia that would allow our country to approach France, Spain, and Germany in terms of the protection of the LGBTQI+ population. A favorable legislative environment would also favor businesses, making inclusion easier in their organizations. However, there has not yet been a common public stance or statement made by entrepreneurs, managers, or their associations. May 17 is the International Day against Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia. The idea for the celebration came to Louis-Georges Tin, ...
Stories of Inclusion: The Next Project, Beyond the Borders of Business
More and more companies are investing in Corporate Social Responsibility-CSR projects to make a contribution to local communities in terms of employment and social wellbeing. Maria Cristina Alfieri, the current Director of the Next Association, talked to us about how the project she leads has already allowed many people in fragile conditions to receive training and find jobs. According to the latest report from the Socialis Observatory, the number of companies that invest in Corporate Social Responsibility-CSR projects is growing: from 44 companies in 2000 to 92 in 2019 (the sample was made ...
Smart Working, Remote Working, and South Working: Let’s Sort Things Out
We are in a historical moment in which some people can choose where to live and work. Smart working, that should not be confused with the extensive forced remote working used during the pandemic, is in fact based on the possibility for the worker to choose where and when to work, in the absence of rigid forms of control. This solution, in the absence of spatial constraints, could co-exist with “south working” and the decision by many workers to move from cities to areas of Italy considered to be the periphery (towns in the mountains, the countryside, small villages, etc.), modifying the geography ...
Against Discrimination, In Favor of Differences
From the recent campaign by Coop supermarkets to promote gender equality and combat disparities, to the polemics on gender in the language of professions triggered by Beatrice Venezi on the stage during the Sanremo Music Festival: what is missing is attention to not neutralizing differences in the name of equality. On the occasion of International Women's Day, we want to discuss two cases: the campaign by the Coop supermarket chain on gender equality, and the issue of gender nouns in professions raised by Beatrice Venezi during the 71st Sanremo Music Festival. Let's start with Coop, one of the ...
Redefining the Organization of Work Post-Covid: the Experience of illimity
Marco Russomando tells us how illimity, the bank of which he is the HR director, has managed the sense of isolation, uncertainty, and the management problems regarding employees during the months of the pandemic: from the strengthening of internal communication, to the creation of courses to strengthen relational skills, to the organization of an awareness campaign to reduce the stress generated by hyperconnectedness and the loss of sociality, there are many activities that have provided an enhanced sense of community and belonging. Starting with this experience, in July 2020 a new work model ...
Being Welcomed InJail: Stories of Inclusion
Silvia Polleri, entrepreneur and founder of the Catering ABC - La Sapienza in Tavola cooperative and the InGalera restaurant, speaks of her experience in the Bollate jail and the importance of education and training for reintegration of prisoners into society. Let us start with your history. You are an entrepreneur, with a background in early childhood education. How did you come to work in and for the Bollate jail? For over two decades, I worked as an educator in a nursery school in the hinterland of Milan, an area with large pockets of decay. In that period, together with my husband who is ...