Interview with Maribel Monge, CIO of HomeServe Iberia

Name: Maribel Monge
Post: CIO of HomeServe Iberia
Date of birth: 8-28-1972 Sons: two
Hobbies: travel and share good times with friends
Studies: Bachelor of Business Administration

Interview with Maribel Monge, CIO of HomeServe Iberia

How did you get into the ICT world?

Clearly, I came to the ICT world by chance. I have a degree in Business Administration and my first work experience was in a software company as a junior financial consultant. From there, I followed the traditional career of any consultant, going through the different stages of junior, senior, project manager… And from there, I have progressed to where I am today, CIO of HomeServe Iberia.

What do you value most about your job?

I love my job and that is how I try to pass it on to my entire team every day. I think it shows in the passion with which we do things. If I had to highlight one aspect, it would be the ability to generate innovative business solutions that add value to our day-to-day activities, and that serve as a lever to differentiate ourselves from our competition and obtain a differential advantage in the market.

In your opinion, what is wrong so that women do not bet more on the study of STEM careers?

Despite the fact that we have made great progress in recent years regarding the gender gap, in all senses and in all sectors, there are still some barriers, mainly psychological, that place women in studies more closely linked to letters and humanities versus STEM. Thanks to the greater awareness of society and the effort that is being made, fortunately day by day we are approaching a much more balanced situation and women are gaining presence in STEM studies.

Do you think there is a “glass ceiling” in ICT companies? What should be the solution?

Unfortunately in this case, the numbers speak for themselves. In my opinion, I do not think there is a magic formula to solve the problem, but I think that a large part of the solution lies, without a doubt, in betting on talent regardless of gender.

Can a quota policy solve the problem?

From my point of view, the quota policy can become empty and short-term, in those cases in which the female quota does not provide the knowledge, talent, experience and skills necessary to adequately develop the position. The numbers, parity and odds, are just that, just numbers. We are responsible for making sense of these numbers within organizations and, therefore, we have the great challenge of showing that our capabilities can break all these barriers.

What difficulties did you encounter to get to the position you currently have?

I have always felt like a lucky person in the professional field, but certainly, I have to say that not all the companies I have worked for have had equal opportunities for men and women as internalized in their culture as HomeServe has. In particular, I remember a couple of complicated situations, but I’m left with the learning and that the decisions I made at that time have brought me here.

What do you value most about your company regarding the integration of women?

I am proud to be part of the HomeServe team, a company that is firmly committed to female talent and equality. In fact, at present, our workforce is made up of 74% women, with more than 56% representing middle managers and reaching a presence of 43% in managerial positions. In our IT team, for example, we already have 32% female representation.

In addition, at HomeServe we have a large number of equality initiatives and plans aimed at always guaranteeing equal opportunities. In fact, we work every day to continue being one of the best companies to work for in Spain.

35% of students do not manage to finish high school or the equivalent vocational training. Is education the problem of the lack of specialized profiles?

I believe that our educational system should have a more personalized orientation to our students. Each of them has particular needs and different circumstances. Our system is not designed to study each case in depth and propose the most favorable alternatives for each student.

Have the studies you did helped you to carry out your current work?

When I started my professional career, it was clear that I was not, because I could not understand how I could apply everything I had learned in my university years to my day-to-day work, I was completely lost. Over the years, as I have progressed in my career, and due to the nature of the role I now play, this initial perception has completely changed.

Solve the problem of education in Spain…

The work environment and the means we have to develop our profession have changed a lot over the years. From my point of view, education has not been able to adapt at the same pace to this new environment, and our children continue to memorize material indiscriminately or do exercises that they will not be able to apply in a work environment in the future.

I believe that it is necessary to align both worlds if, in the medium term, we want our new professionals to have a very close vision of what their work environment will be like when they join the labor market.

If you had to advise a young person what to study in order to obtain a stable job future, where would you guide them?

Business Administration and Industrial Engineering are a classic, they always have good job opportunities. But undoubtedly, the revolution in technology and the expectations of its application in the medium term to our day-to-day life, makes careers or degrees related to computer architecture, programming or similar positions as promising options in the search for stability. labor.

Where do you think the ICT sector is going? In your opinion, what are the trends that are really going to transform society?

Everything goes through automation, either through robots or artificial intelligence, and the simplification of tasks, being the most qualified or those where added value is provided, which people will continue to provide.