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Multicultural experience, candid conversation, collaboration and an eye for beauty are among the forces for greatness at two of Europe’s winning companies. And both companies— Boston Scientific, who design and manufacture medical devices to reduce the incidence of invasive surgery and Elica, who design and manufacture sophisticated, stylish appliances to grace the kitchen—encourage employees to embrace different ideas, perspectives, and cultures in order to succeed.
EMPLOYEES AS INTERNATIONAL PEOPLE
The spirit of invention and the eye for design along with good humour and confidence funded growth and diversification that makes Elica the number one cooker hood company worldwide, the best place to work in Italy and the best large company to work for in Europe. I think this is in large part because mid-level employees have the opportunity to develop both personally and professionally to levels expected only of senior executives in other companies. Marco Scippa, Elica’s global HR Director, explained why company and employee growth are intertwined.
“The confluence of the company’s development and the high level of development our employees achieve is not surprising”, Marco said. “We are from a small city in Italy. When strategy dictated growth beyond our national borders, we had one pressing question to answer: How do we prepare people to appreciate, welcome, and support behaviours, expectations and norms that are different from our own? Our conclusion: educate people and give them experience concurrently. That is, send people to different places, allow them to react, and then help them to realise and recognise that different is not worse—it is just different. For example, in some cultures the family plays a central role in motivation to work, while in others it may be money, status, job title. We start from the knowledge that in reality, organisation, business, and life are not separate entities, and we do not allow artificial distinctions among them. So, though our hearts remain Italian, we want our employees to be international people who are fully present on the job and available to help our global partners to work, develop and enjoy the success. We ask our managers to be managers of the future, prepared 360o for growth and change”.
Elica’s approach to raising awareness among employees and developing their ability to manage within—not across—different cultures begins with two-way job rotation. To reassure people that an international assignment won’t interrupt the career track, rotations are based in a plan that provides a job at the right level upon return to one’s native country—and furthermore, a job that will incorporate the new experience of another world and also new behaviours. Thus do people develop who will nourish a new, international culture while maintaining the pride of national heritage. There are salary increments for those who learn and apply learning to improve the company’s vision, operations, and performance.
Equality is another way Elica develops great people. Everyone, Marco says, is part of the company’s history, so benefits are available equally to all. When the company adds a gym, or an e-learning course or a program linked to the law and culture of a country, for example, they are open to everyone. Yet the people initiate any request for benefits, so while one operation may wish a gym, another may wish courses in a foreign language.