In Snam’s business model, the stakeholders “interpret” the industry environment and can influence, sometimes decisively, the conditions that determine the availability of the different capitals that the business needs to be able to operate. These close ties with the capitals, which develop around material issue of mutual interest, enable the stakeholders to benefit from the value that the business creates through its activities.
In order to develop our business activities, internal cohesion, image and reputation are also important. As a result, it is essential to manage our long-term relations with stakeholders (social and relationship capital) by focusing on trust, listening, being universally open and transparent, and attempting to maintain and develop constructive dialogue both within and outside the Company.
Internal climate and company cohesion
In 2016, Snam entered a new business phase in which the link between the company and its people is becoming crucial in order to take advantage of new growth opportunities and create a business culture that is even more dynamic and inclusive.
This is why it was considered fundamental to measure the sentiment of the company’s employees by conducting a climate analysis, which received responses from 82% of Snam’s employees, who were asked questions about 16 thematic categories to evaluate their level of engagement, the circumstances that favour people’s involvement and the positive climate at work and gather perceptions and suggestions for improvement from the company population. The portrait of Snam resulting from the climate analysis is, very briefly, that of an organisation capable of innovating and oriented towards change, within which people work with pride, a sense of belonging and trust in the skills of the top management. The results of the survey were provided to the various stakeholders.
Tools |
Description |
“Easy” the intranet portal |
Today, the company intranet is not only a space for providing information to and raising the awareness of everyone at Snam, but it is also a place for sharing knowledge, data and images by means of the collaboration platform. |
Newsletters, posters, brochures and other hard-copy documents |
The “Energie” magazine, which represents Snam’s corporate identity, followed the company’s evolution and changes throughout 2016. Starting this year, the house organ is published in hard copy format as well as in digital format on the intranet portal. In 2016, the “Osservatorio Domanda Gas” (“Gas Demand Monitoring Unit”) newsletter was born, which provides everyone with news, analyses and comments on gas demand and is also published on the intranet in page turning format based on the flipbook application for iPads and smartphones. In addition, to engage all of its people, Snam creates and uses hard-copy publications: from Safety Bulletins, to brochures on useful topics, to posters. |
Videos |
In 2016, the exponential rise of videos provided on the intranet portal or projected during meetings, conventions and on the intranet continued. |
Statement from management |
An opportunity to reflect on the most significant moments in the activities of the business in order to ensure adequate information and a constant sense of involvement and responsibility with regard to company strategies and objectives. |
Market reputation
Though in regulated sectors Snam has a natural monopoly, when dealing with its customers it adopts an approach based on a competitive market, in which it is essential to understand how the customer perceives value.
To that end, it carries out annual customer satisfaction surveys to gauge users’ level of satisfaction with regard to the clarity of the code, the availability and efficiency of IT services, and commercial management. These surveys are used to gather users’ suggestions for improving the services covered in the questionnaire.
The surveys conducted in 2016 involved 73 customers in the storage sector (with responses received from 78% and 68% in 2015) and 135 customers in the transportation sector (with a response rate of 87%, 83% in 2015). Assessments of the responses provided by customers indicate general satisfaction in both cases.
Storage Sector
RESPONSE RATE BY THERMAL YEAR (%)
AVERAGE SCORE BY THERMAL YEAR (No.)
Transportation Sector
QUESTIONNAIRES SENT OUT (No.)
QUESTIONNAIRES RECEIVED BACK (No.)
RATING ON THE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION INITIATIVE (%)
The traditional meetings with customers continued: in the Storage Sector, a shipper meeting was held, during which it was possible to visit the new Bordolano storage plant; in Transport, the event dedicated to shippers and traders was organised during the year. During the event, the Comitato Italiano Gas (CIG) committee General Manager also described the main challenges in store for the market following the increased harmonisation of rules at European level, particularly with regard to access and commercial balancing. Nearly 170 people representing roughly 80 companies participated in the event.
Relations with local communities
Snam is present, through its infrastructure, in almost all the country’s regions, in areas and communities that are varied in terms of culture, traditions and economic, social and environmental conditions.
The Company always seeks to ensure that its facilities are compatible with the environment, and the relations that link it to the local community are an asset that must be managed through a rigorous, transparent and collaborative approach.
To that end, the Company collaborates with local and national authorities to best illustrate its work execution plans to both the authorities and the affected communities. During the year, 96 meetings were held with local authorities and 16 meetings with regional associations.
Total expenditure on donations, sponsorship and initiatives to benefit local communities amounted to around €851 thousand, while the expenditure for the environmental compensations amounted to more than €1.26 millions.
Snam evaluates, in relation to the performance of the most important works (compression systems or large natural gas pipelines), the direct and indirect economic and social impact on the territory and on the local communities.
The measures and estimates are made using “Social Impact Assessment” tools and methodologies.
