The global culture of Leadership

Prysmian embraces the diverse backgrounds of its employees, and values their unique perspectives.

The company understands that everyone benefits from working in an international and inclusive environment. Let’s take a closer look at how this dimension plays out in the workplace, and why it should always be taken into account when applying for a new career.

There is a direct correlation between multi-national employees and strong productivity. It is a concept widely recognized; the problem is to make it happen. While growing in the international arena, Prysmian dealt with these issues creating a solid corporate culture, deep-seated in its manufacturing identity.

As a global leader in its industry, Prysmian Group boasts 21,000 employees across 50 countries and 82 plants. The geographical presence is more concentrated in the EMEA region for historical reasons with 54 factories in 23 countries. Over time, the footprint expanded into other regions worldwide, and today has 18 plants in APAC, 16 in the Americas, of which 9 are in the US, Canada and Mexico and 6 are in Brazil and Argentina. The picture also includes 34 commercial offices and 17 R&D centers which feed the product offerings with record-breaking innovations and technology advancements. Such an extensive manufacturing footprint is mirrored in the multi-national composition of the Group workforce, which is a key factor of its success.

Working and developing business in countries with different cultures and industrial heritages would have been impossible without a solid and dedicated internal organization.

Valentina Ghinaglia, Group Quality Director in the Milan Headquarters, stresses that her department “works constantly with all it affiliates around the world, so we need to have a strong international mindset. It’s not always easy, but it’s essential to have an open-minded approach and to understand other cultures' viewpoints when working with them. In order to spread this mindset among more and more colleagues, we use every opportunity we have to share experiences and approaches”.

Read Valentina Ghinaglia's interview

As a company with a global outlook, we are aware of the importance of the differences in each country where we operate, of promoting a multicultural working environment, while also developing a shared common identity.

Fabrizio Rutschmann

Human Resources & Organisation SVP

Success in the ever-changing business environment depends on the adaptability and goal-oriented mindset of our human resources. Just as world class technology, patents and research are valuable assets for the Prysmian group, so is creating a manufacturing community based on relationships.

In Prysmian, the focus on building a diverse and multicultural environment is introduced to the new entries since the induction and training phase, as framed in the Make It manufacturing career advancement program, devoted to engineers with 3-7 years of experience. During the last edition, more than 50 young professionals from 20 countries had the opportunity to work together, share a common skills development and experience the unique industrial culture of Prysmian.

Prysmian is proud to offer special opportunities to new hires that promote multicultural team-building. Our unique “Make It” career advancement program for engineers with 3-7 years of experience attracted over 50 young professionals in 2016. Participants came from 20 different countries and had the opportunity to work together, develop their skills and experience the diverse/unique industrial culture of Prysmian.

Make It Program is just one of the many tangible examples of our dedication to multicultural team-building. As Echo Shen, the first woman appointed as plant manager in Wuxi, China, underlines, “I strongly believe in the importance of building a strong, reliable relationship with my colleagues. This puts us in the best possible position to solve problems effectively and achieve our goals. Not only does it help us improve the quality of our work and improve our delivery time, but it also helps us with soft skills such as managing stress and maintaining control in challenging circumstances.”

“We at Prysmian Group are committed to being an
equal opportunity employer with an institutional culture that celebrates diversity.”

Our international mobility programs are another example of the importance we give to having an interculturally competent workforce. “By the end of 2015, I had 215 employees on my team from 27 countries who had moved to 29 new destination countries, and 14% of them were women,” says Surf Business Unit Director in Brazil, Cristiana Scelza. In 2015, 39 recent graduates from 18 different countries were involved in a 2-year international experience in countries other than their own. Women made up 39% of the participants. As Fabrizio Rutschmann puts it, “At Prysmian Group, we recognize the importance of promoting equal opportunities, championing the value of diversity and embracing the uniqueness of each individual employee.

To help ensure that these values are respected throughout the company, Prysmian introduced the Diversity and Inclusion Policy that applies to all employees, job applicants, contractors and consultants worldwide. The policy must be signed by all employees and makes the company’s expectations clear with regards to dealings with colleagues, customers and all those with whom they come in contact.

Prysmian Group is a global company made up of a diverse workforce from different backgrounds, working with cultures around the world. Our institutional culture of diversity and inclusion can be found across all levels of the organization in every corner of the globe. Although the future is constantly being shaped by innovations in technology and manufacturing, those innovations are made by people.

Do you feel ready to challenge yourself in an exciting international work environment? Get the most out of your manufacturing career by putting your talents to work for a global leader.

Discover our Diversity and Inclusion Policy

The global culture of Leadership