Meet Tiziana, a seasoned professional at Ingersoll Rand who successfully navigates the complexities of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) integration and champions DE&I initiatives. Tiziana shares insights into her career journey and her international experiences, and elaborates on how participation in the Women Talent Pool programme at WIL is contributing to her leadership development.

Interviewed by Anastasiia Hresko 

Having worked at Ingersoll Rand for the past 18 years, starting in Product Management and later moving to Engineering, what motivated you to transition to work in the Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) department? 

Product Management (PM) plays a key role in determining a company’s strategy. Many corporates have a PM-centric vision thus helping the product manager to interact and develop connections with all the main functions. After 15 years covering a range of regional and global roles, it was the merger of two large American companies, Ingersoll Rand and Gardner Denver, that helped me see a perfect opportunity for a career shift. In an industrial company like Ingersoll Rand, my technical background in engineering, in addition to my financial background have been critical to help me in targets selection and to find the right approach to strategy alignment, and led me to decide  to move to the M&A department. 

Can you elaborate on your current role as Process Excellence and M&A Integration Manager at Ingersoll Rand? How do you leverage process excellence principles to ensure smooth M&A integrations? 

Our competitive differentiator at Ingersoll Rand is called IRX or “Ingersoll Rand Execution Excellence”, and this helps the integrations (parts of the business that have been integrated) to establish a plan that is reviewed weekly. It is also very efficient in helping to fix new priorities. This tool provides the structure and the guidelines to ensure a smooth process where every single function involved, from HR to finance, knows exactly what to do when welcoming a new company “in the family”, whatever the size and location. Of course, cultural differences need to be adjusted for, but the main principle stays there as a backbone. I have done seven integrations so far, which is a lot and is due to the company’s  huge pipeline, and having a well-defined structure behind it has been of great help.

M&A transactions have become increasingly complex due to factors such as global economic uncertainty and rapid technological advancements. What are the most significant challenges you've encountered during a M&A integration processes, and how do you overcome them to achieve successful outcomes?

Economic slowdowns actually serve as a very good opportunity for M&As to show up since it is  when many companies realise that it is time to find an ally to continue the growth of the company. I would say that cultural differences, technology integration and talent retention are the most significant challenges during integrations. Having done a wide portfolio of acquisitions, from small to big companies, from Spain to Slovakia to Italy, I see that the only way to have a successful integration is to have a solid playbook to work with, a committed and skilled team to rely on and a post-mortem meeting to collect all missing activities, best practices and the lessons learned.  

When it comes to technology, not only AI but also tools like Teams and SharePoint greatly facilitate our work, and I am constantly improving my skills in this area by taking up additional certification and courses. 

Cultural differences, technology integration and talent retention are the most significant challenges during integrations.

Having worked in both Venezuela and Italy, how has your global perspective influenced your approach to business and problem-solving at Ingersoll Rand?

“Being a local” while working on M&A is crucial to make people feel comfortable, and my skills in Italian, Spanish and English have been of great help, as well as the fact that I grew up in Venezuela which is a very multicultural country. I built an international network at university and have worked with people from various backgrounds which has helped me develop problem solving skills. But to be honest, the best problem-solving school is being a mum! Having a 10-year-old with my husband and living with no family in Milan while having to travel more than half of my working time, I would say it’s a great example of how a woman can be a great addition to business as an excellent problem solver and planner!

The best problem-solving tool is being a mum! 

Aside from your current management role we’ve discussed, you were also a chair and ally of DE&I EMEIA. What role did you play in developing and implementing DE&I strategies for Ingersoll Rand in these regions?

Helping women and learning from them has always been a must for me! A focus on DE&I in Europe has been important Ingersoll Rand since the company operates in a very male-oriented industrial environment where some women believe that they do not have the right to occupy senior positions or don’t make the organisational leap internally due to imposter syndrome. 

We try to empower women and improve their experience both in the workplace and in their personal life. . The two are mutual: if you are happy in life, you are happy in the workplace and vice versa. Sponsoring and mentoring are also crucial since they allow for external and internal “visibility” of women as professionals. Thus, our more than 10 chapters in DE&I involve strategies around these topics.

Helping women and learning from them has always been a must for me!

As a participant in the Women Talent Pool (WTP) programme at WIL Europe, how do you believe this experience will contribute to your leadership development and aspirations for senior leadership roles?

I found the WTP leadership programme when surfing the internet in desperate need of some “female networking” and, having seen the WIL page on LinkedIn, I immediately realised that this was something for me. We met at the WIL Annual Gathering in London earlier this year with all the WTP Talents and partners and I returned home with a wealth of new knowledge and culture-related insights.

The monthly workshops help to refresh my knowledge of topics and reflect on how to lead with purpose, how to build my personal brand and how to make my voice heard by top management. I appreciate receiving feedback from other women and having dedicated time during sessions where we can exchange ideas in small groups. These things are having a huge impact on my development.

Having joined this community of female leaders, have you noticed a certain quality present in most of them that you admire the most? 

This year’s cohort of the WTP leadership programme is amazing, with women who have backgrounds in Finance, IT, Legal, Universities, NGOs and the European Commission, amongst others. We have such a diverse team, very full of energy and eager to learn and share knowledge! It is great to exchange real cases with them and I always feel very comfortable talking to others and exchanging valuable feedback. This is gold for me! Everyone is very talented, and we are growing together. I cannot wait for the second round of Career Development sessions to start soon.

This year’s cohort of the WTP leadership programme is very diverse, full of energy and eager to learn and share the knowledge!

Video edited by Tara Arnott