The results of the analyses conducted show that, by adding Snam’s direct investments to its indirect investments (related to subcontracting activities), an average impact is obtained on the local economy, on a municipal, provincial and regional level, amounting to 17-28% of the economic value linked to the performance and operation of the work.
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Initiative |
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Within the framework of supplier relationships, making corporate know-how available through a system of knowledge sharing, which will help companies in the supply chain in a process of continuous improvement that can increase both their own competitiveness and the dependability of their partnership with Snam, to the benefit of the final service quality. |
Environment and innovation, a challenge for everyone |
In 2016 as well Snam met with its suppliers with the aim of creating a shared culture on fundamental issues, such as innovation, sustainability and business ethics. During the meeting, in which more than 450 people took part, a great deal of attention was paid to the value of collaboration between the company and suppliers as a factor for development, the strategic importance of the sustainable supply chain, the theme of transparency and the fight against corruption. Specific discussions then touched on more technical subjects, such as: the new procurement code; the environment and innovation (the best practices of foreign investees); innovative technologies in the oil and gas industry; and the development of technologies to promote alternative uses of natural gas. |
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Growing together: the Supplier Portal |
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Live since 2013, the Supplier Portal is the most important way of implementing Snam’s procurement policy and of making an additional contribution in terms of transparent, traceable and complete information. |
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As part of Snam’s management and enhancement of sites and infrastructure, sharing space and knowledge with stakeholders in the area to encourage public acceptance of the legitimacy of the networks. |
Stories that tell the future |
For the third consecutive year, Snam developed an educational project dedicated to the second stage of primary schools aimed at raising awareness of fundamental issues to strengthen sustainable development. The edition for the 2015-2016 academic year entitled “The Network of Confidence and Respect” focused on the theme of legality, understood as respect and civic duty, after having dealt with biodiversity and scientific culture in previous years. The project, produced in conjunction with Federparchi, involved approximately 220 Italian primary schools with around 500 classes and more than 10,000 students. |
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Giro d’Italia in 80 bookshops |
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An initiative launched in partnership with the Associazione Letteratura Rinnovabile, which, for the third year, has made it possible to promote and consolidate Snam’s presence in areas in which the Company has had a strong presence for some time. The cultural and environmental cycling race took place following the entire course of the Ticino River, visiting significant and evocative centres of cultural importance. It also provided an opportunity to present “Sustainable Paths – Ticino Park” at various meetings. |
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Part of the implementation of new investments, sharing with local communities and disseminating among local stakeholders the knowledge of best business practices in the application of naturalistic engineering techniques in particularly fragile areas with complex ecosystems, such as parks and protected areas. |
Sustainable Paths – Ticino Park |
At the Turin International Book Fair, Snam presented the fourth volume in the Sustainable Paths series, sponsored by the Ministry of the Environment and published by 24ore Cultura-Gruppo Sole 24ore, dedicated to the Ticino Park. The series, aimed at development and restoration works carried out by Snam in protected areas such as parks and nature reserves, is a testament to the Company’s commitment to safeguard and enhance the environment in a context of using gas as a strategic energy resource |
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Seasonal Trails |
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This is an IT and multimedia support developed by Snam in partnership with Federparchi and three Italian Parks (Nebrodi, Prealpi Giulie and Ticino), the first key players in the project. The initiative was founded with the objective of giving visitors to these parks the opportunity of easily and immediately enjoying the beauties, using the region’s services, planning routes and discovering the social and economic cultural fabric. The digital platform comprises a website that hosts the story of the park and a mobile app so that routes can be carried at all times, even in the absence of WiFi. |
The value of communication
For Snam, proactive, balanced and transparent communication contributes to its relations with all its stakeholders, and has a direct impact on the visibility of its brand and the reputation of the Company. For this reason, over time it has developed a structured set of tools and channels, with a view to always offering high-value content through both traditional methods and new media.
In 2016, Snam continued with further improvements to its web identity, creating a responsive version of the corporate website, improved for use on all types of desktops and mobile devices. The action, developed through the most innovative technologies on the market, has also enabled a complete graphic restyling to promote a user-friendly experience to take full advantage of the contents, also thanks to a greater in-depth integration with all the major social platforms where Snam has a presence (Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+, Flickr, Instagram, Slideshare and Facebook).
As confirmation of the generosity and continuity of the work that has been done in recent years, Snam has been ranked in first place in the Italian and European Webranking KWD scheme, which awards specialist and independent companies that communicate most efficiently online. With a score of 93.6 points out of 100, Snam also gained the highest points total ever in the 15 years of Webranking’s existence.
With regard to the traditional press, in 2016, 541 articles featured Snam (with 446 dedicated to it) nationally and internationally, an increase of 73% compared with 2015 (312, of which 275 were dedicated to it). The content and tone of these articles was judged positive or neutral in almost all cases (99.3%), while the proportion of positive articles rose from 151 in 2015 to 196. The main subjects dealt with were Corporate, Operations, Finance and Sustainability.