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AlumniFor its first two promotions the chair has recruited altogether 29 students from different programs (Master, MBA in Hospitality Management, ESSEC MBA, …who tied strong knots between themselves and the professors when working their way through the various stages of the chair projects and debating ideas on sensitive issues. A few words from the chair students :
«La Chaire Diversité et Performance m'a apporté énormément, sur plusieurs plans. Académiquement, le projet de chaire demande beaucoup de réflexion à long terme, et les cours permettent de donner une nouvelle perspective à des problématiques RH, ou Marketing. Professionnellement, nous avons eu l'occasion d'étudier en détails des problématiques et des pratiques auxquelles nous serons confrontés plus tard. J'ai particulièrement apprécié de pouvoir découvrir les trois entreprises partenaires de l'intérieur, de comprendre leur culture, leur histoire, les contextes dans lesquels elles opèrent, et comment ces aspects influencent leurs choix. Enfin, en tant que futur professionnelle, j'espère opérer dans des contextes internationaux, et dans des équipes diverses. Je serai donc amenée à travailler avec ces problématiques et la Chaire m'a aidé à mieux appréhender des situations qui peuvent être délicates, à mieux connaitre mes réactions face à la diversité, et m'a donné des clés pour faire de cette réalité un véritable atout pour l'entreprise.»
"What I like most about the chair is that everybody counts: people listen to us when we talk. Exchanging ideas becomes easier since we learn to be more understanding of this diversity world:)"
“The ESSEC Chair ‘Diversity and Performance’ offered me a unique chance to learn more about the theory of management of workforce diversity on the one hand and workforce diversity in reality – at the three partner companies – on the other hand. I learned that the effects of workforce diversity could be both negative and positive: it could very well bring more business performance, but also be detrimental for the well functioning of teams within a company, especially due to stereotype thinking. As part of this Chair, you will not only learn about diversity, you will experience it as well; working with different students (different in background, nationality, age, gender etc.) was fun and very instructive!”
“I really enjoyed being part of the 1st promotion of the Diversity & Performance chair. Of course, it was a bit challenging or even frustrating at times, especially the setting up of good work relationships with the 3 partner firms. However, I really appreciated first and foremost the exposure we had to high-level executives of the 3 firms, our visits to their headquarters, and the interviews we made. It definitely made sense in my curriculum to be part of this chair, which gave me a chance to build a link between some deep and personal beliefs and aspirations of mine and the business world. I’d even dare say that the chair is a great opening to what doing business actually is right now, and will be in the near future: dealing with new challenges linked to the changes of the workforce and creating innovative ways to attract and keep people, be they employees, shareholders or customers.
“Knowing the chair had just been created, I wasn't sure what to expect. As Promo 1 members, we didn't have anyone to ask about experiences in previous years. Nonetheless, everyone seemed to enter with an extremely open mind. We all learned together the process of choosing a research topic, gathering data and how to communicate with the sponsors. I met some very open, friendly and ambitious people through the chair. Of course, we also made some valuable contacts within Deloitte, Air France and L'Oreal. I knew that diversity was a "soft" topic before entering, but I've realized exactly what that means. Even large companies who dedicate headcount and large efforts toward diversity are not even sure what diversity means. I witnessed that everyone is simply trying to do their best to be as objective as possible in their corporate decisions. I think it is an excellent chair which will allow students to not only learn about what the companies are doing, but also contribute to the companies' knowledge of diversity by contributing the perspective of a student.
"The Diversity and Performance chair gave me the opportunity to have a good overview of HR policies and process in three very different work environments. My project was about men and women careers and although you could think it is an old subject, we found out it was really an issue nowadays. We also got to interact with passionate and fascinating people, both in the chair and in the partner firms. What I appreciated most about the chair was that it helped me develop both my professional and personal plans." |
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