With the evolution of the knowledge economy, the reference landscape of companies has changed: the radical transformation imposed by globalization has brought about a change in management decision-making processes, overturning pre-established paradigms.
Today, the success of an organization is no longer determined solely by the possession of capital and material resources: the real asset is the human capital possessed. In this perspective, intellectual capital and talent management are the fundamental assets, capable of ensuring a competitive advantage because they carry a value framework that places competencies at the center of the production process.
The subject is one of the most discussed in the field of work organization, and to explore the issue in more detail we met with Darya Majidi, lecturer on the
“Those entering the world of work are often asked for so-called hard skills: it is clear that these skills are necessary for all those roles where the possession of specific knowledge is indispensable. I believe, in this respect, that the recent trend of trying to replace hard skills with soft skills, which relate to the personal and relational characteristics of an individual such as example, reliability, negotiation skills, problem-solving skills and, last but not least, emotional intelligence, is incorrect. In my experience, it is very important to look for the distinctive skills that each of us possesses and that make us unique. If these coincide with the role assumed in the workplace, we can certainly say that we have squared the circle. In this regard, I have come up with my three Cs: Competence, Heart, and Courage. The heart is understood as synonymous with passion and enthusiasm for the work performed, but also the recklessness to step outside the limits of one’s perimeter when the more emotional component of the individual takes over from the more rational part. Finally, courage is identified as the will to climb Maslow’s pyramid, the motivational model of human development based on a hierarchy of needs arranged, precisely, in a pyramid, which guides every human action that, starting from the base with the physiological needs, the most basic, reach the summit with the most complex that lead to personal fulfillment. And it is known that the higher one climbs in corporate pyramids, the more security decreases because competitiveness and power often lead to loneliness. It is therefore important to have the courage to act in the context.”
The world of work underwent a significant transformation during the COVID-19 health crisis, necessitating a profound reshaping of organizations.
The resulting landscape has generated what we can call a ‘new normal’ – which is now being challenged by central governments – where workers all over the world have benefited, thanks to information technology and digital transformation, from a hybrid or total remote mode that has made work flexible, allowing work and family time to be reconciled. So-called space-time flexibility has made it possible to take advantage of extra time dedicated to private life that employees no longer want to give up.
“People feel fulfilled when the pact between the company and the employee is a two-way semantic act, in the sense that the organization does not impose the path, the role, but enhances the resource according to the skills possessed in coherence with its values. We can consider the COVID-19 pandemic as a watershed: the younger generations have re-established a new order, where personal life plays a more critical role than in the past. Companies to keep up with the times will necessarily have to take this new work-life balance into account. Working in an environment where one is appreciated for one’s experience and know-how increases trust, engagement, well-being, and productivity. An example I have personally witnessed in Bali is considered the happy island of digital nomads. Here very young people, cultivating their hobbies, work in international companies, where the concept of accessible expertise is tangible and where the conceptual rigidity of face-to-face work has been overcome. I predict, and hope, that the future will go in this direction because the mindset is accessibility, competencies, knowledge, and skills.”
The last few decades have witnessed a growth in institutional interest in gender equality issues. There is still a long way to go, but the process of women’s affirmation in the professional world has also started thanks to an acceleration in higher education. Women in the world of work are laboriously overcoming the subordinate roles to which society has culturally relegated them, but they still too often pay the price of having to choose between motherhood and professional fulfillment. The confirmation comes from ISTAT, which, according to the latest research on the “reconciliation between work and family” elaborated with data collected in 2018, reveals that one mother out of 9 has never worked to take care of her children. The percentage is 11.1, against a European average of 3.7 percent.
