Key Events
A YEAR OF AWARDS
AND RECOGNITION
During 2017, the Group reported a significant improvement in its assessment in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, as it ranked third in the ‘Electrical Components & Equipment’ sector of the review carried out by Swiss sustainability rating agency RobecoSAM. The Group’s focus on environmental sustainability is also reflected in its performance in the CDP Climate Change Report 2017, in whose Italian edition Prysmian obtained the B classification on a scale from A to D. In the EcoVadis survey, a platform recognised worldwide, Prysmian improved its position obtaining a score of 70/100, rising from Silver to the Gold level, within the 1% of the best suppliers. The Group also confirmed its inclusion in the FTSE4Good, the prestigious global index comprising firms that stand out for their ethical and transparent management practices, while improving its score in the Standard Ethics from EE to EE+, ensuring its inclusion in the European Standard Best Practice 30 Best in Class index.
Prysmian also confirmed its inclusion in the prestigious Carbon Clean 200 report for the second year, the only Italian business to do so. For the third consecutive year, Prysmian also returned to the Top 10 of the Comprend Webranking 2017 report, published in Italy by Lunquist, and was awarded a Special Mention by Italy’s Biblioteca Bilancio Sociale for its commitment to communication and dissemination of its values to its stakeholders.
STRONG
INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
Gross investments grew 10% to €257 million in 2017. Chief Operating Officer, Andrea Pirondini, outlines the benefits of a strongly decentralised model, which allows the Group to achieve efficiency and effectiveness across 82 facilities across the world.
During 2017, Prysmian continued to invest in all corporate businesses, with particular attention to submarine cables, optical fibre and cables for telecom applications, further strengthening its presence in those segments that offer higher added value.
Prysmian Group's production activities, explains Pirondini, “are characterised by a strongly decentralised model, which leverages 82 factories across 50 countries, thus allowing the company to achieve efficiency and effectiveness in meeting the various market demands at a global level.”
As in previous years, the Group continued to implement an industrial strategy based on two pillars in 2017. First, the creation of products with higher added value and technological content in a limited number of locations, “destined to become centres of excellence with high technological skills, exploiting economies of scale, with consequent improvement in production efficiency and reduction of capital invested,” says Pirondini.
The second pillar is the constant search for greater manufacturing efficiency in the commodities sector, allied to a well-diversified geographical presence in order to minimise distribution costs. In 2017, the value of gross investments amounted to €257 million, up 10% compared to the previous year, including the purchase of assets at the Chinese plant in Yixing, active in the production of HV cables, and the further acceleration of investment in the Telecom business. The level of investment linked to the industrial footprint remains in line with previous years. “Our goal," Pirondini says, "Is that of optimising the cost structure while guaranteeing adequate coverage of plants within the various countries.”
TRAINING
‘GLOCALLY’ IN 2017
Our strategy is to attract and retain talent through a series of programmes, initiatives and branding campaigns.
Prysmian provides training both at Group level, through the Prysmian Academy, and at local level. Regarding the training at central level in 2017 we provided 12,484 hours of professional and managerial training, while at local level training activities were carried out for a total of 486,370 hours, with the main types of course including training on the job, training focused on health, safety and environmental issues, and professional training.
Employer branding
Numerous initiatives during 2017 were designed to position the Group as the employer of choice on a global scale in order to attract the best talent. In particular, we undertook promotional and communication actions using both digital and traditional means.
Using new digital tools …
The Group has invested in a solid positioning strategy on the major digital communication channels, achieving some very significant goals. A strong partnership was established with LinkedIn, the most important professional social network, enriching the "careers" page of the Group as well as the available job vacancies offer, reaching 60,000 followers.
Intense and targeted recruiting and communication activity was also launched through Facebook. We used the Live tool with the candidates of the various programmes in order to present the Group's culture in the best possible way, answering questions and providing constant update on the selection phases in real time. This tool has proved to be a great success as well, achieving 25,000 likes and attracting thousands of comments and visits. Positioning was also initiated on Glassdoor, a professional network of major importance in the American market, achieving significant goals in terms of reviews.
… as well as traditional methods
The Group has continued to invest in traditional methods, thanks to its strong presence in the major international university career fairs. Prysmian has participated in the most prestigious job fairs held every year in the best engineering and economic universities in Italy, Spain, France, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Russia, UK, Turkey, USA, Argentina, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Australia. The Group has also promoted its human capital development initiatives through dedicated career corners in the most relevant global business fairs in which the Group has participated, such as Middle East Electricity Dubai, OTC Houston, Offshore Wind Europe in London, Wind Europe in Amsterdam and ADIPEC in Abu Dhabi.
WHISTLEBLOWING
IN 26 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
Prysmian offers to all, employees or not, the ability to anonymously report incorrect behaviour and alleged illicit activities.
As part of its commitment to ethical and legal behaviour, Prysmian invites all the Group's stakeholders to report any real or apparent violations of the law, as well as actions in violation of the Code of Ethics or other ethical standards, so that they can be examined and dealt with appropriately.
To achieve the goal of being promptly informed of any possible wrongdoing, and to create the necessary conditions of confidentiality, security and ease of reporting, Prysmian has adopted a whistleblowing policy that gives everyone, employees or not, ability to anonymously send the company reports related to incorrect behaviour and alleged illicit activities that have or might occur within the organisation.
The process implements two channels for the collection of reports, comprising dedicated telephone lines and a web portal, both of which are managed by independent operators and available in the 26 languages used by the Group.
The system of values of Prysmian Group documented in the Code of Ethics guides the conduct of individuals both within and outside the firm. It establishes principles to be followed by all, and represents an effective tool for preventing irresponsible or illegal conduct by persons who work for, and in the name of Prysmian.
In line with international best practices, the Group has therefore also adopted a system for collecting and managing reports of any irregularities or alleged violations of regulations and/or company policies and procedures. The whistleblowing policy offers everyone the opportunity to submit reports through two channels: dedicated telephone lines and a web portal, both of which are managed by independent operators and available in the 26 languages used by the Group. A Whistleblowing Committee has also been established to evaluate the reports and conduct specific procedures.
THE MEASURE OF
SUCCESS
As customer centricity is a pillar of the Prysmian success story, the Group is keen to make sure that customers’ needs are fully satisfied through specific surveys and reporting.
PERFECTING AN EFFECTIVE MARKET APPROACH
Over the years, Prysmian has perfected its successful market approach by always placing the customer at the centre of every strategic, organisational and business decision and action. To fully achieve this goal, the Group has developed operational models that translate into rapid, efficient and targeted responses to the markets concerned, and made specific efforts to analyse the changing expectations of customers.
Satisfying any requirement
Pivotal to this approach is the concept of customer centricity, which means the ability to quickly understand and fully satisfy the needs of the customer. This requires constant attention at all stages, from product design to delivery, with performance measured against predetermined and agreed parameters. Prysmian Group develops solutions that meet specific standards and satisfy the precise requirements of any individual customer.
Serving different markets
The Group is able to serve very different segments and markets thanks to a matrix organisational structure. This is achieved by modelling the business to highly specific local markets, by developing structures tailored on individual countries, and by dedicating integrated business units and segments to markets with global customers, in which both local presence and cooperation between countries is necessary.
Prysmian Group and General Cable join forces
The union of Prysmian Group and General Cable presents a unique opportunity for growth, enabling the global flow of energy and information, helping sustain human achievement worldwide. At the core of this goal lies advanced technology and the excellence of our people.
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