Diversity
Published: July 31, 2019
Diversity
Published: July 31, 2019

‘Nobody Is an Island: You Need a Team to Succeed’

Silvia Ceratto, PPG EHS & engineering and maintenance manager, Quattordio, Italy is an inspiration to us all! Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) is imperative to how our colleagues are safeguarded and Silvia is an example of brilliance in her field.

She started her journey with us in 2007, as the EHS manager in the Quattordio plant. After mastering the country’s safety approach, she soon expanded to the role into the Felizzano (Industrial Coating SBU) plant and the Genova (PMC) site as well as field safety projects.

EHS management is taken very seriously in our company but Silvia takes pleasure in a challenge!

I have fun at work because of the contact with people and the challenges of improvement that always arise.

Collaboration and Cooperation Are Key

Within a manufacturing plant there are always challenging situations and they mainly relate to communication. Silvia believes that cooperation and teamwork create success:

My approach is dialogue: nobody is an island. And in today’s world, you need a team behind you to succeed. Therefore, being a team player is almost as important as any academic degree.

Engineering: A Man’s World?

Silvia is no stranger to the stereotype of engineering as a man’s world. In fact, she had some issues relating to inequality in her earlier career:

A male colleague was chosen over myself in a research and development role because I was a young woman at the age for a family and children.

But Silvia has worked hard to disprove gender preconceptions in her field:

The technical sectors in manufacturing could be considered ‘a man’s world’ but at PPG I’ve experienced that the world of research and development can be also a feminine world! I think PPG is improving to support women workers but I think there is still a long way to go for a proper balance in the work-family relationship.

Be More Daring

Silvia’s advice for anyone else coming into her field would be to take more chances!

Be more daring, especially when it comes to experiences abroad.

What motivates Silvia the most is a sense of accomplishment. She prides herself on leading a successful team that finishes projects on time and on budget. Silvia also has a lot of ambition and sees PPG as a place to grow and thrive:

I am proud to work at PPG because it is a big company that wants to grow and that always launches new challenges that I like to seize.

Striking a Healthy Balance

It’s important for Silvia to maintain a work/life balance and although her children Alessia and Nicolo are now 20 and 16, she’s still in the mindset of getting home to help with homework!

When she was younger, Silvia managed her daughter’s volleyball team showing she has leadership skills in whatever she’s involved with!

I believe that the mechanisms of work and home are very similar: to collaborate as a family, to have the same goals and to always find ideas for fun together.

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