A lawyer by training, Alexandra specialized on human rights and started her career in a law firm followed by Amnesty International in Germany.
In 2003, she joined “IMS-Entreprendre pour la Cité”, a business driven membership organization working on CSR. She works with business on diversity management, community involvement and urban regeneration.
She then joined HALDE (French Equal Opportunities and Anti-Discrimination Commission) in 2006 as Director, Promotion of Equality.
In 2008, she founded and directed “Fabric of Society”, a strategic consultancy aimed at working with large companies in the setting up of their CSR policies, specialized on change management and sustainability.
Alexandra Palt joined L'Oréal in February 2012 as Chief Sustainability Officer.
How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?
I have always been passionate about injustice, and it is why I studied law and started my career working to defend human rights, in particular minority rights and got in interested in corporate responsibility.
After I received my law degree from The University of Vienna, I was selected to join a training program “Preparing Women to Lead,” supported by the European Commission. I was eager to leverage my specialty in human rights and was lucky to find a mentor, Barbara Lochbihler, who was the General Secretary of Amnesty International in Germany. Through this mentorship, I learned how to analyze behaviors and strategies in a political environment, which ultimately shaped the way I approached my career.
When I later moved to France, I had a wealth of great experiences. From working on diversity management and urban regeneration at a business driven membership organization for CSR and serving as an executive vice president at the French Equal Opportunities and Anti-Discrimination Commission at HALDE (High Commission against Discrimination and for Equal Opportunities) to starting my own consultancy to advise companies on social innovation, I was on a path that enabled me to join L’Oréal in 2012. The opportunity to serve as the Chief Sustainability Officer of L’Oréal brought all of my experiences together, enabling me to drive sustainable transformation across the entire company’s value chain.
Companies have a key role to play in addressing the big challenges the world faces, including poverty, climate change and resource scarcity. Sustainability is the best way to ensure profitability in the long term, and being the leader in the beauty sector requires very ambitious commitments.
How has your previous employment experience aided your tenure at L’Oréal?
The diversity of my career experiences, combined with success and difficulties along the way, showed me that staying true to my convictions is crucial to having the energy and the willingness to lead such an important transformation.
I found that the biggest challenge is to understand that meaningful change takes time. It’s critical to find the right balance between pushing hard and creating awareness so partners, employees and leaders can be empowered to become change agents themselves.
Luckily, L’Oréal is a company where change happens very rapidly and the company culture carries sustainability within its core values.
What have the highlights and challenges been during your tenure at L’Oréal?
I’m very proud that L’Oréal is the first company to partner with C40 Cities on empowering women for the Women4Climate initiative. Earlier this year, I met inspirational female mayors leading today’s cities, who are sparking sustainable change. At L’Oréal, we consider it strategic to engage with C40 to empower the next generation of women leaders in fighting climate change. This commitment reflects two of L’Oréal’s major priorities: gender equality and climate protection. Women will play a critical role in tackling climate change. It is our responsibility to empower and support them.
Additionally, 2016 was a milestone for us: we exceeded our goal of reaching a 60 percent reduction in CO2 emissions four years ahead of schedule. This was achieved over a period when the company’s production volume rose by 29 percent, which confirms L’Oréal’s ability to combine economic growth with a firm commitment to climate protection.
The challenges ended up being easier to overcome than I had imagined. When you have the full support of the CEO and his leadership team, leading the change is exciting and energizing.
What advice can you offer to women who want a career in your industry?
The beauty industry is a great place to work for women and men. Contributing to the well-being and self-esteem of millions of people is a wonderful mission. L’Oréal stands for much more than just great brands and excellent products. It is about bringing beauty to the diversity of consumers around the world, and making gender equality, diversity, sustainability and corporate responsibility a part of everything we do.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career to date?
1. Compatibility with a company culture is critical. In order to perform your best, you must feel aligned with the company’s culture and values.
2. Change can take time. In order to be effective, you have to lead the change in a speed that is acceptable for society.
3. You have to have the right partner in order to succeed, which is something that applies to your career and family life.
How do you maintain a work/life balance?
L’Oréal has a strong commitment to work life balance. Our company believes that in order to perform, there has to be a balance with your personal life.
In many ways, balance requires self-discipline from each individual and an understanding of what’s important to each person. For me, with two small children, it’s important I spend time with my children every day. Life is too short and being a mother is the most important mission in my life.
What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace?
I was very involved as a feminist in NGOs when I was younger, but working for a company where women are respected, promoted and have great career opportunities, made me neglect the issue of women’s rights.
However, women’s right are not a given. Different issues still impact women in their careers, such as equal pay, sexism, harassment, work life balance. We have to stay very alert in order to continue very actively and very strongly to fight for our rights.
How has mentorship made a difference in your professional and personal life?
Mentorship with Barbara Lochbihler was a turning point for me in my career as well as in my life. I learned immensely from her expertise – particularly how women can demonstrate leadership and how important grit and tenacity are in a career. I learned that, as a woman standing up for difficult issues such as human rights, you have to be prepared to analyze human behaviors and power relations. You have to persevere and act independently of the resistance you meet. Barbara’s tutelage helped me understand how to transform my ambitions into reality and action.
Which other female leaders do you admire and why?
I particularly admire women who are succeeding in making people around them happy while fulfilling their own desires. I admire refugee women who persevere and successfully build new lives and raise children with strong values. I admire female scientists, philanthropists, artists and politicians. I admire women who are able to combine strong commitment with empathy. I admire women who strive to make positive change in the lives of others.
If I have to mention two women who inspired and still inspire me, I would say my grand-mother and Michelle Obama.
What do you want L’Oréal to accomplish in the next year?
However much remains to be done, I am confident about what we will accomplish. Our sustainability commitment, called Sharing Beauty With All, is one L’Oréal’s strategic priorities.
Over the next year, we want to continue making significant progress toward reaching our sustainability goals and serve as an example for strong corporate citizenship. We want to empower our consumers to make sustainable choices, and we want to listen to both the current and future expectations and concerns of our consumers regarding sustainability.
We will continue to work tirelessly to build a more sustainable future.