Ms Carola Villafranca Soissons's Interview

The importance of diversity in high-ranking roles

I believe that a diverse environment is always an enriching one. Diversity, in business as in life, leads to a beneficial fusion, which broadens the horizon of the people involved and creates a fertile ground for innovative ideas and solutions.

Over the years, I have witnessed the evolution of the role played by women at various levels of the business structure and seen the number of female professional figures with high-ranking positions increase steadily. A “different” style of management has slowly been accepted and even appreciated.

In the nineties, successful female professionals were, most of the time, compelled to act like their male colleagues while over the course of time, organisations have started to understand the added value of diversity and not just gender.

Consultancy in Human Resources

I started my professional career in Deloitte (Arthur Andersen then). It was a learning experience, which later allowed me to grow within Ferrero Group, which is a unique milieu when it comes to values and to the attention given to people.

I currently hold the role of CEO of Proposition and I believe that this was also made possible by the managers of paramount human and professional values I had the chance to work with in my years in consultancy and in the company environment.

I love my job, which allows me to create value and to connect everyday with people who believe in the development of talent and who invest precious resources in this process.

The values of sports in business

I have been playing volleyball since I was a child and this experience has taught me the importance of teamwork: in every play there is an individual choice to be made, but in order to win you have to play as a team and everyone has to do his/her part.

It is a sport that rewards swift thinking, concentration and tenacity.

Implementing the values of sports in a business environment allows everyone to work together to achieve the company’s goals, to tackle complex tasks with an affirmative attitude, to react to potential hardships with determination and enthusiasm, but also to have fun. As Theodor Fontane once said “Wer schaffen will, muss fröhlich sein!”, which is to say “Those who want to succeed must be cheerful and positive!”.