Article 3
Equality It Shall Be, but on All Fronts
A sensation has been caused by the fine imposed on the City of Paris for not having respected gender parity in 2018 in the appointment of top civil service positions (directors and deputy directors): the city appointed 11 women (69 percent) and 5 men (31 percent). These appointments violate a regulation of the French Civil Service Ministry from 2013, based on which the same gender cannot exceed 60 percent of personnel. The regulation was then amended starting in 2019: organizations can exceed that limit, but only if it doesn’t cause an overall imbalance between genders. As regards top positions, ...
“We the people”: An Inclusive Leadership Perspective
The speeches of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have given us an image of a nation attentive to diversity, and thus working to create the conditions that allow all people to live and work expressing themselves and their abilities to the fullest. In this year that is so difficult for everyone, the recent presidential election in the United States could represent a glimmer of light and hope. The union between President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, apart from their political affiliation, represents a symbol of inclusion and sharing. First of all, the iconic ...
Waiting for ESG(D)
The pressure from institutional investors on Boards of Directors in regard to ESG themes (Environmental, Social, Governance) is growing. The construction of sustainable business models increasingly shapes the choices of investors, to the point that they may decide not to invest in companies that dedicate little attention to the subject. Thus, the construction of sustainability reports and the reporting of non-financial information are not aspects of mere compliance, but become tools for company policy. In the pages of some international newspapers, it has been argued that the acronym ESG should ...
Gender Balance in the Time of the Pandemic
The debate on the asymmetric effects of the Covid-19 pandemic is becoming increasingly fervent and concrete. The statistics finding that the victims of the virus are principally older men with pre-existing conditions has fed the conviction that women are less affected, which isn’t entirely true. In reality, the data must always be interpreted in light of specific situations, otherwise the interpretation can be misleading. The fact is that Covid-19 has not only affected women harshly, directly influencing their health, but has also had many indirect consequences. According to the latest UN Women ...
25 Years After the Beijing Conference: Taking Stock
We will soon be celebrating 25 years since the Beijing Conference (September 4-5, 1995), the fourth global conference[1] convened by the United Nations on the issue of gender equality. On that occasion, the concept of gender became central for the first time, the principles of empowerment and mainstreaming were adopted, and a platform was defined with strategic goals in 12 areas considered critical.[2] The UN recently published the report Gender Equality. Women’s Rights in Review 25 Years After Beijing,[3] where it laid out the steps taken and those still to be taken, especially in terms of ...
What this Month of LGBT Pride Leaves Us with
June is Pride Month for the global LGBT community. This year, due to the Covid-19 emergency, pride marches were replaced by online events around the world. These events represent the occasion to take stock of the state of LGBT citizens and workers' rights, and from the standpoint of the management of diversity in organizations, to understand how businesses and public agencies have acted on this front. We already presented a general evaluation here in E&MPlus on the occasion of the International Day Against Homophobia (held every year on May 17)[1]. For Pride Month, it seems interesting to examine ...
Work at Home or Work in the Office? Both, Thanks
We have repeatedly expressed our opinion on the issue of smart working during the period of quarantine.[1] We return to the issue because in recent days the public debate has been particularly lively due to comments made by the labor law expert Pietro Ichino and the Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala.[2] We asked Chiara Bisconti, the Councilor for wellbeing, quality of life, sports and leisure, green areas, animal protection, and human resources of the City of Milan from 2011 to 2016, a promoter and expert in smart working practices, for her opinion on this debate. What is your opinion regarding ...
Trust as the Basis of Smart Working
The relationship between businesses and workers must increasingly be based on trust. Leaders will have to abandon their own management style, shifting to one that favors collaboration, active engagement, autonomy, and individual responsibility in reaching goals. In this context, communication becomes central to avoid losing contact with employees working remotely, and creating a situation of isolation. "In addition to relaxing the pressure for balancing life and work, smart working favors the recognition of trust on the part of the employer, that is, the awareness of making an investment in people, ...
The Long Road of LGBT Rights
The International Day against Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia has been recognized every May 17 since 2004, to commemorate the 1990 decision by the World Health Organization to remove homosexuality from the list of mental disorders. This anniversary, together with that of June 28 that recalls the Stonewall revolt and the season of pride days, is also the opportunity to take stock of the rights of citizens and LGBT workers in various countries. What is the situation in Italy? With respect to the analyses we conducted in 2010[1] and 2015,[2] the situation has improved; from the ...
Please, Let's Not Call It “Smart Working”
It's already clear. What we are experiencing is not "smart working," as promoted by its supporters and then designed by lawmakers in the law of 2017.[1] We are adopting an "extreme" mode of work (not voluntary, from home, without any spatial-temporal flexibility) that has led to the emergence, and amplification, of the possible risks related to its adoption. First: isolation - we must remember - is not the same for everyone, since some categories of workers suffer more than others ("Isolation [is] a dimension that has a very different impact on different people: I'm thinking of my colleagues with ...