Electrolux : International Day of the Girl – Keep that lens where gender inequality is not even imaginable

Natalia Farfan Santos is Global Talent Acquisition and Employer Branding Specialist at Electrolux. Find out more about her passions for people, gender equality and her Colombian roots in our final interview showcasing young women at Electrolux ahead of tomorrow's International Day of the Girl.

You work in the Global Talent management team for Electrolux. Tell us how you got here

My path started in 2010 at AIESEC in Colombia and then their headquarters in the Netherlands. AIESEC is a youth-led global organization fostering leadership. The experience brought me so much and as I expanded my network I kept meeting Electrolux people who piqued my interest to work with them.

Thanks to that network I joined Electrolux in 2016. Since then I've held different challenging roles in HR, which made me realize how passionate I am about people.

What does your role entail?

My team is in charge of maintaining and improving the talent acquisition processes, specifically all those touchpoints a person has when they contemplate joining and developing their career at Electrolux. I keep in mind that everything is and should be about people rather than processes, and how we support people to grow and perform at their best.

After helping set up and co-lead an employee initiative to raise awareness and act on gender diversity (Women at Electrolux in Stockholm), I am now working with my talent management team to further our diversity and inclusion starting with gender diversity.

What are you most proud of about your role at Electrolux?

In my role, definitely the opportunity to impact our employees in a positive way. I also want to make a tangible difference on gender diversity.

I'm proud to work at Electrolux for its leadership in sustainability and the clear actions we are taking to shape living for the better, as well as the great diversity you can see at our headquarters where +1,000 people work from +60 different countries.

Who is your hero?

As this is International Day of the Girl, I can't not mention Greta Thunberg as she is a great force for good in this world. There are many other women and girls who push for a world where there is no harm to others, to the planet, to ourselves; executives and leaders striving for an even more gender-equal world. These are my kind of heroes.

What career tip would you give young girls starting on the career ladder?

I would encourage young girls to keep hold of that lens children have where a world with gender inequality is not even imaginable. I would also say keep your mind open as you get on that ladder-we might start off on one path only to explore another where you might discover your true passions. My dream is that 'boys stuff' vs 'girls stuff' and preconceptions about careers will not exist at all.

What would you say to other young girls thinking about joining AIESEC?

Not only to girls but to everyone: Go for it! At AIESEC you build many 'muscles' (skills) you didn't know you could develop and it readies you for the corporate world in ways that you could never achieve through university alone.

Tell us something about you that we wouldn't learn from your CV

I'm always listening to Latin American music: not simply because it makes my day happier but because it helps me to remember why I am here, where I come from and my global citizen responsibility to make a difference regardless of where I am.