Topic of the Edition

Eva Hambach; President of the European Volunteer Centre (CEV - Centre européen du volontariat), Director of the “Vlaams Steunpunt Vrijwilligerswerk” and President of the Belgian High Council for Volunteering

PWI – Eva, would you like to introduce CEV to the PWI Magazine readership?
What is the mission, scope and organization/structure? Which are the CEV member organisations? Who are the CEV ambassadors and supporters?

The European Volunteer Centre, CEV (from the French “Centre européen du volontariat”) was created in 1992 – actually it is our 20th anniversary this year - by a few countries like the UK, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, France and Spain, after a meeting in Lucca (Italy). CEV is a European network of volunteer organisations/centres/entities in the European Union mainly, but now we accept also volunteer associations outside of the European Union.

We have links with IAVE (The International Association for Volunteer Effort), a global network of volunteers, volunteer organisations, national representatives and volunteer centres, with members in over 70 countries in all world regions. A difference between CEV and IAVE is that the latter’s members can also be individuals and that we focus mainly on Europe.

The main purpose of CEV is cooperating, exchanging knowledge, experiences and information, but also strengthening the voice of the volunteering sector in the member states and at European level. For example we share the European policies to our members to make sure they can apply them at national level.

Referring to CEV organisation we have two assembles a year:

• A General Assembly which is restricted to members only that is always linked to our CEV Conference, which is also open to external participants.
  
• The next conference, the “Autum 2012 CEV Symposium”, will be held in Cascais (Portugal) on the 19th-20th October 2012. The theme of this year’s symposium will be <<We’re in this together? Volunteering and age friendly societies>>, because the Symposium will tackle the issue of volunteering in the context of the “European Year of Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations 2012”. Each year the conference is hosted by two different members states, one hosts the spring GA and Conference, another hosts the autumn GA and conference.
  

We have created the “ambassadors”, established out of the original idea to involve personalities from sport, art, culture, and politics in each country to support our cause and our organisation. Do you know that Elton John was the first CEV nominated ambassador?
Supporters or partners are companies at country or European level, governments, foundations and institutions that support us economically and in our activities, any stakeholder that is willing to support CEV and its mission.
Let me first clarify, Alessandra, that CEV includes any type of volunteering associations, cross-sector bodies independently from the volunteer organisation size. CEV has indeed a broad scope!

Helene de Rengervé Head of the Brussels Office of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT)

PWI – Premise - Hélène, I used to be an activist at Amnesty International for many years and I led campaigns against torture. I am very sensitive to this crime, therefore I thank you for helping torture victims recover and be able to hope again.

Hélène, please introduce IRCT (International Rehabilitation Council for Torture) to us, their mission, organisation and main activities?

IRCT (International Rehabilitation Council for Torture) is an umbrella organisation of 143 rehabilitation centres (members) in more than 70 countries around the world representing an international movement against torture and for victims of torture. These centres provide primarily medical, psychological care and sometimes also legal and social support to a hundred thousands of torture survivors each year.

Alessandra, we are supporting our member centres in many regions but particularly these days, in the Great lakes and in Libya. I would also like to highlight the two campaigns illustrated below (2).

Join IRCT for a World without Torture IRCT has created the social media campaign World Without Torture (3) to enable citizens around the world to engage directly in combating torture and supporting torture victims. Personal stories from torture victims, global torture fighters and those who have been touched by torture will be featured on Facebook, Twitter and on our blog, as will factual information on torture. You can help realise the dream of a World Without Torture by getting engaged and helping us spread the word.

International Day        Thank you for commemorating the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (4)

Since my childhood I have as always fought unfairness, Alessandra, I was born in the republic of Central Africa where my parents lived as lay missionaries, in a mission in the 60s and 70s.
I was young when I came back to Europe, but early in my professional life, I started working for a rehabilitation centre in Paris in charge of the fund raising and later on, together with Dr. Pierre Duterte (General Practitioner & psychotherapist) (5), I founded a centre for rehabilitation of torture victims, where I was heading the administration and advocacy activities.

When my husband moved to Brussels I succeeded in finding my current job at IRCT, which gives me a lot of stamina. In my role I lead three major area:

• Follow up the EU policies in the fields of anti-torture and asylum conditions
  
• Identify and deal with funding sources
  
• Support IRCT member centres in funding matters and in seeking opportunities.
  

