Dreamers & Makers

To mark Diversity Day, we spoke to Adilea Quaresma, Sener’s Country Manager in Brazil, about the various strands of diversity and what it brings as a business driver, as well as how digitalization is impacting equality, diversity and inclusion processes, among other matters.

In your opinion, what does staff diversity contribute in a business setting?

Diverse team members complement each other, thus making the whole greater than the parts. This is the bedrock of success in a business environment that is also highly diverse in many respects, with organizations seeking sustainable, environmentally friendly development and innovative solutions.

Currently, four generations coexist in the same work space in companies, on the same teams. What advantages do you think this intergenerational coexistence offers?

An environment that brings together several generations is capable of aggregating experiences, varying expectations and languages, which enhances and improves decision-making processes and, as a result, yields more positive results. I believe that the important thing is that purpose, values and goals are aligned.

How can we promote diversity in order to make it a strategic driver for the company?

I believe that the results achieved by diverse teams is a strategic lever in itself: once the positive impact they have on organizations is proven, they understand that they need to drive even more practices that foster inclusion. It is a virtuous circle.

It is said that cognitive and experiential diversity is related to innovation. How do you think the capacity to innovate conditions cognitively diverse teams? 

I believe that the capacity for innovation is proportional to how open we are to embrace and apply new ideas and new concepts that make sense for the business. In this way, the more diverse our teams are, in all aspects, the more open we will be to embrace, process and apply new concepts, being increasingly innovative.

The digital transformation is having an impact on the corporate culture of companies. What impact do you think it will have on equality, diversity and inclusion processes?

The possibilities that emerge through digital transformation are boundless. It opens wonderful doors for us to broaden our outlook in all fields, not only in terms of information, but also in terms of knowledge of the market and of talent, which can lend us support in the processes of equality and inclusion. We must learn to properly use all this digital knowledge for the sake of these processes.

From your perspective as the head of the Sener office in Brazil, what challenges and what benefits are there to managing diversity?

Brazil faces a whole host of challenges as a country in order to make the professional environment more diverse and inclusive. However, I see that Sener is on a successful path of ongoing and true search for this environment that we dream of as people. Thus, our leaders and our people are naturally engaged in this challenge, which turns difficulties into good challenges to overcome!