Interview Questionnaire for Natalia Mochales, Vice President and Head of Compliance at Ericsson Middle East and Africa
Through this questionnaire, we aim to highlight your achievements, professional milestones, notable contribution, the organization you run, and your contribution to society. We are looking for perspicacious and beneficial answers from your side.
- Give a brief overview of your professional journey. What made you choose your current industry?
I’ve always had a strong sense of ethics and justice. I owe my core understanding of the difference between right and wrong, of the need for personal and commercial integrity, ethical behaviour and justice to my father, a first-class lawyer, who, through consistency of example, brought up his children to understand the rewards of integrity and compliance and the consequences of choosing not to comply. He showed me that there is always the possibility to make the right decision, even though that choice is most likely not the easiest one.
It would seem Law was in my DNA and consequently, a natural career path. After obtaining a law degree, I decided to specialize in European and international law and I moved to Brussels where in addition to complementing my studies, I joined the Brussels branch of the Spanish law firm. I worked very closely with the European Institution and thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity. Looking back at my time in Brussels, I can firmly say that those 5 years shaped me, both professionally and personally. Some of my best friends are related to that period and still form part of my life today. We were all young, full of curiosity and eager to learn. However, I wanted more, I was interested in multinational corporations, so I left Brussels and enrolled for an Executive MBA degree at IE University on completion of which, AT&T offered the post of Retail Commercial Lawyer EMEA with a focus on contracts and negotiations. This was my first foray into the ICT sector. I found responsibility for global customer contract negotiations across the whole of Southern Europe, a most interesting challenge, and a great learning opportunity in an exciting industry. That I was multilingual and consequently able to negotiate in different languages was a distinct advantage and I learned much and gained significant international and ICT industry experience during the 5 years I spent in their employment. It was at this moment that I met the woman who became my mentor and friend; she was the General Counsel for EMEA, and an excellent lawyer now retired with whom I remain in contact.
Later, I became Vice-President for EMEA Contract Compliance at McCann Worldgroup, subsequently moving up to the post of EMEA Contract Compliance Director at its parent company, Interpublic Group (IPG). It was in this role that my work necessitated frequent visits to the Middle East. A new challenge took me to Holcim Group, which was then known as LafargeHolcim. Here, I first worked as Head of Compliance for Western Europe, North and West Africa and then as MEA Regional Compliance Officer. During this period, I travelled intensively in Africa and the Middle East, almost weekly on a plane travelling to a new destination. Cement plants and offices were neither smart nor located in well-ordered cities but situated in remote places within the various countries. It’s said once you experience working with Africa/ Middle East it’s difficult to stop. Was not necessarily easy, we had many challenges but some of my best memories and learnings are related to that period.
It was at this time I was offered the position of Senior Compliance Officer with Ericsson which enabled me to reduce the time I had previously travelled, and I was subsequently promoted to Head of Compliance for MEA. I was excited about returning to the ICT industry and especially to MEA, as it offers great potential for blazing new trails in terms of gender equality, diversity, and inclusion. My main responsibilities involve designing and implementing global compliance programs and improving existing processes and procedures and advising the business in conducting business responsibly across a large market area covering more than 70 countries.
- What, according to you, is the biggest obstacle en-route to self-healing?
This is quite a challenging question that would be best answered by a psychologist. Often, it’s a combination of factors that prevent us from self-healing – from repressed feelings to difficult interpersonal relationships. For me, the hardest bit is always to acknowledge the inconvenient truth and being honest to oneself. As human beings, we are excellent at justifying why things need to be the way they are – even though our instincts tell us otherwise.
Holding on to things that have, over time, become neither relevant nor beneficial is a definite hindrance. It is very important to be open and ready to embrace changes which for sure will allow us to keep growing as an individual.
- What strategies have you employed to foster a culture of compliance and ethical behavior within Ericsson
At the end of 2019, I joined Ericsson at a unique moment in time, just before signing a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the US Department of Justice and having been under independent monitorship since June 2020. This gave rise to a significant point of change for the company in accepting responsibility for past misconduct and adopting a determination to engender a core value of organization-wide integrity going forward.
At Ericsson, we take pride in being a responsible, relevant driver of positive change within the communities where we operate. Our Code of Business Ethics (CoBE) serves as our compass in this regard. It provides us with the resources and information we need to conduct our business responsibly, make ethical decisions and maintain trust among our customers, partners and shareholders.
Our proactive efforts extend beyond legal compliance and focus on improving and strengthening our responsible business practices while reinforcing a culture of trust, transparency, and integrity across the whole organization.
