HEAR IT FROM THEM

What is your job?

As a Mechanical Engineer, I am responsible for industrializing processes and equipment at SOMFY Zriba. Daily, I manage a team of eight people, including five engineers.

As the Group's Legal Director, my job cuts across all business lines. I manage a team of twelve people, primarily women, in France, Italy, and Germany.

I’m currently End User Channel Director for North America. I started working for Somfy seventeen years ago as Marketing Coordinator. As years passed, I went from an operations role to a management role.

What do you particularly like about your job

The wide variety of contacts and subjects related to compliance, integrating legal issues into the business, and watching the Group’s transformation are very motivating. My position offers me a playground to support this transformation, which is particularly important.

I appreciate how interactive it is, especially with the other Group sites, and the technical challenge of setting up or adapting equipment and processes. These are human and intellectual adventures that I find exhilarating.

How do you perceive your role as a manager?

In my eyes, being a manager gives me the opportunity to impact the organization as a whole and my team’s development. I have evolved from managing expertise to being a guide who places trust and empowers collaborators by being authentic and without putting on a manager's hat.

I always try to identify the obstacles that the people I coach are encountering. Once these obstacles are removed, everything becomes easy. In a technical environment, management is naturally collaborative to identify the optimal solution by taking the shortest route.

I always try to identify the obstacles that the people I coach are encountering. Once these obstacles are removed, everything becomes easy. In a technical environment, management is naturally collaborative to identify the optimal solution by taking the shortest route.

What issues have you encountered during your career at SOMFY?

In a technical profession, women must prove themselves despite preconceived biases. Once you have demonstrated the strength of your technical mastery, the question of being a female manager is no longer relevant.

In terms of being a woman working in a technical industry, I think women are generally their own worst enemies. I can sometimes second-guess what I do, so I over-prepare and research every topic I will be discussing. The actions SOMFY is taking are making a difference. We are already seeing more women in management and leadership roles.

What would you say to a woman who dreams of being a manager?

Take the plunge and ask for help because everyone can do it. You have to listen to that little voice inside you and make it grow. SOMFY offers so much support to new managers to help them define their roles. I was lucky enough to attend the EVE program, an intra-company women's leadership seminar that gave me confidence in my ability to take on this challenge. Take a risk; SOMFY will be at your side to help you grow!

Say yes, even if you think you aren’t ready. When faced with growth opportunities, that’s where I was pushed forward. If you wait until you are ready, it’s often too late.

What do you imagine for yourself tomorrow?

My next position will be Technical Director of the Zriba plant, and my priority is to assert my role throughout every aspect—studies, IT, project managers, and technical data. Tomorrow, I aspire to a more global management position as Site Manager.

The Group's transformation is a playground where I still have much to do. Still, if I decide to step aside tomorrow, my transversal knowledge of the Group's trades and processes will offer me great opportunities.