Human Resources Are My Work and My Passion

Milan, Dubai, London: this is the career trajectory of Roberto Rossi, who graduated in Business Administration (with a major in organization ) in 1994, and is now senior HR business partner in asset management and HR director for Europe and the Middle East for Morgan Stanley. As a manager who has made the management of personnel his career, he acts as reference for Bocconi alumni in the City and their career development.

➜ When I read it on Linkedin, your job title seemed exceedingly complex. What do you do exactly?
Mine is a double role: I manage the personnel of the company's asset management division, about 250 people who are mainly located in London, while the remainder of my work deals with coordinating all of the bank's HR teams based in Continental Europe and the Middle East.

➜ When did you join Morgan Stanley?
In 2001, so almost 17 years ago. I spent ten years in Milan, then I accepted the offer to take a job in Dubai, where I stayed for about 15 months and then, in 2012, I moved to London.

➜ Was your professional future already written in the topic you chose for your thesis?
I have always had an interest in human resources, and at Bocconi I started to delve into subject. However, things happen not only because we want them to happen, but also because of luck. I started at Deutsche Bank right after graduation, and I let them know about my interest for relations with personnel right from the beginning. So, after some experiences doing something completely different, when a job vacancy arose in that function, they remembered about me. From there, by doing a lot of recruiting, organizational development and personnel management, I grew into my profession.

➜ But how do you actually manage people?
HR is a bit of a borderline function: you must represent the company's interests, but you also have to deal with the human side of the organization. You are not doing your job well, if you do not learn how to motivate people. Recent technological and organizational changes are also increasingly shifting the emphasis on the individual.

➜ So has the approach changed over time?
Yes. Once upon a time, people almost had to show they deserved to join a corporation. Now, due to strong international competition and setbacks in some industries during the years of crisis, companies are more attentive to the needs of the market, as well as to current and aspiring employees. Companies have had to learn a lot of humility.

➜ You are also point of reference for Bocconi alumni in the career area. What's it like?
We are working on two fronts: to replicate in London the positive experience of BAA's Career Advice, such as the activity of career mentoring and Claudio Ceper's career development seminars, which we launched a few months ago, and organize local events on the topic. To this end, we recently held a seminar with four London headhunters as guest speakers.