This month, we continue our Women in EVA blog series, sharing professional insight and experiences from EVA Global's female leadership, highlighting professional motivation and insight as we transform our workplaces to create a more inclusive society.
Originally from the Lapa district in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, today we introduce Milady Costa dos Santos, who works at EVA Global’s People Solutions team. We had a chance to speak with her about what influenced her career path and discuss what makes a good business cultural fit, equality, and much more.
What initially inspired you to join EVA Global?
As it happens, many close colleagues and friends had been working at EVA since before I first heard about the company, and I strongly believe in taking a collaborative and network approach. When first looking at EVA Global one understands it’s not only about a mission and vision on a company level, but also how we are helping societies, this is a chance to be part of a new positive movement.
While my early university studies were related to accountancy, auditing, and dealing with numbers all day and night - I moved into tourism, however, with the Covid situation, the industry was at a standstill. Looking to start a new chapter, this is where I discovered the soaring potential of the EV world and sustainable transport, and also a workplace where we have the opportunity to speak openly about the overall mission and vision to help EV drivers. I believe finding a workplace where we can speak openly and passionately about how we can change things for the better, engages and benefits everyone.
What do you believe are essential elements a person should think of before joining a new company?
While this is different for everyone, candidates need to consider a few points; is the role stimulating or challenging, is there career progression opportunities and career growth with the company, and are they able to learn new things and develop skills in their environment, also feeling valued and a core part of the team.
Even before the pandemic, one of the newer trends that is growing in recent years is managers' plan to support flexibility around work schedules and increase remote working for their employees, whether for new parents, or other real-life reasons. Ultimately a person should look for a place where the work environment celebrates its people.
What do you believe are some obstacles to women's career advancement that you may have encountered, and any thoughts on how can we improve this?
As in many fields, we find differences like the need to be everything to everyone, fewer leadership opportunities, even salary pay disparity, or negotiation of a pay raise are serious obstacles.
For instance, having less time seems to be a problem in our society, where women may have less time considering an extended maternity leave, they may need to leave their job to care for a child, or temporarily for a doctor’s visit. Observing this, I believe this is part of the reason women have fewer leadership opportunities and why salaries can lag compared to men.
I can however say, fortunately, at EVA we have open discussions, transparency, and use technology platforms and tools in our favor, so we don't experience these differences here. I think companies lagging behind, should consider taking action to eliminate the gap.
Women face unique challenges in the workplace, and in many ways, it is not fair that there are extra hurdles to clear to be successful, but if we are sincere about doing great work in this world, we will succeed in our career goals.