The road to gender equality, according to Desirèe Catone, HR Generalist at BinHexS, is still lined with obstacles, which is why women must be the first to talk about it among us and foster thinking about new perspectives, such as on the topic of fatherhood and the education of the younger generation. Let’s listen to her voice as part of the B Woman project dedicated to women’s rights.
Verdiana (Interviewer): What do you deal with in your day at BinHexS? What are the biggest challenges in your role?
Desirèe: “I support the activities that revolve around human resources management, that is, everything that regulates the employee life cycle in the company. I have a focus on personnel administration, that is, payroll area, and training, but I also supervise recruiting activities. The main challenges are related to working with people: everyone is different, and as the workforce grows, everyone’s peculiarity and needs also increase. What I always like to say is that every day is different, and I’m always surprised by BinHexS, and it’s a constant work of updating to be more and more supportive of the staff and in step with the resources, which are also often young guys who are entering the world of work for the first time.”
V: Do you feel you have any professional goals that you have not yet achieved?
D: “My goals are to continue to increase my skills so that I can stay abreast of what’s new in the HR area, which is always evolving thanks to technology and new tools, and to have the HR department become more and more consolidated within BinHexS.”
V: What are your passions?
D: “Like my direct colleague, Marta, my greatest passion is make-up, I consider it both an art form and a form of self-expression, as well as an aspect that helps you feel good about yourself. I also like languages: in addition to knowing English, a bit like everyone else, I graduated in Chinese language, because I have a great passion for this culture, and I also continue to cultivate it through literature and reading. I hope soon to take a trip to China to experience this passion on the spot.”
V: How do you perceive the role of women in Italy today and do you think we have achieved equality?
D: “This is a topic that I often discuss with direct colleagues as well, and I am glad to be able to give my opinion on it. I think that women right now are at a stage where they are required to do so much in terms of work and social aspects, as well as in terms of family care, that this makes women always the protagonists, and fortunately we often hear about this topic. At the same time, however, too often women are faced with and a choice of whether to devote themselves to career or family, and they have to give up one or the other. That’s why more could be done, in addition to improving women’s chances by talking about fatherhood aspects: involving fathers more and putting them in a position to be present in family life and caregiving. From the perspective of women’s safety, I still don’t feel comfortable, and these concerns are shared by all the women I know. What I’m noticing, also because I have two younger brothers between the ages of 15 and 20, however, is that the younger generation is paying more attention to these issues; I see this as an element of hope for the future.”
V: Any other thoughts?
D: “I would add, from the perspective of work and the female gender, that it is necessary to continue to give voice to women who embrace managerial roles, because this could inspire all of them.”
The BinHexS Women’s Week concludes with Desirèe Catone’s B Woman talk. The initiative brought to light different facets of the theme of gender equality, and we hope that BinHexS reflections can be an inspiration to the women and companies reading us. By sharing ideals and concrete actions, we can make a difference together!