Torture scares anyone, it freezes us into inaction. Despite the fact that torture is not natural, the main risk of accepting torture is a contextual factor.
Unfortunately people who live in countries where systematic torture exists, they get trapped in the loop as torture is an entire element of their reference context. In this case campaigns against torture, the prosecution of perpetrators and rehabilitation work are essential but not sufficient, it’s necessary to “repair” also the community and to help them reframe their context by experimenting the rule of law.

Let me make an example: some Sierra Leone child soldiers in a rehabilitation therapy in Paris were discussing the presidential election process in France and specifically the episode of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing failing to secure his re-election in 1981 and saying goodbye online. For these children it was unbelievable how d'Estaing accepted this conclusion and did not put in action any retaliation to recover his power. Their life experience was different from ours and it affected their theoretical understanding of the rule of Law. It took them to live it before they could truly integrate what we meant by this concept.

Marie-Anne Delahaut ,  Director of Research and head of the Information Unit at The Destree Institute, Head and Founder of Millennia2015, President of the Millennia2025 "Women and Innovation" Foundation, PUF

PWI – Marie-Anne, you have two hats, let’s start with the Destree Institute. Tell us, please, about its mission, activities and your role as Director of Research.

Our meeting for the interview happens at a happy time: The Destree Institute was founded exactly 75 years ago in Namur, on the 11th June 1938. It was named in honor of the Minister of Sciences and Arts Jules Destree, who died in 1936.
The Destree Institute is a European pluralist research centre, a non-governmental, non-profit body and a think-tank; as per our statute: <<Acknowledged as a general service for lifelong learning and research centre with an interuniversity calling, the Destree Institute works as a permanent think-tank …. It pursues its goals with the greatest attention to the European and global dimensions of these issues, along with their impact on society as a whole. The Destree Institute operates therefore as a sensor of change and generates innovative ideas for action, in favour of deliberative democracy and the common good of society>>.
The Institute is, organizationally speaking, structured in four dynamic units: history research, information society, citizenship and foresight.

I have been working for a long time at The Destree Institute with different missions: director of publications, network administrator and director of research, head of the Information Society. I have been active in the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society since 2003, with a special research about "Foresight and governance of the internet"(I).
As a student and at the beginning of my career, I was a member of the Liege section of The Destree Institute.
I began my career as a French Teacher, discovered computers in 1987 and decided to learn more about information and communication technologies: I became network administrator and I developed the independent network of The Destree Institute (DNS, mail and web servers, database). I had another job when I was asked to join the team and… I accepted.
As far as I know, NGOs are created by people who have good ideas and goals, willing to act as "not for profit" organizations to develop projects. People gather spontaneously around those ideas and projects, people are ready to work, to produce research for free, but the difficulty is to gather money to finance these projects, particularly in the developing countries. The necessity of financing them is a struggle, the situation is not easy and funding is an important challenge for many NGOs.
Millennia2015 - "Women actors of development for the global challenges" is a foresight research process (II) developed and organized by The Destree Institute.

We are lucky to benefit from the wise advice of Dr. Eleonora Barbieri Masini (III) member of Millennia2015 Steering Committee. She has summarized Millennia2015's role and spirit in a short text translated into 22 languages by our members (extract below):

"… Millennia2015's commitment is to highlight women's crucial role in society and their unrecognized capacity as builders of alternative futures, based on characteristics such as an innate future orientation, capacity to mediate and to network at all levels, capacity to be social actors, to face natural catastrophes and human conflicts by creating solidarity among women. Millennia 2015 offers, through the use of advanced means of communication, the great opportunity for women all over the world to be in contact and thus render their role visible to themselves and at world level. … All women involved in Millennia2015 constantly show their participation by sharing their work and activities. … Women, in Millennia2015, come from different backgrounds, different cultures and different involvements in their societies. They come together with the aim of bringing to the forefront their role in every society as well as of building alternative futures according to their different roles, but with a common awareness. … It recognizes the role of women as well as women's enhancement as social actors that can make a difference and not mostly as victims, as still often thought. Millennia2015 shows women themselves and the world, that they can bring change towards a more human and sharing community" (IV).

