Podcast S9E7 | Beyond Compliance with Laura Ferrara

TRANSCRIPT

Kimberley Cole 0:01
This is Risky Women Radio, a show that connects, celebrates and champions women in risk regulation and compliance. We’re here to share the insights on the biggest issues in our industry and hear inspiring journeys from our global members. Sign up to our newsletter at riskywomen.org. I’m Kimberley Cole, your Chief Risky Woman.

Cristina Peano 0:22
Welcome to Risky Women Radio. My name is Cristina Peano, Managing Director from Protiviti and I am truly delighted to be here today. It is my pleasure to welcome a special guest, someone I’ve known both as a friend and as a professional peer. She’s Laura, Chief, Global Chief Internal Audit and Risk Management Officer at Amplifon Group. Welcome.

Laura Ferrara 0:55
Thank you Cristina.

Cristina Peano 0:57
Your career journey has been truly inspiring. Could you share what happened after university days?

Laura Ferrara 1:06
Absolutely. After starting my career at PwC, external audit firm, then I joined Telecom Italia, in the telecommunication sector. And then in 2005 I joined Edison, a global key player in the energy sector. Following Edison’s acquisition by EDF Electricity de France, the leader in the nuclear energy, I moved to Paris to lead internal audit project, international internal audit project. Then in 2015 I turned to Italy and to Trenord in the railway sector. And sincerely, 2021 have been proud to take on my current role at Amplifon.

Cristina Peano 1:55
Laura, as I know you, I know you’re passionate about your work, and I believe that most of the people who would be listening to this podcast would like to, would love to hear something about you both, professionally, in terms of your personal in your personal life, can can you share something?

Laura Ferrara 2:16
Yes. So what can I say? I’m Italian. I live in Milan.

Cristina Peano 2:21
and we’re recording this session from Italy.

Laura Ferrara 2:23
Yes.

Cristina Peano 2:24
Laura, thank you for sharing. Let’s talk a little bit about Amplifon, which is a very important group and very well known in Italy. Not sure how known it is worldwide. Can you give us some context?

Laura Ferrara 2:38
Yes, of course, Amplifon is the world leader in hearing care, and it operates in 26 countries through three key regions, EMEA, the Americas and the APAC, our business is centred on a robust network of clinics and franchises. What truly characterised us is the high standard of our care provided by the hearing care professional. They are committed to delivering the best solution for our customers. And it’s not simply about selling products. It’s about changing lives of our customers through an expert service and care. Miracle-Ear is the brand through which Amplifon operates in the United States retail market through clinics, and both clinics and franchisees with a network of more than 1500 clinics across the country, Miracle-Ear is widely recognized as one of the most trusted and established hearing care brands in the United States. It’s a key part of our global strategy, combining innovation customer care and accessibility to our customer to make a difference in people’s lives, creating a unique service for them.

Cristina Peano 4:05
Of course, you mentioned Miracle-Ear so people listen to this podcast in us probably recall the brand, and as you, as you, as you mentioned that there’s a lot of complexity going on in Amplifon, which may be even, which may be even greater than the revenue size that the revenue size of the group might suggest. So how complex is is Amplifon?

Laura Ferrara 4:35
Amplify is far more complex than its revenue might suggest. Our business is a complex business that is operating at the intersection of global business, global demand, hearing care, regulation..

Cristina Peano 4:56
It’s a regulated business?

Laura Ferrara 4:59
Yes, industry. And technological driven retail. Each of these brings a set of challenges for us, from compliance to innovation, from a local market dynamic to global strategy. So it’s extremely important that at the same time, our risk management system must be just as agile, sophisticated and integrated.

Cristina Peano 5:31
And having in mind a personal experience…

Laura Ferrara 5:33
of course

Cristina Peano 5:34
to change lives.

Kimberley Cole 5:38
This episode is brought to you by Protiviti. Protiviti is a global consulting firm with deep expertise in transformation, risk management and compliance. Partner with Protiviti and face the future with confidence.

Cristina Peano 5:56
Okay, let’s stop a little the business challenges. Let’s…I’ve heard you’ve always told me that Amplifone is highly committed to diversity. Can you share something?

Laura Ferrara 6:08
Sure. At Amplifon, we firmly believe that diversity is the key driver for of growth and innovation. We embrace different backgrounds, experiences, perspectives across our global teams, over 70% of our workforce are women, and the average age is below 40.

Cristina Peano 6:36
So you’re over average?

Laura Ferrara 6:38
A little bit over, not too much. And so this is this can reflect youthful and dynamic environment and culture in our company. We foster equity inclusion belonging through our policy, and we invest in bias free training, because we truly believe that when every voice is heard, we can amplify our impact.

Cristina Peano 7:06
Impressive. Now let’s go back to risk management, which is something I believe everybody’s interesting in understanding. In Italy, you are no you are known as hands on and very transparent professional. How do you lead risk management process?

