Developing and valuing our employees

In the process of enhancing its workforce, a key role is played by developing and strengthening the professional and managerial skills system in keeping with changes occurring in the company’s situation.

Over time, Snam has developed its own repertoire of abilities and skills and a set of indicators for assessing potential. These components, incorporated within the performance appraisal process, help to support staff as they undergo a continuous development process that starts in the selection phase.

Besides playing the traditional role of developing abilities and skills, training was designed to provide support to changes in management and organisational integration to make staff aware of and responsible for corporate strategies and targets.

To follow up on the commitments made in prior years, the training Key Performance Indicators (KPI) have been confirmed for the 2013-2014 two-year period, pre-setting a quantitative target to be reached both in the provision of average hours per employee and in staff involvement. The two pre-set targets were not only met during the year, but exceeded.

2014 saw the completion of the two-year training period dedicated to code of ethics, model 231 and anti-corruption issues addressed to the entire population equipped with personal computers. 11,751 hours of training were provided overall with the attendance of 3,917 people. Always in the course of the year, the Forma(re)ti project, which was launched in 2013, was developed and completed. The training course, which was shared with Terna, served as an opportunity to discuss business issues of a general interest for a group of executives and managers from various companies: Program Management and Supply Chain (in 2013), Economics, Bid & Procurement Management and Change Management (in 2014). Participants were able to share best corporate practices through group projects, discussions and testimonials, and to strengthen a network of personal and professional relations that are useful for the development of the inter-company network.

In the context of being more open to international markets, Snam continued its commitment to providing online foreign language training that involved executives, managers, office workers and manual workers using different teaching methods and levels of training.

In addition, advanced language courses were provided through six-month programmes with individual lessons and study abroad involving about 60 employees in 2014.

Compensation systems GRI – G4: LA11

Compensation systems are periodically updated on the basis of comparisons with relevant remuneration markets and on criteria built on meritocracy and internal fairness. This system specifically aims to ensure recognition of the results achieved by an employee, the quality of professional support provided and the employee’s development potential. Again in 2014, competitive positioning and fairness in remuneration practices for managerial and professional human resources were optimised and verified.

Remuneration policy is subject to an advisory vote of the shareholders’ meeting. In 2014 the shareholders’ meeting expressed its approval with 96.46% of participants casting votes in favour confirming a positive trend that started in 2012, the year the vote was implemented on the Report, and over the three years, Snam has obtained an average of 97.5% favourable votes. This result has made Snam one of the three best companies in the FTSE MIB with recognition for its best practices in the sector.

In 2014, a new system (Performance Management) was implemented to assign and assess objectives, and a new tool was enacted for the strategic management of individuals making it possible to extend the focus of work activities on sustainability-related goals. This is demonstrated by assigning a sustainability-related goal to all individuals involved in Performance Management.

The sustainability targets have been predominantly assigned within the scope of the prevention of workplace accidents.

The assigned and achieved targets shown in the table refer to personnel in service at the time that these were assigned.

There was a sharp increase in the assignment of personal targets to Middle managers and office workers compared with 2013.

In addition to merit policy tied to positions and responsibilities, the Performance Management system simplifies the relationship between corporate and individual performance thereby also improving consistency between performance and variable incentives.

An incentive system is also used for recent graduates during their first years of employment, designed to boost motivation and retain the best resources, with even more marked differentiation in terms of performance, professional skills and management potential.

We also continued our commitment to improve the system of benefits. As in previous years, we extended our total reward statement (an itemised breakdown of an individual’s overall pay packet) to all managers.

All job positions at Snam, Snam Rete Gas, GNL Italia and Stogit are subject to comprehensive analytical appraisal, based on the following factors: complexity, responsibility, experience and autonomy (CREA). A total of 575 CREA evaluations were approved in 2014. All evaluation processes are formalised and involve feedback sessions that are an important opportunity for discussion and communication between the manager and the employee with a view to gathering information that can be used to draw up new actions for developing and maximising the potential of our people.

Lastly, a collective incentive programme is used for all Group companies: the “Profit-sharing scheme”, established by the respective CCNLs, is based on Company profitability (ROACE) and productivity, as measured in relation to annual targets agreed between the Company and union representatives.

Deferred monetary incentive plan

The deferred monetary incentive plan (IMD) is a long-term incentive tool involving the use of clauses aimed at promoting the retention of human resources, supporting the motivation and loyalty of management and establishing a closer connection between targets, performance achieved and incentives. The plan is based on providing a variable incentive three years after it is pledged, which changes depending on the actual Group EBITDA achieved compared to the amount budgeted.

In the context of also making the best use of the Leadership Development Programme through the compensation system, in 2014 criteria were updated for identifying plan participants who must, as in the past, achieve excellent performance but also be a part of the Leadership Pipeline. This made it possible to extend the application of this type of incentive to non-executive staff (about 70 managers).