Well, Alessandra, let me try to illustrate the Millennia2015 key feature in a structured and concise manner:

• The mission of Millennia2015 is to examine the strategies that - while respecting cultural and linguistic diversity - will lead towards more equality and solidarity and that take into account the needs/ values of women by the year 2025.
• 
  
• The goal of Millennia2015 is to act for gender equality, women's empowerment and their full participation to political, economic and social decisions, in complementarity with men, in order to build fairer and more ethical futures at the horizon 2025.
  The collaborative objective of Millennia2015 is to federate, on its multilingual website all the stakeholders mobilized for women’s empowerment, making sure to include the poorest.
• 
  
• The key values of Millennia2015 are complementarity between women and men, respect for rights and diversity, promotion of the human capital and of digital solidarity in order to empower women.
  
• 
  
• The tasks of Millennia2015, detailed in the millennia charter, consist in:
  
• • Identifying the nature of current and future changes;
  • Promoting a culture of respect for diversity and peace;
  • Recognizing and acknowledging women's ability to be actors and not victims of social change, while developing a new worldview that can create a more sustainable life for all humankind; building networks of feminine competence.
    Basing on content analysis dealing with gender issues raised since 2008, the 37 variables (V) of Millennia2015 have been formulated and analyzed by the contributors. The elaboration of hypothesis will enable Millennia2015 to produce exploratory scenarios.
  
  
• The Millennia2015 process, built with its international partners, is structured through three phases regulated by three international conferences organized by The Destree Institute:
  

• •  2008 - "Information transfer": Exchange and transmission of data as well as of analysis already collected or built, used to inform the participants or to question the society.
  • 2012 - "Knowledge process": Interactive building processes, step-by-step, for an innovative knowledge and a strategy made of precise actions.
  • 2015 - "Intelligence platforms": Collective dynamics of real field experiences exchanges and recombination of tools realized in order to learn together as well as to launch innovative initiatives.
• 
  

The three conferences details are illustrated in the picture below:

PHASES	Information Transfer Phase	Knowledge Process Phase	Intelligence Platform Phase
THEME
ORGANISER	The Destree Institute	The UNESCO & The Destree Institute	UN Women & The Destree Institute
LOCATION	Convention Centre, Liege	UNESCO Headquarters, Paris	United Nations, New York
DATE	07-08 March 2008	3-4 December 2012	2015

The governance of Millennia2015 is ensured by its direction, it’s a team within The Destree Institute and the steering committee.
My current collaborator, Coumba Sylla, who is research fellow at The Destree Institute for Millennia2015, came first as a trainee of the Eurodyssee Programme (Program of the Assembly of European Regions with the Union wallonne des Entreprises). I am lucky to welcome trainees, from the European ERASMUS Programme or from Eurodyssee: for example Rebeca Pascual Prats has been working with us for five months, her input is excellent. Trainees, motivated by a project, always come with an interesting constructive "new view".

The functioning of Millennia2015 is based on the strength and interaction of its network, which is a valuable human capital consisting of:

•  Members
  
•  Contributors
  
•  Regional communities
  
•  International thematic working groups (IWG)
  

We now count about 821 contributors, 2.713 members and 9.128 contacts in 109 countries

I would like to highlight the core importance of the International thematic Working Groups (IWG), which have been developed around the 37  variables within the framework of the foresight exercise.

The first and most active international working groups (IWGs) - "Women and eHealth" and “Women and Telemedicine” - have been created by Véronique Thouvenot, international expert at the European Centre for Humanitarian Health (CESH) and Scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO).
Other thematic working groups are being formed: "Women in situations of conflict and of war" (around the United Nations Security Council Resolution UNSCR1325 - Women, Peace and Security), "Women in Science", "Women and Sport" and "Women and eSolidarity".

Millennia2015 counts also several active Regional Communities, such as Benin, Djibouti, Goma (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Guatemala, India, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nepal and Senegal. They have studied the variables, produce studies, reports and promote Millennia2015 in their country or region.

All people are welcome to join Millennia2015 it is easy and free to register online at: www.millennia2015.org/Community_Registration

    

Alessandra Zocca  Secretary-General at PWI Brussels, Editor-in-Chief of the PWI Magazine

Luc Simonet Independent Law Practice Professional, Founder of Ligue des optimistes du royaume de Belgique.

