Solvay CEO and security director discuss security’s role in the global organization at GSX+ day 2 keynote

Day 2 of GSX+ virtual week kicked off with a keynote from Ilham Kadri, CEO and president of the executive committee at Solvay and Werner Cooreman, CPP, SVP and group security director at Solvay, a materials, chemical and solutions company with more than 24,000 employees across more than 60 countries.

The theme of GSX+ today, along with the theme of the keynote, or rather Q&A with Kadri and Cooreman, was Embracing the Future: Strategies for Building Resilience and Innovation. Kadri spoke at length about Solvay’s sustainability goals and the importance of adapting and constantly innovating.

Kadri said that Solvay, a company with 10 billion Euros in revenue, has a vision to create sustainable value and to do that, the company must always reinvent and reimagine: something that she says is also a part of the company’s security strategy.

“[Security] touches everybody in the company. There is not one expert or person accountable for safety and security. We have 24,000 people responsible for safety and security of the brand the company, our customers, our investors; security is everyone’s responsibility."

“[Security] touches everybody in the company. There is not one expert or person accountable for safety and security. We have 24,000 people responsible for safety and security of the brand the company, our customers, our investors; security is everyone’s responsibility,” Kadri shared.

The two executives explained that the company’s approach to security relies on a constant communication and strong relationships with the C-suite to help guide the conversation and help pinpoint constantly evolving risk and threat profiles by staying up to date with the rest of the company’s evolution. The company’s approach to leadership is very inclusive across the organization, they say, and that includes security.

“Security doesn’t work in isolation from a security perspective and risk management perspective,” said Cooreman. “A company like Solvay meets many risks and all risks are managed within a framework of security. Similar to health and safety, security is one of those areas that could have a significant impact on the business and employees and even [a significant impact on] fulfillment of the company’s purpose. It requires subject matter experts like myself to help company and navigate and help leadership define and implement risk controls for security standards, which allows the company to continuously and adaptively protect the company’s assets. But we do not work alone.”

Perhaps one of the biggest lessons Kadri shared during the session was a piece of advice she received from someone recently. “Don’t waste a good crisis,” she said. The times that organizations like Solvay and others around the world are facing right now with COVID-19 is an opportunity for leaders to unlearn and relearn and reinvent themselves and their companies as needed. “This is a stress test for the leaders we are,” she added.

Among the 30 sessions on the docket for today’s GSX+ are, HR and Travel Security Issues After COVID-19 Lockdowns; Security 2030 and Beyond; Safer, Smarter Cities Need Advanced Technologies; and Reaching the Next Generation of Security Leaders. To tune in and visit, click here.

Maggie Shein was Editor in Chief at Security magazine. She has been writing, editing and creating content for the security industry since 2004. She has an experienced background in publishing, communications, content creation and management. Within her role at Security, Maggie handled the overall direction of the brand, organized and executed the annual conference, facilitated Solutions by Sector webinars, researched and wrote exclusive cover stories, managed social media, and authored the monthly Security Talk column. She has both an undergraduate degree and master's degree in journalism.

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