Italgas starts with payroll transparency operation to attract GenZ

Italgas launches Operation Payroll Transparency, with a project that will enable the company's people to understand all the components and their weight in a simple and clear manner. As the group's chief people, innovation & transformation officer, Peter Durante, explains, "it concerns the entire population in Italy, which includes 3,700 people, and the commitment is to extend it in the coming months also to employees in Greece (where Enaon is present), thus reaching 4,500 people, and downstream of the acquisition of 2i Rete Gas it will reach all 6,500 workers in the group".

Behind the project are the two big issues facing human resources managers. The first is generational. "We see that in the new generations entering the company there is a lot of sensitivity to clarity on reward," says Durante. Generation Z, unlike its predecessors, has abandoned modesty on pay issues: our surveys show that those who belong to this age group feel more comfortable talking freely about their pay, which no longer represents the core, the central aspect of the choice to work in one company rather than another. If anything, the core for GenZ is the so-called purpose together with the vision and mission of the company. This need to have a value affinity with the company we had already noticed even among millennials'. The second issue is international regulation. 'In a couple of years, companies will be required to comply with a series of transparency requirements on salaries,' recalls Durante. 'Among other things, we will no longer be able to ask candidates for their salary at the interview stage, but will be required to give candidates a salary range for their new position. What we have done is a first step towards pay transparency because companies will increasingly be obliged to communicate not only the salary as a whole to the employee, but also with respect to the qualification and thus to give a comparison. Having clarity on the composition of the remuneration package therefore becomes crucial'.

The project was realised with the collaboration of Laura Di Battista, head of compensation & benefits at Italgas, and Claudio Magni, head of development, who told the workers the case of a generic Mario Rossi to explain that everyone will be able to access an online platform that will allow him to know how much his annual remuneration package is worth overall and in its various cores. In the hypothetical example given to the workers, we speak of EUR 38,665, where the weight of direct remuneration is 69.83%. To this is added the variable remuneration of 9.57%, which includes, by way of example, production bonuses, individual incentive plans and extraordinary components. This is followed by the indirect benefits enjoyed, which weigh 16.02% and include meal vouchers, training, car pooling, insurance, company credit card, welfare bonus, summer camps and crèches, scholarships and IT equipment, among many other items. And finally the additional benefits, further available, such as health and wellness and the company gym, which weigh in at 4.58%.

"Having clarity on how much each component weighs also helps one to understand how competitive one's company is," Durante interprets, "and thus to be able to assess the value of remuneration. It is an important operation of transparency, but also of retention, consistent with the narrative of a group that looks to the future of energy transition and wants to be competitive in the labour market". All the more so in this phase of further great transformation for the company led by CEO Paolo Gallo, after the announcement of the acceptance of the offer to acquire the main competitor 2i Rete Gas.

With this acquisition, the closing of which is expected in the first half of 2025, Italgas is preparing to become the European gas distribution champion in terms of network extension equal to 154,000 kilometres and customers equal to 12.9 million, as well as investment capacity and innovation. At the beginning of October, the 2024-2030 strategic plan was presented, which also integrates the 2i transaction. The plan envisages EUR 15.6 billion in investments to make a large part of the Italian network digital, smart and flexible, and ready to accept renewable gases such as biomethane, hydrogen and synthetic methane. In the plan, particular attention will be paid to enhancing the value of 2i Rete Gas people, with the aim of creating a shared corporate culture based on the common values of diversity, equal opportunities and inclusion. As the Business Plan explains, in order to meet the many challenges, and to drive and make change effective, the group continues to implement policies aimed at attracting the best talents and introducing new skills, also through the activities of the Italgas Academy. By 2030, it is expected to achieve 45 hours of average training per capita per year, one out of every three positions of responsibility held by a woman, and a reduction in the gender pay gap: the goal is to bring it within a range between plus and minus three per cent.