We have today a comprehensive Ethics and Compliance Program in place that is centered around a few core elements. The program enables us to raise awareness and prevent mistakes and breaches of our CoBE, detect those instances when they do happen, and respond and remediate them quickly. It also sets out a robust and transparent reporting and disclosure framework on a par with global best practices.
In recent years, we have made significant investments to strengthen the program with policies, processes, and tools for preventing, detecting, reporting, and remediating non-compliance behaviors. Our efforts focused on four areas where it was needed the most – leadership and culture, third-party engagements, compliance and investigation capabilities and internal controls. Our Ethics and Compliance program represents today a business competitive advantage.
However, this could not be accomplished without first establishing a highly skilled and experienced team of professional compliance officers supported by the top and middle management. When I look back, it seems to me that I have spent an entire lifetime in Ericsson, it has been a few years of intense work, not always easy, which has required great energy for me to get to where we are today. However, it is very gratifying to see how the company has evolved for the better in these years and it is even more so when the colleagues who have been working almost all their lives here recognize it.
- How feasible is leading a holistic life considering today’s fast-paced lifestyle and societal construct?
It is feasible but not without first fully understanding the interconnection between mind, body, spirit, and emotions, realising the benefits to one’s life that would be felt from developing positive habits/ shedding negative ones. It is next to impossible to excel at everything but possible to excel at certain things and do reasonably well at others. The key is to focus on what you have proven to be personally beneficial as your life evolves and not on what the world at large would have you believe would be beneficial. In this context, I make sure that I dedicate my free time to what I like, and I have also learned over time to say “no” and not surround myself with people who do not give me light and energy. I no longer go to events or dinners because “you have to do it”, I have little free time and that is why I choose very well how and with whom I spend it. My family and friends, meditation, outdoor activities, music, and always trying new things make me feel in control.
- In the dynamic business world where things can change in a snap, how does one keep a steady head and focus on the goals?
It’s about establishing priorities, the ability to tune out the noise, but also about agility and having an adaptive mindset. If hiking up a hill when a landslide puts a large rock in your way, reaching your destination remains wholly possible. It’s simply a matter of changing the route, there’s no point banging your head against the rock – you must go around it.
Life has taught me to be flexible; I have developed the ability to adapt to the reality of any given situation and after all these years in the corporate world and living in different cities and continents, still look forward to new challenges and opportunities to learn new things and meet new people. In reflecting on past roles, where I have been and what I have done, I certainly cannot say that it has always been easy. I can firmly say though, that I have learned a lot both from both good and bad experiences, and I am grateful for all of them. I still feel a great deal of the same curiosity and eagerness to grow that I had in the early days of my career, and I am looking forward to whatever the future holds for me.
- How do you, if at all, encourage diversity and inclusion at the workplace?
Diversity and inclusion are among the focal points of our strategy at Ericsson. We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive organization, as this increases our ability to attract the best global talent, foster innovation and deliver increased value to our customers. We proactively work to achieve greater gender balance, alongside increasing representation of currently underrepresented groups.
As part of our strategy to attract more diverse candidates, we are working with our recruitment partners to strike a 50:50 gender balance for early career and graduate hires. We are also making progress on gender balance through our ALTitude career accelerator program for women, with a third of the program graduates progressing to more senior positions within a year. By the end of 2022, women employed in line management positions had increased to 22% and 35% of the executive leadership comprised of women.
I firmly believe in equal opportunities and in the obligation to develop local talent. When I arrived at Ericsson to face the challenges that awaited us, I had to create my team almost from scratch. MEA is a market where experienced professional compliance officers are scarce, but I have managed to create a team of local talent with a variety of backgrounds, races, religions, ages and genders. I am proud my team can exceed expectations through having a perfect balance in terms of diversity and inclusion and we certainly benefit from having animated discussions on the path to reaching decisions.
- What leadership qualities do you consider essential for driving innovation and leading a successful team?
It is important to stay away from the “Doing the things the way they have always been done“ type of approach. Essential leadership qualities for driving innovation and cultivating a thriving team lie in a strategic blend of adaptability, education, diversity, and collaboration, and trust. I believe these are common qualities for any leader. In my area of responsibility, navigating the intricacies of compliance demands while propelling innovation hinges on a visionary leader who embraces change and encourages cross-functional teamwork. A successful leader in this role must exhibit adaptability, swiftly responding to the dynamic regulatory and risk landscape and industry shifts. This entails fostering a learning culture that empowers team members to stay informed and creatively adapt to new challenges. As a leader, it is on me to support and encourage my team to find the time to pursue new skills and knowledge and provide them with the opportunities that they need to learn and to grow whether by enrolling in specific courses or dedicating time to team discussions where we learn from each other. Diversity, collaboration, and open discussion emerges as a backbone for innovation. By valuing diverse perspectives and backgrounds, a leader stimulates creative problem-solving and ideation, making sure that everybody feels included encouraging the team to share their opinions, experiences, perspectives and feel listened to while guiding the team towards compliant yet innovative solutions. In all this, integrity and compliance remain non-negotiable, with a leader exemplifying unwavering commitment to ethical standards, fostering a culture of transparency, and inspiring ethical behavior.