PWI –Luc Simonet, what is the story of you founding the "Ligue des Optimistes/Optimistenbond?   PWI – What does "optimism" mean to you?
Luc Simonet - We understand "optimism" not as an opposite to "pessimism" but as an opposite to "cynicism". An optimist is enthusiastic. The word "enthusiasm" comes from Greek and means "inspired by a divine afflatus". Being an optimist derives from a conscious decision and a discipline. 

    

At the end of February I went to Milan to represent PWI at the general assembly of EuropeanPWN. 

Alessandro Molinaroli, Senior Manager at ERIC SALMON & PARTNERS - Milan .

PWI – Mr. Molinaroli, how do you define "talent"?
Mr. Molinaroli – Talent is an opportunity that individuals may decide to exploit (or not) to further develop their contribution to the overall growth of themselves and the community they belong to (a company, in most cases, but also a local community). In this respect, a talented person is not “doomed” to use his or her talent but has the freedom to decide if and how to use his/her talent. For this very reason, I am convinced that pledges and personal initiative to use talent are strictly individual and can only be marginally influenced by the external environment.
All the literature about the war for talents has to be reviewed, in this light, as organizations can, in the best possible case, shape an environment which favors and promotes the individual use of talents. In other terms, you cannot oblige Lionel Messi (*) to be Messi, but FC Barcelona (football) did its best in order to help Messi use his talents at best.

Alessandro, is “leadership” a talent in your opinion?
Mr. Molinaroli - Leadership is a talent, as it envisages a higher than average ability to:

a) generate consensus around ideas brought about by an individual
b) to convince others to follow these ideas.

So, communication and “steering, guidance” are key to shaping and exerting effective leadership. Unfortunately, despite a flood of literature and education about leadership, business as well as politics seems to have less of this talent than in the past. The present Euro crisis is more than anything else a leadership crisis and the same concept can be applied to business, where mantras have been followed without any critical attitude.
Business leaders, like Enrico Mattei – the founder of ENI, the largest Italian company, or Steve Jobs are first and foremost those who go beyond evidence (a big oil & gas company in Italy, a country without natural resources?) and common thinking (icons as the easiest way to define ideas and concepts) That is why they last forever, while others quickly fade away from our memory.
Anyway, just a few leaders are more than enough: followers are, in this respect, at least as important as leadership. Too many leaders are an indication of entropy: what a real leader must do is to identify his “successors” and provide them with the support needed to lead the transition. Ideally, it is exactly what Jesus did with the Apostles in order to ensure the most effective transition from him to his “earthly” organisation, which is the Church.


Scouting for, attracting, selecting and recruiting the "right" and talented people is a crucial and vital process for a company, isn't it?
Why then - often - do companies assign these responsibilities to employees with a lower seniority position and age? Don't you think that ensuring the company has the optimum human resources to fulfill the vision should be a responsibility of senior management?
Mr. Molinaroli - Recruiting is clearly a job for senior managers, they are the only ones who have the maturity and the experience needed to assess people, without being influenced too much by appearance. Of course, junior assistants are useful in the preliminary screening, but should not be entrusted with the final decision.

Which are nowadays the key factors of recruitment?
Mr. Molinaroli - Key factor is industry and functional knowledge and “hands on” experience. Companies are focusing on those candidates who are more likely to deliver results.

Which are the key competencies, qualities and professional background of the best recruiters?
Mr. Molinaroli - Best recruiters are those who are able to “read the mind” of candidates, having of course in mind the kind of “book” (i.e. company) the candidate should write.

Which are the differences between recruiting as Head Hunter/ interim or within the company ?
Mr. Molinaroli - Head hunters (or better ‘executive search consultants’) and internal recruiters work at their best when they work together. Head hunters know the labor market and the expectations of candidates much better than internal recruiters do. On the other hand, these latter know the company’s actual needs much better than the head hunters do. Therefore sharing information is the key to ensuring successful recruiting.

How has recruitment evolved in the last few years (in terms of relevance, globalisation, organisation structure, processes)? How, in your opinion, will recruitment evolve in the next ten years?
Mr. Molinaroli - Recruiting has changed a lot over the last 10 years. It is now a more competitive process, with a significant amount of searches being “disintermediated”, i.e. managed by companies using key people in the business community and leveraging on social networks.
However, the new tools and media will never be able to replace the ability to advise and run comparative assessment which is inherent in the executive search process.

