Being in Barclay's: Interview

Serena Vaturi from Barclays gives us a woman's perspective of the inner workings of the financial giant.

Name: Serena Vaturi Qualification: Bachelor Computer Science MBA SDA Bocconi School of Study: Università degli Studi di Milano Year of Graduation: 1987, 1993 Current employment: Barclays Global Retail & Commercial Banking Italy IT & Operation Director. Responsible for efficient functioning of bank operations, ensuring coherence among process tools, organizational structure and service level.

What are the challenges of being a woman in a senior management position?

I believe women have innate strength in some key skills - such as empathy - required by leaders in today's world-class companies. I feel that the most important area is people development: women generally find satisfaction and fulfilment in seeing their people grow, improve and develop managerial skills. Women are also usually firm believers in teamwork, which I believe is the best approach to guaranteeing more effectively problem-solving.

I also believe that, in today's competitive environment, lateral thinking and creative solutions are critical ingredients for success: our female intuition combined with our professional skills can yield optimal results!

Last but not least, passion is a vital ingredient to achieve results, to build solid teams and to just have fun doing what you're doing.

How did your MBA prepare you for your career in senior management?

I have a Bachelors degree in computer science, therefore the MBA has provided me with a greater knowledge and understanding of the other business areas like marketing and finance. In addition to this, I have acquired a solid background knowledge of a wide range of industries.

Most notably, I believe an MBA helps to improve your decision-making skills, teaching you to combine analytical skills with judgement and organisational capabilities.  Having said all this, I must also include that the MBA allows you the opportunity to build interesting and useful relationships.

Have you experienced a change in perception within the workforce surrounding women in senior management positions?

During the last few years, women in senior management positions have been strengthening their trust bond with colleagues, thanks to the Equality and Diversity programme promoted by John Varley, Barclays Group CEO.

In particular, in Italy a lot of initiatives have been organized to support women's professional growth, such as skills training, discussion groups and a female mentoring scheme, a programme that enables women to recognize other women in the company as mentors of their professional growth. The Equality and Diversity Programme is proving to be very successful within the whole company. As women today, we can aspire to contribute to Barclays" sustainable competitive advantage.

How do you maintain a balance between your senior management position and ensuring a work/life balance?

All the above mentioned are key points for a senior role, however, much depends on your partner and family. With their support, patience and appreciation for what you are doing, we can often find the right equilibrium for us as a family. Whenever that fails, a smile can go a long way!

How do women with MBAs ensure senior management positions are attainable?

An MBA provides a deeper understanding of management roles for both women and men. Therefore, it helps to achieve high-standard results in line with one of Barclays Guiding Principles, Best People. That means developing and upgrading talented colleagues (regardless of their gender) and differentiating rewards and doing what's needed to ensure a leading position in the global financial services industry.

My best advice on a winning formula would be to focus on priorities, execution and overall results.