What attracts you to Sibelco?
There are many reasons that make Sibelco extremely attractive to me. First of all, the complex and large mineral portfolio, which enables Sibelco to play a crucial role in multiple end markets. The number of applications that our minerals support is remarkable. This makes my job extremely interesting and engaging from a learning perspective.
Another important factor for me, is the great awareness of and efforts on environmental issues. It’s nice to work for a company that makes sustainability a key priority in its strategy and that is a key player in sectors like glass recycling and the circular economy in general, thanks to the revalorization of waste and byproducts.
What does a typical day at Sibelco look like for you?
My typical day at Sibelco always looks really exciting and challenging. I start by looking at the agenda, as I usually have a lot of meetings, and organise my work around calls and deadlines.
As the Commercial Marketing Manager for Southern Europe, I have various tasks on my plate: I usually have daily contact with Sales Managers, Customer Service and the VP Commercial in order to support them on several topics - from handling leads to customer requests and item management. I also support growth and other projects in the region, meaning that I have deadlines to prepare documents, data and deliverables for steering the teams behind each project. I take care of marketing activities in the subregion, so a small part of my day is dedicated to progress planned marketing activities. Of course, a typical day can be disrupted by urgencies or last-minute priorities.
What is the best career advice you ever received?
I’ve had the chance to meet many inspiring people with different styles and personalities at Sibelco. Looking back, some of the best advice I got from one of my former managers was: “
Don’t be afraid to say no when you can’t do something. Be honest with any colleague: saying “NO” is better than not keeping a promise”.
In the past, I had the unhealthy habit to commit to every request, even if this was not part of my job or priorities. I acted like that because I believed that, in order to prove my added value and to avoid conflicts, I had to say “YES”. This was not sustainable: I often ended up rushing to do everything and often not with good quality. My manager’s simple words really made me reflect about my work attitude.
How has the Covid-19 crisis impacted your daily job?
I clearly remember when the first lockdown started and lots of questions were raised about how to guarantee business continuity. This also triggered a deeper question of rethinking the normal working life.
One of the biggest impacts for me, was working from home. On the positive side, Sibelco Italy helped us to re-create a comfortable working environment at home by allowing us to use IT equipment and furniture. Ergonomics and working posture are really important for personal well-being. Another advantage of working from home is that time management can be more flexible and you are finally able to pick up what you ordered from Amazon :-)
The negative side of working from home is definitely the lack of human interaction, which is really important to me: having a coffee together and discussing work or leisure topics are key elements to strengthen a team and to solve issues. I also don’t like that working from home can imply that you are always connected and in front of your PC, which could result in longer working days.