- What advice would you offer to young women aspiring to excel in the business world, especially in leadership roles.
Do not ever think you are not good enough. You are where you are because you have worked hard for it and because you deserve it. As females, we often tend to strive for perfectionism, and we are overly critical of ourselves. I certainly experienced such feelings in the past, so it is important to remember gender has no connection to an individual’s abilities and determination to progress in a chosen career. Also, never forget to stop and appreciate those who have helped you along the way and, once in a position to do so, contribute to the progress of other promising talents. In that sense I am a mentor and sponsor in internal programs at Ericsson and outside Ericsson I am a co-founder of “The Club of the Spanish Executives in UAE“. We are currently taking the last steps of its’ constitution and look forward to it becoming a reality very soon. On arriving in UAE, I thought it is important to create this Club as a means of primarily providing support/giving visibility to talented Spanish women in management positions and further to generally encourage/support young talented women in their chosen careers. We believe it to be a very worthwhile initiative and are both pleased and proud to have enlisted the support of the Spanish Ambassador and Spanish – British Counsel.
- Where do you see yourself and your organization in the years to come?
I see Ericsson as a role model of compliance sharing the lessons learned with other corporations and industries and a pioneer in diversity and inclusion in the ICT industry. I see us as a leader in breaking the energy curve in the sector through our advanced network energy consumption models and cutting-edge energy-saving technologies. I see us improving the energy performance of our portfolio and taking resolute climate action in our activities and across our supply chain by reaching our Net Zero target. I believe the widespread deployment of 5G, which is by design the most energy-efficient cellular generation to date, will be a key driver of our success. I see us building more productive partnerships with telcos around the world that will help us achieve our shared sustainability goals so that together, we can drive the global transition to a low-carbon and circular economy.
I also see us as a force for good by improving the lives of people by bringing connectivity to previously underserved communities, levelling the playing field and enabling excellence. I see us contributing to women in tech, bridging the gender gap in STEM education where we ensure girls have access to ICT skills both in and outside of school. Moreover, I see us transforming sectors across society where we remain committed to researching and developing products and services that support and reach for the accessibility and affordability of communication infrastructure in our quest for digital inclusion. And finally, I see us continuing to mark many global firsts and set new benchmarks for the deployment and use of technology in the most responsible way.
As for myself, I will keep on strengthening and adapting our Ethics and Compliance Program to meet the ever-evolving needs of a connected and sustainable world and as a trusted advisor for my colleagues running the business in MEA. At the same time, I believe is also time to jointly work with other companies on collective actions to address corruption challenges and raise standards of integrity and fair competition in business. Moreover, I see my wide-ranging, extensive international experience in a variety of industries enabling/ qualifying me to make a valuable contribution by acting as an advisor to other companies on conducting responsible business globally. I have had the opportunity during my extended international career to be exposed to many situations and gained a tremendous and valuable experience that can serve other organizations.
- How do you maintain a work-life balance while being a trailblazing businesswoman?
It would be a lie to say I have the perfect work-life balance, but the flexible business model has certainly allowed me to manage my time more efficiently. I also strongly feel that today’s always-on work culture neither benefits the employer nor the employee in the long run, as the resulting stress on the employee saps the ability to consistently excel in the workplace, or worse, results in burnout. I am very aware of this, and I have had many discussions with my team on the matter. Taking the time out to recharge my batteries is extremely important for my performance and that’s why introducing dedicated personal time in the evening and on weekends, during which I neither answer work calls nor respond to emails, unless it is an emergency, has worked wonders for me. I am not the best at setting boundaries, but I am improving. The benefit of ‘disconnecting’ will obviously differ from person to person but for me, time spent with family and friends, when work is never discussed, is particularly important.
- What is that one quote you absolutely live by or find helpful?
A favorite is from Malcolm Forbes: “Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.” I firmly believe in the power of education to expand horizons and uncover new opportunities. Education is advantageous throughout life and something no one can take away from you. I believe simply being alive constitutes an ongoing learning opportunity of which I have and will continue to take every advantage and that’s one of the reasons why I feel so very much “at home” at Ericsson in MEA We live by the motto ‘The future belongs to learners’ and are passionate about creating learning and skills development opportunities for all our people and for the communities we serve.
