Welfare and Life at Hera

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To guarantee a sustainable service that is firmly rooted in the community and close to the public, capable of improving the quality of life of users while respecting the environment and people: Hera employees work every day to meet these challenges. They are a source of commitment and responsibility but also of great satisfaction and benefit, because they require us to examine our use of resources - water, energy, materials - to meet the needs of local communities with innovative services and ideas.

The uniqueness of Hera also translates into attention for the economic and social well-being of our employees and their families. This is why we launched HEXTRA, the integrated company welfare system for all Group companies, and promote gender equality and work-life balance through flexible working hours, agreements with children's day care facilities, coaching and individual counselling for people returning to work after a long period of leave, awareness-raising and prevention seminars regarding health and charity initiatives among employees, such as HeraSolidale.

Hera recognizes the skills and potential of people with disabilities through individual projects in collaboration with the ASPHI Foundation (Foundation for the integration of people with disabilities in companies), and listens to its employees when preparing its internal climate survey, conducted every two years, and through discussion. In addition, each year it provides more than 262,000 hours of training, offers in-depth instruction through HerAcademy, the Group's Corporate University, rewards sustainability results and engages employees in the presentation of ideas to explore new ways of working through the HEuRekA initiative.

Employee testimonials

Here are some short interviews in which Hera Group employees talk about working for the company. It is a round up of professional experiences in various areas, from the perspective of operators to administrative employees, from managers to specialist personnel each one talking about Hera from their point of view.

Cristina Gattazzo interview - AcegasApsAmga - head of quality, safety and environment department

At this point, I have worked in safety for a lifetime. And then came the time that I had to explain to my daughters what I actually do. So I told them that I make sure that my colleagues don't hurt themselves while they are working at the office. At this point, they came to the following conclusion: 'so you kind of need to act like a mom!'. It was hard not to smile, but often the simplicity of a child is capable of expressing a concept that appears to be complicated for an adult, by using a clear form that everyone can understand.
This job has an important legislative component, but when we talk about safety we cannot limit ourselves exclusively to the legal part: to do this job best, you need to have passion, and above all a strong sense of ethics.
I have worked in this field since 1998. Since then, I have had the opportunity to work in the various structures that make up, and made up, what is currently referred to as quality, safety and environment. This is how I learned to understand all of its facets, including through the company's own evolution. When I arrived, the company was a lot smaller. Over the years, there have been many changes in the structure of AcegasApsAmga, which have also impacted the area of safety. Its entry into the Hera Group resulted in a substantial transformation, not just in working methods but also and especially in how safety is managed in my field. The Group has a strong sense of values and ethics, which can also be perceived in its push towards integration and the approach to share projects, methods and procedures with AcegasApsAmga.
Italian law is very complex, but the Group's commitment extends beyond what is required, and it pays particular attention to what could be defined as the 4 facets of safety: sharing, coordination, control and awareness. These are all fundamental elements to improve workplace safety, and which highlight the importance of collaboration between the company and the worker. This is an activity that can provide great satisfaction because, if carried out with passion, it allows you to truly protect your colleagues as well as your company. In a way, you know that you are on the side of the 'good guys', and if you follow your sense of ethics, you know that you are doing the right thing.

Cristina Gattazzo - AcegasApsAmga - head of quality, safety and environment department
Milena Zappoli interview - Hera - innovation department, information systems

I began collaborating with Hera in 2004 as a consultant, then I became an integral part of the group and I always worked in the environmental service sector, focusing on aspects related to information systems and therefore also issues related to technology.
My career developed, and I moved from environmental services to information system services a few years ago. To do my job you have to know how to listen, how to understand people's needs and be able to translate these into languages that can be understood both by the business and by the information systems.
You have to be able to work with everyone, at all levels, because each person can express a need that must then be put into the context of the systems. The most innovative project that I have been lucky enough to be part of during my career is Hergoambiente, an ambitious project that lasted three years and led to the complete digitization of environmental services. Today this project is fully operational for Hera Spa and is being introduced to the group's other companies, AcegasApsAmga and Marche Multiservizi.
Living in Ravenna and working in Bologna,is definitely complicated in terms of reconciling work and personal life, especially when you're a mum and you have a child who is growing. I'm lucky to have a family that supports me but, above all, I'm lucky to be be part of a company that understands me and that meets my needs and helps me manage the personal aspects of my life as well.
Working in the Department for Innovation is a great opportunity for me as an engineer, because it means I can not only focus on today, but start planning the future as well and I do this for my colleagues so that the business can carry on getting better and better results.

Milena Zappoli - Hera - innovation department, information systems
Chiara Odorisio interview - AcegasApsAmga - water department, engineering

My experience began in 2013 with a pre-graduate internship and my thesis focused on an important project in the department, the district division of water networks during which I developed skills related to the modelling of networks, which then proved useful because after the internship I continued my adventure within the company, working on modelling gas networks at first and then sewerage.
The three main qualities needed for my job are flexibility, striving for excellence, and the ability to learn quickly. Flexibility is essential because we need to be committed to our work, to be able to adapt to any context and to follow various paths. Striving for excellence is also very important because we are always expected to give our best, and the ability to learn quickly is essential because it represents the driving force behind the application of new knowledge that we acquire daily, in the fastest way possible.
I'm very pleased to be part of the Hera Group, so far my journey has been very positive and I'm sure it will continue to be so. I'd definitely make the same choice again.

Chiara Odorisio - AcegasApsAmga - water department, engineering

Archive: Employee testimonials

Welfare

We are attentive to the well-being of our employees and their working conditions: we listen to them through the climate survey, and we recently implemented the integrated company welfare plan, a significant commitment that is combined with the other activities in which Hera has already invested for some time (canteen, car parks, nurseries, summer programmes, etc.).

Meetings with employees

During the first quarter of every year, the Group Chairman and the Group CEO meet the employees of the entire Group in the different regions.

Meetings with the employees

Initiatives for employees

The Hera Group has always been close to its workforce and has, for some time, laid on a series of non-work related and recreational activities designed to cultivate a sense of belonging to the Group.

Welfare and Life at Hera

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