In the light of the EU Parliament resolution regarding women quotae, how do you envisage the impact on recruitment?
Mr. Molinaroli - Women quotae are beginning to impact the recruiting process, as companies are more open and willing to recruit women. However, I do believe that an equal opportunity employer should never differentiate on the basis of gender.
However, I do believe that overemphasizing, a sort of “compensation by law” for fewer opportunities given to women in the past, will be of little help for women themselves, as some people could even believe that some women are making career in the boardroom because they are women and not because they are clever managers.


(*) Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi is an Argentine footballer who plays for FC Barcelona and captains the Argentinan national team. Messi received several Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations by the age of 21, and won in 2009 and 2010. His playing style and ability have drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi as his "successor."

Short Biography

Alessandro Molinaroli is currently Senior Manager at ERIC SALMON & PARTNERS – Milano. He gained a Degree in Business Administration with a specialisation in Organisation Design at the one of the most prestigious Italian universities, Università Commerciale “L.Bocconi” – Milan Previously his career has developed through working in the following positions: •    Contract Professor of Organisational Systems at the University of BERGAMO – Faculty of Engineering •    Senior Manager - CMS Division (Change Management Services) with ANDERSEN CONSULTING (now ACCENTURE) - Milan •    Senior Manager at CONSIEL (Telecom Italia Group) – Milan and Rome   •    Hired within the High Fliers Program at BANCA COMMERCIALE ITALIANA – Milan

Disclaimer - Any views and opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of ERIC SALMON & PARTNERS – Milano, nor do they constitute a legally binding agreement.

Chiara Mancardi, Associate at b-management, leader in Belgium in interim and transition management.

Chiara, how do you define "talent"?
Ms. Mancardi – Let me first go to my “old dictionary” definition of talent, before defining talent in the perspective of recruitment and talent management: “Talent is a group of aptitudes that are useful for some activities. Aptitudes are innate components of a competency as opposed – for instance – to knowledge and understanding, that can be learned; or acquired abilities to do a certain kind of work and at a certain level. Aptitudes may be physical or mental and the innate nature of aptitudes is in contrast to achievement, which represents knowledge or abilities that are gained”. 
I would like to emphasise that, even if aptitudes are innate, this does not mean that they do not need to be worked upon. I like the quote “talent, like oil, needs to be refined”. Let’s take the example of sculptors, who have inside themselves the image and the shape they want to create, but have to use their knowledge to choose the appropriate materials according to their properties, plasticity, rigidity and so on..

 Chiara, sorry to interrupt you, is “leadership” a talent in your opinion?
Ms. Mancardi – Leadership to me is a mixture of things: it is not black and white; it is always related to a group of individuals, where some individuals stand out for their charisma, ability to convince others, uniting people around projects, communication, empathy and creativity. To a certain degree these elements come naturally to these outstanding individuals, but they have also refined and improved their natural skills.
Who are the top leaders in the business environment nowadays? Most of them have strong ethics and values, coherence in and outside the business environment, and compromise only on the small and unimportant details. This is my very personal view.

… back to talent and talent management …
Ms. Mancardi – Yes, talent management … Different organisations may assume different interpretations, for instance managing highly paid individuals (stars, top performers) or it can mean how talent is managed (based on the assumption that all people have talents that can be identified and developed).
In the perspective of recruiting, the challenge is to match the demand with the supply of talent available at the time.
Talent management means also defining a map of where talents – not in terms of individuals, but in terms of skills and capabilities - are, meaning in which functions in the company. It includes understanding whether talents are being used to their full potential, and also to identify potential talent and talent shortages in line with the company’s future objectives..

Scouting for, attracting, selecting and recruiting the "right" and talented people is a crucial and vital process for a company, isn't it?
Why then - often - do companies assign these responsibilities to employees with a lower seniority position and age? Don't you think that ensuring the company has the optimum human resources to fulfill the vision should be a responsibility of senior management?
Ms. Mancardi – Interesting question, Alessandra, there are several factors to consider. The age of the recruiter is not per se the issue; skills can be easily and factually assessed and selected, while attitudes and talent require, on the contrary, a contextual evaluation. The issue is rather the involvement level in the selection process of the right management, who has to take the final responsibility for the choice.
A distinction has to be made between routine recruitment for high volume positions and strategic talent recruiting. To be provocative, I say that we need to give space to young HR people, who have to start practicing in order to learn (hopefully supported by a supervisor who know the business and has operational experience).  In routine recruitment it is appropriate to assign young recruiters who are able to apply the recruitment processes and tools. It is not appropriate in cases where critical skills/abilities are required and here your point, Alessandra, is relevant. 

