“Managing human capital is fundamental, especially in this period"

Piacenza is one of the Italian cities that was hardest hit by the Coronavirus emergency. From the beginning of the epidemic (thanks to its proximity to the Codogno outbreak) the city in Emilia has experienced rapid growth in infections, which still stand at critical levels; a decidedly complicated situation, which has been going on since the end of February and continues to worry the inhabitants of the province. Among these is Angela Malafarina, a Terna employee who works in Human Resources management. “Generally speaking work has been much more peaceful", she says. This peace is thanks to the tools that the company she works for has made available and “technology”.

Ms Malafarina, forty-six and a Terna employee for 14 years, holds the position of "HR business partner of the North-West Area Office" for the operator of the Italian electricity grid. It is a role that has led her to interact (now remotely) with many different people. “Initially I handled training and development, then I moved on to recruitment and now I am in human resources management in the new Terna offices in Pero, in the province of Milan. The energy industry has always fascinated me and working in it has always been my goal. To reach that goal I needed a lot of will power and determination, when opportunity knocks you have to be ready to answer”.

Even though her job is not directly related to electricity, human resources management is one of the most important areas for a company like Terna. “It is not easy. You need to pay attention and be sensitive when dealing with company personnel”, Angela explains. “I am usually involved with the selection process to find new resources to hire through in-depth interviews, but I also deal with internal resources. Together with my colleagues we periodically examine the career path of our personnel, their degree of motivation and satisfaction, as well as any critical issues".

“There are also moments that we as colleagues dedicate to working as a team” she continues, “for example right now we are working on improving the performance evaluation system with colleagues from Development and from Training. I am also personally working on the onboarding process, where I am selecting which mentors to assign to new hires. Obviously it is a little more complicated right now. We are thinking about having them meet online in a video call”. In times of obligatory telecommuting you have to try to be as organised as possible, even if that means upsetting your routine.

Change isn’t always a bad thing, on the contrary, for Angela it has been an opportunity: “I would have preferred that this emergency had never happened, but I cannot deny that my working life has changed for the better. I don’t have to deal with morning and evening traffic, that takes up almost three hours of my time every day. Plus, without that stress I am able to start my day at the same time every morning, maintaining a semblance of normalcy. Generally speaking work has been much more peaceful and I have not had any problems connecting with all of my colleagues thanks to the tools that technology has to offer".

Could agile working be the way of the future? Angel thinks so. “Managing stress and fatigue is easier while the quality standards of my work remains the same. Of course, there can be issues, but it is worth it to resolve them to have the many benefits that it can bring: to people, to company costs and to the environment”.

Angela was one of the first Terna employees to start smart working in this difficult period: “I have been working from home since 26 February. On the 21st I was coming back from Rome, where I had been for work. I was at Termini station when my husband, who was in Piacenza, called me because he was worried about what was an already critical situation. The journey home was an odyssey, both logistically and emotionally”.

Living in one of the areas that was hardest hit by the emergency can be very stressful psychologically speaking and Angela admits to it without mincing words. “At first there was an intense emotional impact, dictated by fear. As the days went by the only sounds we heard were the passing ambulances, 24 hours a day”, she recalls, “for a city like Piacenza, which is not a big city, it was incredible. My thoughts were fixed on the people involved in general and on family and friends. My brother and sister are both doctors in Spain, so my anxiety levels were high. My brother was infected, but he is fine now, my sister chose to self-isolated to protect her husband and children. I cannot do much, other than follow the rules and thank the health workers that I have crossed paths with during this period. They are always there and, despite everything, with a smile on their faces”.