Press releases

The Hera Group continues to rise in Refinitiv’s international ranking, the “Diversity & Inclusion Index”, a reference point for investors who look with interest towards the businesses committed to promoting diversity, inclusion and people development. Twelfth overall and second in Italy in the 2020 edition, Hera furthermore ranked once again as the world’s leading multi-utility.

This year as well, the “Diversity & Inclusion Index” confirms the Group’s presence among the world’s 25 most interesting companies for investors inclined towards companies committed to guaranteeing diversity and inclusion. It is now well-known internationally, indeed, that companies adopting policies oriented towards Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) can obtain both economic and social benefits, in terms of sustainability and wellbeing.

In the 2020 edition, which examined a broader range of listed companies coming to over 9,000 worldwide, Hera’s score of 77 points made it the second company in Italy and 12^th in the world, further improving its position (after ranking 14^th in 2019). The Group was furthermore confirmed as the leading multi-utility globally.

The “Diversity & Inclusion Index” was conceived and is carried out by the international financial information giant Refinitiv (formerly Thomson Reuters), which analyses corporate performance based on a range of ESG (environmental, social and governance) factors. It mainly focuses on four areas: diversity, inclusion, people development and controversies published in the media. This is one of the world’s foremost initiatives in data collection and analysis concerning the commitment shown by companies towards these issues.

This result comes only a few weeks after Hera stock, already listed on the FTSE MIB as of March 2019, was included in the FTSE4Good, an important set of ethical indexes created to encourage investment in companies that meet rigorous criteria in the environmental, social and governance area.

These recognitions prove that our company’s attention towards these issues have made it a pioneer, nationally and internationally. As early as 2009, indeed, our multi-utility signed the Charter for equal opportunity and equality on the workplace, and in 2011 it introduced a Diversity Manager who, supported by a team of employees coming from various areas and companies belonging to the Group, is responsible for planning projects that reflect the company’s policy in valorising diversity, equal opportunity and equality on the workplace.

The centre of the Hera Group’s personnel policy is unquestionably its corporate welfare plan, which supports employees and their families, dedicating 4.5 million euro overall in services requested in 2019 alone.

Our multi-utility, furthermore, has always invested in developing personalised internal career paths. The percentage of women covering roles of responsibility increased in 2019, coming to 33%, as did the amount of female personnel, reaching 26.6%, well above the national sector average. Equal opportunity is accompanied by a significant amount of training, which 99.4% of workers received in 2019 (roughly 30 hours per capita on average, in this case as well higher than the sector average). Nor can we forget the use of innovative methodologies, such as Diversity@work, conceived to raise awareness among the company’s entire workforce as to a diverse and inclusive environment.

“Our commitment towards promoting our employees’ wellbeing and development is one of the cornerstones of our corporate policy”, remarks Tomaso Tommasi di Vignano, Executive Chairman of the Hera Group. “This is why ranking, once again, among the world’s best companies in Diversity & Inclusion drives us to do even better. We will continue to make efforts to put these values at the centre of the paths conceived for the workers engaged in all our activities, convinced that encouraging an inclusive internal culture will also lead to benefits for the over 4 million citizens we serve every day.”