THE INTERVIEW
Serena's Voice
Project Manager of an EPC contract for the construction of the new thermoelectric power plant in Ostiglia
Serena, your career path could be considered a symbol of personal and professional growth. Tell us about the significant steps of your evolution from language assistant to PM.
I started working at Demont as an order management assistant (especially in language brokerage) for the colleagues who, at that time, were dealing with orders from abroad.
During the first years, I was responsible for keeping contacts with foreign customers and suppliers; then, as I gained more and more experience, thanks also to the availability of my colleagues in teaching me features not limited to my path of origin, I began to support Project Managers in other activities. Thus, I had the opportunity to gain very different experiences from my initial training.
Over the years, all of this has allowed me to become PM and manage orders of various sizes autonomously until today, with the task of following a very important project: the construction of the new thermal power plant in Ostiglia.
In a field of work like yours, we imagine that most of your colleagues are men. How do you experience this and how do your colleagues interact with you?
Since I have always followed projects in foreign countries, where the culture of women’s emancipation in the world of work developed much earlier than in Italy, there have been very few situations where, externally, a management role occupied by a woman has not been trusted.
In the first years I worked here, almost every position in the order management was occupied by men, but I could always relate to them without any limits. Lately, even thanks to the entry of new male generations into the working environment, I have definitely noticed a change in the colleagues’ mentality and culture in considering much more common having women with equal positions within the company.
In addition to your undisputed abilities, do you think that the awareness of gender equality that has occurred especially in recent years and the fact of working in a company like Demont, that aims also to protect diversities, have been valuable allies for your growth?
Demont, especially in recent years, has adopted policies and actions aimed at making clear improvements in the valorization of female figures within the workplace. It has been able to support the growth of female employees at the professional level, giving them the opportunity to occupy positions that were initially much more masculine. This has helped me and all my colleagues too.
Previously, I worked in other companies, smaller for size and structure and hardly comparable to Demont: at that time (19 years have passed) the situation was very different from today, but I have to say that fortunately no one has ever disrespected me as a woman or young girl.
By the way, Demont has the possibility and, above all, the will to pursue such policies: this is probably the main difference from other firms.
Does the role of PM that you cover in Demont allow you to reconcile your work-life balance?
The project I am following is complex, it requires time, commitment and constancy, but I have the autonomy to manage my working days, with a greater work-life balance as a result.
In general: what do you think has already been achieved on the question of gender equality and what are, instead, the aspects that still need to be worked on?
Currently, there are already several women who occupy top positions within companies. I think the recently obtained results are to be considered good, with a much stronger presence of female figures who cover roles of responsibility than before. The hope is to continue in this direction, ensuring equality in the typical male roles and eliminating those few stereotypes that still emerge today, even if unintentionally.