Claudia Pickholz, Managing Director, Elsevier Iberica, Madrid

Claudia Pickholz is based in Madrid and as Managing Director of Elsevier Iberica, looks after Elsevier's operations in Spain and Latin America. She has come to appreciate the levels of support offered to people in the company.

“I would say there is much more focus on the continuous assessment and development of people here than in any company I have worked before,” she says.

That support has taken the form of a full personal assessment and review, 360 degree evaluations by her colleagues and the chance to take a place on a Reed Elsevier leadership development course with personal coaching, intensive practical study and the chance to link up with a network of peers throughout the organisation.

Reflecting on the personal assessment, which took place after a year in post, she says: “This involved a really strong analysis of my skills and capabilities. I really appreciated the time spent on it and the detail it went into.”

Reed Elsevier is changing fast, she says, and there are real opportunities for people “who can embrace that change” to build a career in the company. Mobility between different parts of the company is not yet as well developed as it could be, but she adds: “It needs to happen. We haven’t fully become a mobile organisation, but we’re on our way there.”

Her own management team is diverse – with some 60% of management positions held by women at the moment. Reed Elsevier tries to help its people achieve a good balance between work and home life. But she can be her own worst enemy, she admits. “There are times when I don’t manage to maintain a good balance, but I should blame myself rather than the company.”