Could you please introduce yourself ?

My name is Elena Jianu and I am a woman, university lecturer, entrepreneur and the author of my own dreams! I try to perform all the functions above and most of the time I succeed. Regarding my past, I will leave you a CV for more details. I have never worked in projects related to gender equality and I thank you for thinking that I could be part of this project, but I chose to apply what I had learned, read and seen in other countries with which my organization works and I think I have successful.

Could you describe your organization in a few words?
In a few words, the Eltra Logis company, founded in 2006, is a dynamic, young company that provides integrated logistics and transport services, as well as management and taxation consulting. We have our own fleet of 37 trucks intended especially for the textile industry, but also 11 refrigerators for the food and pharma industry, and spaces of over 4000 square meters in Romania and Spain where we offer value-added services for the textile industry and the automotive industry.

Could you please give some facts and figures or a description of the status-quo related to the gender equality situation in your sector/ecosystem or region/country? What are the challenges encountered?

I’ve met in my experience:

  • Differences of approach regarding gender equality in developed countries and Romania that made me believe that we are still far behind the general evolution in Europe.
  • The obviously misogynistic business attitude of male entrepreneurs in Romania.
  • Total lack of openness at the Government level in doing something concrete, not just declaring nice percentages in which women can reach up to 30% of 100% at the management level.
  • Lack of empathy at the social level and in the business environment for the issue of women or different sexual orientations.

Could you please indicate what levers you see to address these challenges or to improve the situation you just described? Where do you see clusters playing a role in the process?

I think the cluster-type organizations should to get involved in:

  • Permanent dialogues with its members.
  • Negotiation with the Government for parliamentary initiatives of interest in this area as soon as possible and with a well-established calendar.
  • Cooperation with other gender organizations on something concrete related to the change in legislation and then to raise awareness of the change in the organizations.

Do you face recruitment difficulties? Would you say that gender equality offers a solution to overcome these difficulties and why?

We don’t face recruitment difficulties related to gender equality, the company I run is open and we are very democratic, the only problem lately is the general lack of interest in work, no matter the gender, people in general do not want to work anymore, and it Is a problem I’ve noticed in other industries, too..

Do you think that your organization is aware of gender equality rules? If so, do you know how to comply with these rules? What could be helpful (trainings, webinars, reference person in the company, etc)?

We are up to date with the legislation and we update the procedures and Internal Order Regulation every 6 months, but we feel that usually something is stipulated in the legislation because it is mandatory, but it is not put into practice, so, yes, it is necessary a training in this sense in all organizations and to make sure that their HRs are open to discussions.

Would you say working on gender mainstreaming can bring solutions to other challenges you observe (retaining female HR in organisations by addressing issues such as equality in wages, work-life balance, fight against sexist acts, populating rural areas, etc)

Yes, it’s true, we’re practically opening PENELOPE’s box, not to say Pandora’s box, because the idea is to win in social evolution here. Obviously, it is the start of a new era that can produce social movements, but it is necessary to assume them.

Could you please describe why gender equality is important for you personally and/or for your organization?

For me it is important because I want confident, happy employees and if they do not feel that way at home or in the rest of society, the organization has to lose and will be able to do very little for them. I am a woman and even I have often felt a different behavior towards me compared to a male entrepreneur.

How would you describe the added value brought by a woman leading an organisation and thus leading an industrial sector so to say What are your challenges/ opportunities being a woman manager?

Women work with details, it’s difficult to work under a woman because she sees everything and FEELS everything, and then I think the world would be better, let’s empathize and tell the truth. It’s not difficult for me to be a female manager, I know what I want and above all I’m sure of myself, I’m a strong and self-sufficient woman when it comes to decisions and therefore I don’t see why men would have any impediment to work with me.

What would be your closing word? Your main message on advancing gender equality approaches in companies/clusters/public authorities/governments?

I wish programs like PENELOPE to exist in reality and the message to be spread more in social media and I still hope in a society where women are equal to men and not just in syrupy speeches. The world would be better and many of the social conflicts would not exist!