People in Lighting: Aina Rakoto
Companies are defined by the people who work for them: for over a century, Schréder has been at the forefront of lighting thanks to its employees worldwide. Life@Schréder is where we tell the stories of the people who make Schréder what it is, taking in the 70 countries where we do business, diverse career trajectories and our collective dedication to excellence in lighting.
Schréder is a truly global company, putting our customers at the heart of innovative lighting and control systems for decades. From inventing a whole new lighting system for the Channel Tunnel, to helping communities reach sustainability goals with lighting that respects natural biorhythms and reflects their character, we create spaces people love to live in.
Our people are at the heart of this, as the Life@Schréder series has shown. In honour of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work on 28th April, we spoke to Aina Rakoto, Group Quality Manager at Schréder about her role, in particular the health and safety aspects. Schréder’s corporate values, in particular our Together for Our People, put employees’ safety and well-being at the heart of our processes.
Aina Rakoto joined Schréder in July 2019 after working in project management in the healthcare sector. Raised in Belgium, she works for the Schréder Group in Liège, but spends a lot of her time travelling to understand what drives quality in Schréder’s factories and Schréder STUDIO centres worldwide.
As a child I wanted to work in public relations…
I was able to achieve this by obtaining a degree in communication, along with other degrees in facility and process management. What brings all these elements together is a concern for representing people. So it was a natural transition to presenting a department’s image to ensure that roles are clarified and that the working environment is serene and healthy for all employees.
When I was approached by Schréder, I immediately said yes…
I love it here. There are no coincidences in life and no opportunity should be ignored. I still remember the brief moment when I doubted that I would be able to report directly to the Chief Technical Officer of an international group. But I went for it! In my previous life I was working for a big American company, it could be quite impersonal. Here, it’s a family company so more employee-friendly, even the CEO, you can reach out to him, and he’ll talk to you as a person.
The family aspect and the consideration of people (your environment, your well-being, your safety but also your ambitions, your skills...) is a real added value of Schréder. I am definitely irrefutable proof that Schréder cares about its employees.
I first spent two years as Group R&D Business Operations Manager…
This was a “relay” role, all about being a facilitator, a process simplifier, and enabled me to understand the whole Schréder organisation. I moved on to take over the role of Group Quality - Health and Safety Manager, where I do three things. First, offer daily support for luminaire production in our factories around the world. Next, I’m the “Voice of Operations” to our customers, through our commercial entities and through transparent and constant communication. Finally, I’m in charge of implementing the group strategy for overall Quality management, including the health and safety of our workers.
There is no routine in this role...
I often ask my colleagues to talk about opportunities rather than problems. So I spend most of my days in our factories, outside of Belgium where I'm currently based, to be at the heart of the action. We’ve got seven factories, in Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Ukraine, China, South Africa and Australia, as well as Schréder STUDIO centres where we develop customised lighting solutions. I usually spend three days on a factory visit, and bring relevant experts from my team in Belgium.
Safety in our factories is an absolute priority…
The quality team is in charge of following all the legislation on health and safety compliance. We have a responsibility to our employees to uphold the highest standards and put in place concrete actions to make sure that people are safe in their daily environment. Local teams in the factories also play an important role in health and safety as they have manual assembly lines. We need to listen to our employees concerns and given them the opportunity to speak up and raise concerns if need be. It’s a constant dialogue with the teams.
And that means being on the ground…
We need to follow the legal requirements, and in parallel, we need to hear what’s happening in the field. We need to ensure we've added value for people, it's not just about putting details in place because it was in the standards. Many problems can be solved by simply being available to others, listening to the reality on the ground and making decisions based on the real situation.
And it doesn’t have to be boring…
Health and safety also means making mental health a priority. Together with colleagues in Human Resources, my teams are organising different events in all the companies worldwide. In Portugal, for example, we are having a competition to design slogans for World Day for Safety and Health at Work, there’s a lot going on!
I’m proudest of…
My team. We’ve really raised our game and taken on a central role at the heart of the organisation. Quality is not something we can pursue alone, we need the engagement of every staff member in every team/department in every factory. And that’s what I’m seeing.
Connect with Aina on LinkedIn.