Which are nowadays the key factors of recruitment?
Ms. Mancardi – One key factor is the correct usage of the technology available nowadays to treat information, I give you a parallel example: of course it is not because you have the best CRM tool that you are a good salesman. HR recruitment tools are impressive, help recruiters sift through tons of data efficiently to identify the best candidates; it makes sense to use these tools, but the key factor is to use them correctly. In other words there is a difference between having access to large volumes of information and how you use that information; using the information requires the ability to read between the lines on a cv and to match the right candidate to the position.

From the job seeker’s point of view, it’s not so long ago (I still recall it myself) that people looking for a job used to buy the papers at the weekend, screen the job offers, prepare a pile of letters, post them and wait for a reply.   Today, with internet/technology looking for a job is a daily task, a full time occupation as a matter of fact.

The second key fact is quite obvious and it is the successful match between supply and demand.
The third factor, which clearly indicates that recruiting should not be seen in isolation, is that the company has defined the right offer for the right candidate: job content, function and the salary package have to be in line with the market and tuned to match the expectations of the target population.
The recruitment might have been done perfectly and the match is correct, but if the right retention elements are not in place, then the selected candidate remains with the company for only two months and this recruitment is no longer a success. The company might have done the appropriate actions to be visible and attract candidates, but if behind the scenes there are problems they will not be able to retain staff; merely showing the “carrot” does not work, companies need to actually fulfill expectations if they are to retain their most valuable staff. 
One more factor is that profiles must be conceived and defined in a medium/long-term perspective according to the company goals.

Which are the key competencies, qualities and professional background of the best recruiters?
Ms. Mancardi – HR people, so also recruiters, need to be reliable business partners for the other functions in the company. This means that recruiters are not just expected to find candidates, but to play an advisory role regarding the recruitment needs.
In terms of background it would mean that a senior recruiter or head of the recruitment team should have experience of the working practices of the company and a solid knowledge of its business.
Specific required qualities are:

•    Psychological insight, strong business acumen, business intelligence
•    A certain degree of creativity in identifying potential resources pools and different recruitment solutions
•    Ability to read between the lines of the of the cv to reveal the real contribution that the individual will bring to the company.
•    It is crucial for a recruiter to have developed and to keep updated his/her social and professional network.

Which are the differences between recruiting as Head Hunter/ interim or within the company ?
Ms. Mancardi – The major difference for a Head Hunter, compared to a recruiter in the company is that external recruiters need additional skills: first of all the ability to quickly understand the client company and their needs (good consultants are skilled in rapidly acquiring and understanding information and the characteristics of the environment). Equally important is the ability to extract from the given information the requirements of the job position now and how it could evolve in the future, which is necessary in order to find a candidate who will be able to cope.
Secondly, Head Hunters have to get and keep the trust of their clients through efficient and successful matches. Thirdly, they need marketing and sales capabilities (selling their services, selling the position to the candidate, selling the best candidate to the company).

How has recruitment evolved in the last few years (in terms of relevance, globalisation, organisation structure, processes)? How, in your opinion, will recruitment evolve in the next ten years?
Ms. Mancardi – There have been three main changes in the business environment and in the role of HR management in the companies.
The lack of continuity and the speed of change in the business world, which have dramatically reduced the length of economic cycles and which make it difficult to forecast the changes and their impact, require increased business agility and different leadership models. The globalization phenomenon - with flat structures, large teams and geographically remote teams - requires global talents. The modern technologies allow companies to have access to the same resources; companies need to become attractive for the candidates, especially when there is a resource scarcity (few candidates have the innovative technical skills taught in few universities or demographic issues meaning there are not enough good candidates).
These changes have challenged and influenced the evolution of HR teams more in their work methods and habits than in the organisational asset/structure of the HR function itself.
In the future HR should be covering a more and more strategic role in the company processes, earning more credibility and enabling them to take their place in the Boardroom. The skill of recruiters will be to contribute in defining more “meaningful” jobs, “cooler” companies to be able to fulfill the candidates’ expectations and retain them. Borderless organisations, gender and generational gaps will be hard challenges.