“I hope that the role of work-life balance is not just a women’s issue.areers, especially in small private companies. It is necessary to act on the levers of a cultural shift for a real inclusion of women in the labor market, which encourages flexibility, and job sharing so that women are put in a position to cultivate their talents without giving up their families. Still today, especially in Italy, women have to overcome not only the handicap of the ‘crystal ceiling’ but also the ‘broken step’ of motherhood, which forces them to slow down their careers, especially in small private companies. The aim of the Women 4.0 association that I founded in 2021, to overcome the gender gap, is to make the Community seize all the opportunities offered by Industry 4.0. As a founder, I will participate in an event organized by the United Nations on the theme of women’s empowerment on 8 March, Women International day. Women have a serious defect: they suffer from the impostor syndrome: they are self-limiting and always fear that they do not fit into the context, whatever it may be. This is a legacy of patriarchal culture; instead, they must learn to be community-minded and become more aware of their talents, and of the added value they bring to the world of work due to their specificities and strong intrinsic motivations. The new generations have moved beyond the concept of Eve against Eve and are starting to make teams, and clans. So, if we wanted to summarise in one concept, always referring to the stated proposal of the three Cs, Skills, Heart, and Courage, for women add two more Cs: Awareness and Community. In this regard, I like to recall a Persian proverb that says ‘drops join together and make an ocean’. In this, we should take the example of the Iranian women, who courageously, risked their lives fighting against a culture, which wants them invisible, for their rights and to assert their freedom of thought and action.”
NEET stands for Not in Education, Employment, or Training. The term was coined in the UK to assess the effectiveness of school-to-work transition processes. Since 2010, the European Union has adopted the NEET rate to indicate the phenomenon related to youth employment. According to the latest Eurostat 2020 estimates, our country has the highest percentage of NEETs in the EU in the 15-29 age group, standing at a worrying 23% – the European average is 13.3% – after Greece and Bulgaria. If the spotlight shines on women, the percentage rises to 24.3 percent.
“In Italy, we cannot create a distinction between good and beautiful young people and incapable young people. Instead, we must have the intellectual honesty to state that NEETs are a product of society, which could not make the new generations understand the opportunities offered by the jobs of the future, by not providing them with correct guidance. So it is clear that a young person who studies and struggles to find a job turns into an angry young person. We must overcome the concept of looking only at the grade obtained with a degree: we must look for specific skills, which determine the difference between individuals. Innovative companies are looking for intellectually lively people, able to be with others: right now we are witnessing the phenomenon of digital mismatch: there are so many jobs available and young people are not aware of them! In Italy, we also have the problem of salaries that are not equal to European standards, which is the main reason why our talents flee abroad.“
“Based on my professional experience, I approve of those companies that admit that they are in the first steps of a path towards bridging the gender gap. Of these organizations, I appreciate the vision and their awareness that they have to achieve that goal. I do not, on the contrary, like those organizations that shout slogans about gender equality and instead have done nothing about it and, if you look closely, the levers of power are operated solely by men. I look with admiration at those companies that can talk with the world of research, and therefore with universities, to create osmosis for two-way growth, a precious intersection between the universe of education and that of business. I like the atmosphere at the Roma Business School because the environment is truly international, with students coming from all over the world and allowing a full immersion of intercultural experiences that undeniably allow soft skills to be developed.
More generally, I am enthusiastic about all environments that allow one to overcome asymmetries, of gender, age, ethnicity, and where stereotypes disappear because one breathes the desire to listen to each other.”
The steady growth of industry linked to digital innovation will allow the development of a new way of doing ‘business’: innovative processes will mainly affect intellectual capital in which more and more resources will be invested.
“I believe that digital transformation will bring about a real revolution in the world of work: the automation of machines will allow people to be free. What will make the difference will be the individual with his values, his ethics, and morals. A virtuous circuit will be created where charisma, leadership, empathy, in short, the distinctive skills that make us unique will be the driving force behind a change towards a world on a more human scale.“
Born in Iran, she is a tech entrepreneur with Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Master of Science in Economics and Master in Women Leadership. She is an expert in Data Science, Ethics and Artificial Intelligence also with focus on Diversity & Inclusion aspects. She is founder and CEO of Daxo Group a strategy consulting firm in digital transformation, Founder and CEO of Daxolab, a business incubator and President of the Association Donne 4.0. She has been councilor for Innovation for the Municipality of Livorno, Vice-president of Confindustria Livorno. She is currently lecturer at prestigious international universities. She’s a mentor, speaker and author of the books “Donne 4.0” manifesto of the Community Donne 4.0 and “Connected Sisterhood”.
