Twin transition driven by empowerment, experience and excellence. A talk with Daniele Amati

«Terna plays a central role in the energy transition process. It aims to be a guide for the country, citizens and businesses along this path of transformation. This can be achieved not only through the Industrial Plan but also through how the targets the company has set itself will be achieved. In our vision, the people working in the group are its main asset, and they have excellent and distinctive skills. We are a company of about 6,000 employees and, in our development path, we have planned major investments and numerous new projects that will also be accompanied by an increase in recruitment to support business development and new skills to manage the energy and digital transition. It is no coincidence that the 2024-2028 Industrial Plan we recently presented envisages an organic increase of no fewer than 1,400 people. Beyond this figure, the main aspect is how we train people within the company and how they interpret their role.»

«We aim for greater empowerment and greater appreciation of people, so that everyone can make their own contribution to the company's success. In particular, individuals are at the centre of a series of tools aimed at ensuring growth that produces individual satisfaction and professional advancement at the same time because individual growth reflects on collective development and, in turn, the latter benefits the growth of the company. The vision is not top-down but inverted in that it invests in each individual so that each person can contribute to the collective growth and ambitious goals that Terna has set for itself. At the heart of it all is inclusion, which is the first aspect we started working on. Respect is Terna's founding value and must be applied across the board. We must respect the uniqueness of people, their abilities and disabilities, and differences of every kind. Value is obtained only through confrontation, feedback and contradiction.»

«The three pillars are empowerment, experience and excellence. The first also implies accountability, the second concerns the way people experience the company and the third is based on the enhancement of merit. We are not all the same and the company must be able to activate a system that can intercept and enhance the uniqueness of each individual because better results can be only achieved by succeeding in bringing together the uniqueness of individuals.»

«By working on several aspects. The first concerns how to communicate change in order to make it well known and enhance it: that is why we decided to present the Industrial plan and the People Strategy together, so as to highlight the link between the contribution of individuals and the company's objectives. We have then undertaken several initiatives within the company, and more will come about soon. The aim is to be close to colleagues, understand what their needs are and how help to make them feel comfortable within the organisation, intercepting critical issues and improvements that can be made to operational models. We have therefore activated listening channels that start from the bottom and not from the top. We consider an open-minded approach to listening through discussion with colleagues by top management a priority which is strongly promoted by our CEO and General Manager, Giuseppina Di Foggia, who participates personally in meetings with the company personnel, to be fundamental. These are valuable occasions, where messages are passed on and feedback is received that helps to shape the company's activities.»

«We are pursuing a new logic to manage the recognition of the merit of male and female workers, and we have implemented a salary policy review process that has involved over six hundred managers engaged in deciding how to recognise and value people in their teams. Another initiative is related to performance appraisal: an awareness-creation process whereby people themselves identify the objectives of their roles and their expectations. It starts with the setting of individual goals and ends with the evaluation of employee performance and potential by the manager. This will act as a driving force for processes related to the growth, development and enhancement of individuals. Company standards are flanked by individual standards: Terna draws up the guidelines and objectives, it is then up to each individual person to apply them according to their skills and personality. The result of this new approach will also result in a new training scheme that will no longer only focus on technical, specialised and vertical skills, but also on the development of soft skills.»

«We are changing the way we work and we intend to speed things up. A path that is also supported by technology, with the different areas of business now becoming increasingly digital. Many jobs and activities that are carried out today may one day no longer exist or will be carried out differently. On the one hand, we have the technical expertise and, on the other hand, confrontation, dialogue and exchange of information become more and more important. Knowing how to manage data is crucial, but so is knowing how to work in a team and how to share and communicate information. These new ways of working can only be achieved if people have, in addition to the so-called hard skills, a whole range of other skills such as interpersonal skills, public speaking and respect. These are the training areas we are working on.»

«We are implementing a series of standardised development paths, but built around the person. Growth or remedial paths will be developed according to the characteristics of individuals in case of training or relational gaps, so that everyone can contribute. Let me give you a practical example: I always get the same message in the meetings with my colleagues: "What can I do to help the company? How can I contribute to achieving the company's objectives?". Terna's employees would like to and could do more, but organisational and procedural complexity can sometimes be an obstacle. We must ensure that everyone is able to express their personality and professionalism.»

«Yes, we have implemented a new tool that will allow us to invest a lot in internal mobility, so that it will be carried out differently, becoming a process for growth and development. Opportunities, job positions, and vacancies are visible to all in a transparent manner, facilitating internal mobility. The goal is not merely recruiting, but growth because it is possible to improve and bring home new skills only by getting out of one's comfort zone and putting oneself out there in new areas of competence. With this in mind, horizontal movement to new positions can become an aid and a boost to vertical growth. We will therefore invest in internal mobility with a view to resource development: in fact, it will be the individuals themselves who will decide whether to move to a new role or not.»

«There is no single answer to this question, because the selection of excellence we are looking for, mainly electrical engineers, is very complex. Around 170 electrical engineers graduate in Italy every year and, even if we hired them all, we would not be able to satisfy our needs. As a result, we have put several actions in place: we will continue to use classic recruiting channels and work on training people. We already have an agreement with three universities in Sardinia, Campania and Sicily that allows us to train students and offer them scholarships. Upon completion of the Master's course, students are hired at Terna and become colleagues. We are therefore thinking about launching projects of this type in other geographical areas, as well as similar initiatives that will allow us to reach different profiles. Not only electrical engineers, but also graduates in other fields and secondary school graduates who we can then upskill. We are also working on the appeal of our company, a place where talents can express their professionalism and potential. We have a lot of excellence, we aim to attract not only talent with electrical skills, but also e.g. people specialised in cybersecurity, IT, and artificial intelligence, just to name a few».

«Yes, these are fundamental projects because the gap between supply and demand, the so-called mismatch, does not only concern Terna, but it is a problem that affects everyone. It is therefore necessary to invest in making young people understand that, thanks to digitisation, many skills and jobs in the future will be in the STEM field, and to help schools and universities to support boys and girls in taking this path. Finally, it is also necessary to train parents by showing them what the potential is and where the labour market is going, so that they can help their sons and daughters along their choice of study paths.»