In the light of the EU Parliament resolution regarding women quotae, how do you envisage the impact on recruitment?
Ms. Mancardi – Maybe I do not have the full picture, but personally I think that quotas – dealing with gender diversity - have to be treated in the same way as “diversity” is managed in the company. From one angle quotas might accelerate women’s access to the Board, but it has to be taken into account that there will be differences across sectors, because there are types of jobs and environments that favour one gender over the other. The real question is whether women are ready to dedicate to their profession the required energy to progress to the top: if they have the potential, they have to fully accept the battle. In order to succeed in the battle women need to strengthen their capabilities and skills, for instance:

• Behavior and leadership style
• Communication
• Ability to prioritise and delegate (sorry, but I have seen a number of women overloaded because of a resistance to delegate to others)
• Networking at professional and social level
• Improve their work/life balance, which is indeed a matter of logistics and organisation; work/life balance should no longer be an issue for women close to the board level, because their salaries allow them to acquire all the services (schools, baby-sitters, home support, etc.).

Last but not least, if the quotae resolution will not obtain a clear social and political commitment, it will lose the effect to trigger the aimed equality and will risk becoming one of “those laws”. In terms of impact on recruitment I believe that there are two main risks: sub-optimisation of the match and potential reverse discrimination. If the company must take into account the fact that having a female candidate is preferable, then the selection is done in two sub-groups (male and female), which does not provide the same effectiveness of screening as one single pool.

Short Biography

Chiara joined B-management in 2009. As well as leading international assignments in sales and marketing, Chiara also oversees B-management’s web presence, developing internet-based approaches and tools to better serve the firm’s client base and candidate pool.  B-management has been awarded the  HR Excellence Awards 2011 as best Interim Management company. Prior to her arrival at B-management Chiara was an International Product Manager for StepStone, a leading provider of online career management services. Chiara honed her marketing skills in the automotive industry (General Motors Europe), where she also increased her experience in Brand and Product management. She later joined an international publishing company (Wolters Kluwer) where she progressed through several marketing and sales positions, ultimately focusing on internet services targeting logistics industry professionals. Chiara holds an MBA from the Solvay Brussels School of Management & Economics (ULB) and a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from the University of Torino (Italy).

Disclaimer - Any views and opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of B-Management, nor do they constitute a legally binding agreement.

Salvatore Maranto, HR Manager Italy & Spain at SPX, part of SPX Corporation, a Fortune 500 multi-industry manufacturing leader that provides its customers with highly-specialized, engineered solutions to solve critical business issues.

PWI – Salvatore, how do you define "talent"?
Mr. Maranto - “Talent”  is the flair in an individual able to quickly bring about impressive results  and innovation, through a “magic” mix of: management skills, technical-functional skills, personal qualities and stamina, commitment and values.

PWI – Salvatore, in your opinion, is “leadership” a talent?
Mr. Maranto - Leadership may be a component of a talented person.  Actually, talented people do not necessarily need to be leaders, as they can develop their talent in several different ways (technical, commercial, administrative, etc.).

PWI - Scouting for, attracting, selecting and recruiting the "right" and talented people is a crucial and vital process for a company, isn't it?
Why then - often - do companies assign these responsibilities to employees with a lower seniority position and age? Don't you think that ensuring the company has the optimum human resources to fulfill the vision should be a responsibility of senior management?
Mr. Maranto - Senior managers have the right experience to perform an effective selection, unfortunately recruiting and selecting potential candidates is a time consuming process especially in cases of high volume and HR Directors/Managers need to delegate to their team members, who often haven’t gained the adequate expertise in selection techniques and tools and have a limited knowledge of the company business.  In SPX, we ensure that our employees (regardless of age or  seniority) are given the correct tools to be able to effectively short list the right talent. We run effective hiring courses across EMEA to help HR and Hiring Managers choose the most appropriate talents.  In some cases HR Directors choose to assign recruitment to external  head hunters or specialized companies, incurring in higher costs and – sorry to say that – questionable quality results.

