Swiss Economic Forum: Simona Scarpaleggia receives honorary award

Simona Scarpaleggia came to her life’s work at the beginning of her professional life. In her first job as head of union relations at Milan-based conglomerate Montedison, the Italian had ended up in a male environment and was often the only woman in the room. Important meetings were often scheduled at or after 6 p.m. “If you didn’t take part, you were nobody,” Scarpaleggia recalls. She immediately noticed that women’s professional skills were less valued. Women would never have been considered “high potential”, at best as good performers. Scarpaleggia worked, saw and perceived.

“In the beginning I didn’t have much of a choice,” she says today. In the first five years she played by the rules of the others. “But when I took responsibility myself, I changed the rules.” And with great success. For her commitment, Simona Scarpaleggia received this year’s honorary award for women at the Swiss Economic Forum.

A complete reversal in mindset

The opportunity to move the posts on the field came first at consumer goods group Sara Lee and then at Ikea. Scarpaleggia did not let them pass unused. In 2000 she joined Ikea Switzerland as a human resources manager, went through various functions and positions and became managing director in 2010. Equal pay and a 50 percent share of women in management are among their most important achievements.

From 2012, the CEO introduced 80 percent and sometimes also 60 percent work rates for executives. “It was a revolution.” Previously, the general perception was that part-time workers were not really committed. «With the introduction of part-time management, we have changed perceptions. There was a complete reversal in mindset.”

Scarpaleggia remembers a pregnant employee who felt she had to quit her job. As the boss, she made it clear to the employee that she would also be valued as a mother at Ikea and that she would have prospects. During the second pregnancy, the employee no longer questioned her professional future; instead, she was promoted upon her return. “She’s really very good, it would have been a shame to lose her,” adds Scarpaleggia.

Scarpaleggia counts memories like these among her personal highlights. You can feel that she likes it all the more “doing good things for people and the company” when one doesn’t come at the expense of the other, but both inspire each other.

Her attitude of questioning outdated perspectives and not dismissing the mothers’ ambitions can be felt again and again. It is therefore important to Scarpaleggia to also ask candidates for part-time positions about their career aspirations and not simply assume that these are passé.

Incidentally, it was not only women who accepted the offer of part-time management at Ikea, but also a surprising number of men. According to the former Ikea boss, the reason was often that this allowed her partners to invest more time in their own careers.

Today, the former Ikea Switzerland boss is convinced that part-time (with an 80 or 60 percent workload) can be set up at any management level. “I think so because I know it,” says the woman who believes in it.

Anger at wasted potential

Scarpaleggia likes to combine her mission for women with economic logic. For them, there is no doubt that there is economic value in not discriminating against women, either knowingly or unknowingly. It is a loss for organizations to do without qualified women. And it is a loss for society, she insists, as investments in education and training are lost.

The manager is annoyed that there are many very qualified women in Switzerland who work mini-jobs of 20 or 30 percent. After all, the taxpayers would also have financed the training. For this reason too, the untapped potential of women is wasted.

However, Scarpaleggia does not place the blame for this on lazy women. Instead, in line with a slightly left-wing mainstream, she calls for cheaper and more comprehensive childcare options, lunchtime supervision in schools and a tax system without negative incentives for dual earners. “Going to work shouldn’t be that complicated.”

Scarpaleggia continues her mission for an inclusive working world with equal gender equality today as a member of the board of directors of the consulting firm Edge, which she joined in 2020 after a brief stint at the global organization of Ikea.

Edge certifies companies with regard to the implementation of gender equality and a generally inclusive orientation. Various components for gender equality are measured. These include representation, i.e. the proportion of women or men in a company or at the various hierarchical levels, equal pay and inclusion measures.

Overall, according to Scarpaleggia, the components give a good picture and you can see where a company stands. She is not just concerned with the certificate as the status quo, but with the ambition of companies to actually achieve equality. It’s a process, and the behavior behind it becomes the norm as the process progresses, Edge’s board of directors said. These include, for example, policies that provide for a balanced selection of candidates for hiring and promotion. However, the fact that every second position is ultimately given to a woman is not one of them.

The current state is the basis on which the company can set goals and measure progress. Scarpaleggia vehemently defends itself against the accusation of being too “woke” with this agenda. “I would like to emphasize that these measures are not an alternative to business success, on the contrary.” And: “I am convinced that diversity is a real lever for business.” One reason for this is that companies are recruiting from a larger pool; otherwise, many talents are bound to be overlooked.

Connecting talents from five generations

Scarpaleggia sees generation management as an important management task in the coming years. For the first time, five clearly different generations are working in the company: the veterans, the baby boomers and generations X, Y and Z.

Scarpaleggia sees a lot of potential in considering the respective phase of life of the employees. Many young people are very flexible and willing to invest a lot. Employees in the family phase, on the other hand, have more experience but are less flexible in terms of time. It will then become more flexible again with the “empty nesters”, whose children have already flown out. Each generation brings different qualities, says Scarpaleggia. Combining these in a good way pays off for a company.

She advises young people not to stay anywhere if the environment is not right. “Then you have to look for something else.” Looking back on her own situation, the mother of three, who now has grown children, realizes that it would have been easier for her in a different environment at the beginning of her career. “But I fought for the possibilities,” she says, who obviously doesn’t just accept what she finds.