Monsanto Philippines Chief Executive Officer Sandro Rissi said that Diversity is the most compelling reason why Monsanto company exist throughout the years for more than a century now, in a forum on Diversity held at Crimson Hotel in Alabang Muntinlupa City on May19,2015.
Rissi a Brazilian agronomist now at his 16th year in Monsanto whole heartedly said that diversity is an important value at Monsanto and is ingrained in the way the company does business.
It is respect for diversity that enables them to come up with the most creative and innovative ideas, It is not about what you have learned from universities. It is the ideas you can contribute that matters, he said.
Monsanto’s commitment to diversity is reflected prominently in two key components of their people. One is Dialogue, wherein they listen carefully to diverse points of view and engage in thoughtful dialogue to broaden their understanding of issues in order to better address the needs and concerns of society and each other.
Another one is respect; they respect the religious, cultural and ethical concerns of people throughout the world.
Rissi believes in dialogue. It serves as bridge that connects to everyone. It talks about transparency, respect, integrity and creating a great place of work.
By listening carefully they get insights that they bring together to a table and respect the ideas that were brought by different people.It is not about money that makes a company powerful but it is the values, Every employee can contribute to a successful and diverse workplace. “If we want to continue to have diversity in the workplace we have to work at keeing it” Rissi Stressed on.
Rissi said that although they are in the agriculture industry they have people (staff) coming from different backgrounds, who are running the company such as pharmacists and other fields. He also said that ladies contributed a lot in the company by bringing the female in farming, their female staff deal with the farmers. “We cannot survive without the ladies”, Rissi added.
According to Rissi Monsanto’s plans include bringing technology to the farmers, and services and solutions that will increase farmers productivity which require investment partnerships and different thoughts.
They cannot do this alone, there is a need for partners and people to be able to bring more to the clients, consumers and at the moment they are dealing with the challenge of feeding more people but with less resources, Scarcity brings a lot of pressure to agriculture companies, he emphasized.
Meanwhile Maria Elisa Cristobal Anson known as Boots Anson-Rodrigo, guest speaker of the forum, who is passionate about values and diversity said that it is common for teams to have diverse values and beliefs. To help teams work better and make decisions that lead to commitment and action she emphasized that it is necessary to have clarity on the value that influence the decision-making process.
Rodrigo also said that in diversity, there is humility. It is not easy to overcome challenge in a workplace particularly the crab-mentality attitude. It is better not to take it seriously, ignore negativity and pray. Have faith in god.
Although she is happy and contented, she said that to balance work and family is quite hard, because what is being suffered is her personal time. Communication is very important to bridge the gap, handle conflicts in the workplace and even in the family.
She cited as an example when she left her cellphone at home, She informed her family and secretary about it and that she is okay and already in the venue and will see her husband at 5pm that day, to avoid worry or anxiety among family members for not communicating.
Boots Anson-Rodrigo was the Vice President for operations of the Citizen Bank of Washington in the United States.
Monsanto Human Resources Lead Cherie Ocampo who opened the forum shared that for eight (8) consecutive years, Monsanto was recognized as one of the Diversity Inc. Top 50 Companies for Diversity which opened other global recognition as the Great Work place to Work for Where Monsanto ranked No.7.
Monsanto was founded by John F. Queeny and was named after his wife Olga Monsanto Queeny. It has more than 20,000 employees across the globe. (Cathy Cruz/Estrella Gallardo, PSciJourn MegaManila)