Which are nowadays the key factors of recruitment?
Mr. Maranto – There are currently two main factors: speed and quality.  In our company we have set time ranges for recruitment and these time frames are shrinking more and more: 40 days for high responsibility job positions and 20 days for lower level jobs.  The other factor – quality – is a must: the direct and indirect costs of a wrong recruitment  can be very high, which is why we spend a lot of time during the early stages of recruitment to get the right people on our short list.

Which are the key competencies, qualities and professional background of the best recruiters?
Mr. Maranto – Taking into account the necessary differences between recruiting for a high position or for a low job, I strongly believe that recruiters need the following competencies:

•    Know the company business deeply
•    Understand how each function contributes to the company success
•    Live the company culture and be fully aware of “written and unwritten” company rules
•    Interact successfully with the functions/the team leaders in order to build together the correct profile of the position being recruited to
•    Master the relationship with Head Hunters and stakeholders
•    Master social media  both actively (highlight your own company in every social medium to create a positive and attractive image on the labor market ) and passively (publish a job offer and wait for candidate replies)
•    Know all the interview techniques  to spot candidates competencies, qualities and motivation; develop the emotional intelligence to help select talent, or rely upon external psychology experts to  identify candidates’ psychological profiles
•    Sell/market your company to valuable and suitable candidates
•    Market/sell the most suitable/valuable candidates to the hiring functions
•    Become an expert of the labor market and be up-to-date with the salary/benefit package trend for each relevant professional profile
•    Master the legislation of your relevant labor market.

Based on the above requirements, it is clear that the optimal recruiter profile – for positions from middle to top management - includes a high professional expertise/background and “seniority” (meaning years of business experience and specific expertise).

Which are the differences between recruiting as Head Hunter/ interim or within the company ?
Mr. Maranto – Interim management recruiting is more complex than it looks, but for some reasons  if a company uses interim staff, this is seen as less critical then hiring permanent staff for the job. Based on my experience Interim Recruitment agencies tend to be too expensive in relation to the quality they offer, at least in Italy. We normally keep in house the recruitment of middle management to high positions, but for the top business critical jobs we consult with our internal Talent Sourcing function who specialize in executive level positions. In those cases the commitment to excellence is maximum and both the HR Director and the Functional Directors are fully involved.

How has recruitment evolved in recent years (in terms of relevance, globalisation, organisation structure, processes)?
Mr. Maranto – The globalization phenomenon has also impacted the area of recruitment: it means both extending recruitment to international labor markets and spotting out local candidates with proven international experience, background, culture and mind-set. In the last few years  I have also remarked that there is in recruiting a parallel trend to the business arena trend: more and more sense of urgency, quality as a “must” and a consequent war for talents.

How, in your opinion, will recruitment evolve in the next ten years?
Mr. Maranto – I would envisage two main streams: a further development of recruitment tools based on the social media – unfortunately Italy is behind Europe - and the reinforcing of “word of mouth” on the other side. Retaining employee loyalty to the company will surely be one of the greatest future challenges, above all in companies where the excellence of employees’ technical competencies is the basis for business growth. The key factor, then, is rather to develop and retain the most skilled people than hiring and laying off according to business ups and downs.

In the light of the EU Parliament resolution regarding women quotae, how do you envisage the impact on recruitment?
Mr. Maranto - In the short term I do not envisage any significant impact. I guess that companies will continue to hire female or male employees according to their culture and to the competencies availability. In our company we have never made any gender discrimination, we have always successfully hired, and will continue to bring on board, the right person for the job, irrespective of their gender.

Short Biography

Born in Milan (Italy) in 1964, Mr. Maranto graduated in Business Administration at the Bocconi University (Milan.) He first joined Accenture (where he worked in the Change Management practice on various assignments in Italy, Germany, Turkey, USA), then Unisys Italy (where he worked as HR Business Partner) and finally SPX Italy, where he covers the position of HR Manager Italy & Spain. SPX Corporation is a Fortune 500 multi-industry manufacturing leader with 15,000 employees in more than 35 countries worldwide, with a product portfolio that includes cooling systems for power plants, food processing systems, process equipment that assists a variety of flow processes, and diagnostic tools that aid in vehicle maintenance and repair. Salvatore Maranto HR manager SPX Service Solutions Europe salvatore.maranto@spx.com +393477825868

Disclaimer - Any views and opinions presented in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of SPX Italy, nor do they constitute a legally binding agreement.