Laura Ferrara 7:32
To tell you the truth, our risk management process is genuinely engaging, collaborative and proactive. From my point of view, risk management can’t be just a once a year exercise rather than a continuous journey. My team, together with leaders across business, are deeply involved in our process, dedicated several months annually to this process. We engage leaders, both at corporate and at country level, because we believe that the accurate insights don’t come from dashboards alone. Instead, they come from frank speaking, frank conversation, face to face meeting, dynamic workshop. And I personally attend this meeting, participate this session, because combining building relationship, building confidence and at the same time, sharing perspective is invaluable.

Cristina Peano 8:32
So indeed, hands on?

Laura Ferrara 8:34
Yes, integrated is our guiding principle. Risk management is embedded into every facet of the business, and it promotes long term sustainable purposes, a culture of dialog and strategic partnership. In this context, Integrated Risk Management System together with a bottom up risk assessment approach are essential. They can help us build solid resilience, and they can help us maintain an agile approach to the change, to managing the change.

Cristina Peano 9:15
Everyday change, that..

Laura Ferrara 9:17
Everyday change. Risk Management in this context is not just a traditional analyst. Is like a connector. It brings together different departments, creates a unique vision, an integrated outlook, and then provide the different stakeholders, for example, boards, with comprehensive, integrated and timely update about the main risk factors across different time horizons.

Cristina Peano 9:55
So here the key word is, engaging. Engage everybody right?

Laura Ferrara 9:58
Yes, engaging. Everybody, both at corporate and at country level.

Cristina Peano 10:04
That’s very interesting. Now, Amplifon is a pretty much mature environment in terms of risk management. You’ve got process, you’ve got people, you got engagement. Now, not everybody is at the same level, not every group, but not in Italy, I believe, not even all around the world. So not everybody is is is that mature in process? They’re advancing the process. Let’s think about those who are not that mature. And what would you say to those organization that haven’t fully embraced risk management yet? Why should they invest in it?

Laura Ferrara 10:40
From my point of view, investing in risk management is like setting up installing state of art navigation system. It doesn’t just help you to avoid obstacles, it guides you toward opportunities with a greater speed and clarity. Companies that embrace risk management strategically don’t just protect their value. They announce it, several companies are able to transform, to turn a potential threat into growth levers by adopting tools that are useful to detect, to anticipate and to manage the change of the landscape, of the context on the situations that you can find. So risk management, in terms of opportunity management, yes. In this particular context, neglecting risk management is like sitting without a compass. You can, it can work for a while, but it’s not sustainable in the long run.

Cristina Peano 11:55
What do we need to expect? Which are the risks to be aware of from looking looking ahead?

Laura Ferrara 12:03
As I already said, our world is fast changing world, so the situation, the uncertainty of the situation, is difficult to at this stage, to assess for sure, we have to consider the macroeconomic context and the geopolitical context they are impacted all the countries in all the regions that where Amplifon operates. So to tell the truth in my job is extremely important to create a good relationship with our regulatory team in order to be always updated about the news in all the countries where we operate, and at the same time, as I said, for all the risk professional be updated about global and local news in order to be able to adapt and to anticipate every effect that we could have.

Cristina Peano 13:04
And I believe that time is a game changer.

Laura Ferrara 13:06
Change is quick, timely way.

Cristina Peano 13:08
Never been so quick.

Laura Ferrara 13:10
Yes, right the I think the right word is to be agile. We need to be agile to survive into a changing world in a fast changing world.

Cristina Peano 13:23
Right? But what advice would you offer to aspiring risky woman and well, or anyone who indeed would like to to build his or her future in risk management?

Laura Ferrara 13:37
As you know, kind of true. My advice applies to all risk professionals, regardless of gender. The days of managing behind closed doors are long gone. My suggestion to stay alert to what’s happening internally and what is changing outside your organisation, and invest in yourself. Make it a habit to stay informed, to to consult different viewpoints, to be to stay up to date with global and local news and to engage strategic in strategic conversations with executives. The only way to remain relevant and to provide added value is by being proactive, informed and always ready for the unexpected. From my point of view, continuous learning and open dialog are essential in our fast changing world.

Cristina Peano 14:41
So this is your piece of advice? Yes, well, luck to all those engaging in this profession! So Laura..

Laura Ferrara 14:50
Thank you Cristina!

Cristina Peano 14:51
No, I thank you. I thank you for these, for sharing so much of yourself and of your experience and for the courage of having this podcast recorded. It was a pleasure. It’s been very interesting. It’s been, I hope, interesting also for those listening, and hope to see you soon.

Laura Ferrara 15:14
Thank you very much. Thank you everybody, and Bye, bye.

Cristina Peano 15:17
And thank you as well for Risky Women for hosting us.

Kimberley Cole 15:21
Thank you for listening to this episode of Risky Women Radio, be part of the ongoing conversation and learn more about our events and other programs at riskywomen.org