“An incredible opportunity to rethink our way of working and behaving.”

We have been through two dramatic months. What lessons have you learnt up to now?

In general, I have become aware of many things. First of all, I can say that today we are much more interconnected than we were in the past and that there are events, though very distant from us, that can involve us much more quickly than we might expect.

It is in circumstances like these that I was able to realise even more how important solidarity is. I mean, customers and suppliers, we are all playing the same game. A game that we cannot win on our own and where the role of trust is fundamental because it allows us to overcome enormous obstacles and that, above all in conditions of smart working, has to be founded on knowing how to delegate.

The opportunity that lies ahead is fundamental to rethink the way in which we live and behave, to distinguish what is truly necessary from what is not, and in general to abandon everything that is superfluous. The moment has arrived to pursue all the activities that we have postponed up to this point because it is time for a big change.

It is necessary to be proactive when others, whether Authorities or commercial partners, do not know what to do. In these circumstances, it is fundamental to understand the importance of taking over the leadership.

From the point of view of the activity of procurement, what became even more clear to me was the importance of being able to count on a diversified base of suppliers and on the traceability of the supply chain down to the very last level. In this sense, it is fundamental to know how to adapt to different and unexpected circumstances.

We have to be ready to adapt ourselves to every circumstance.

It is increasingly important to be digital and to make the most of new technologies to manage a list of activities remotely that we usually dealt with while physically present.

None of this takes away value from face to face communication because, I mean, for how long will we be able to work in smart working without losing effectiveness?

Finally, I realized how important it is to help your partners when you find yourself in a better position.

What was the most effective decision that Global Procurement took during this period?

Undoubtedly that of bringing forward payments of invoices of more than 3000 suppliers, for a total of half a billion euros. This was a difficult decision for us but necessary for our supply chain, which was heavily affected by the Covid-19 crisis. Suppliers did not expect it and they were extremely grateful because it was a clear signal of our closeness to them. This was a sign that also contributed to providing hope and trust to the entire supply chain.

In what way are your teams facing this new way of working?

In the past, one day per week of smart working was already foreseen, but this working from home, extended over such a long term, is an experience that is literally “disruptive”, that is in positive terms. Our teams have started to concentrate more on objectives and on results rather than on individual tasks. The relationship with the Countries and with all the people who work remotely has improved, because we are all at the same distance from a computer. And greater empathy has also come into being. The burden of work has increased faced with the new requirements due to the situation (for example the purchase of masks, analyses of the impact of COVID-19) as well as because some activities, like for example a series of complex negotiations and innovation on the part of sellers, were less effective. Despite this, we have drawn up a vademecum to allow colleagues to best manage smart working, which also includes suggestions on how to manage relations with colleagues and the work timetable. In general, this is an opportunity to learn new things and to accelerate some trends already underway, such as digitalisation. Another positive aspect that I was able to observe is that a great sense of solidarity and intimacy has developed among colleagues.

How are you preparing your team to face a world that will be very different in the near future?

The truth is that we do not know how the world will be in the future, and maybe it does not make much sense to try to predict it. The best thing to do, therefore, is to collaborate with the team to prepare it to face whatever the world will be in the future. Almost three years ago we launched a process of transformation with the aim of changing perspective, interpreting our role in a different way within the organisation and identifying those principles that should guide us, like a compass, in facing difficult conditions. This is the Procurement Manifesto. Following this Manifesto, in the last three years we prepared ourselves to assume a central role for the Company, being more proactive and reinforcing our integration with the Group, acting with an entrepreneurial mentality, and broadening our suppliers’ horizon, listening attentively to their proposals, pursuing an activity of constant scouting regardless of the sector or geography and helping local suppliers to grow and widen their range of activity. We are ready to face any eventuality thanks to the fact that we have learnt to make use of new technologies, refining the quality of data and making information sharing easier and faster. But there is always room for improvement: particularly at the moment, our biggest challenge is to obtain visibility along the whole supply chain.

What new approaches and technologies have you already implemented or are you implementing at the moment?

In principle, there have been no significant changes in the digital strategy of Procurement due to the Covid emergency. The statistics and surveys confirmed us that our activities can be managed 100% remotely, both in terms of feasibility as well as efficacy. All of this, in a particular way, was made possible by the strategy implemented by Enel to migrate 100% of its applications onto Cloud, which ensured that our personnel was equipped with gear and devices to make daily activities possible to be handled remotely. Again from the Procurement viewpoint, some phases of the process were reorganised related to qualification (for example that of Evaluation and Visits to suppliers) and the management of tenders (pre-tender workshops, negotiations, site visits, contract signing). All of this came about by leveraging tools such as webinars, video conferences and virtual visits, in this way favouring an important push for suppliers in terms of digitalisation. Finally, we accelerated the use of new technologies, like for example smart glasses, to carry out tests remotely.

Let’s talk about the Talent Swap programme. What results have you observed up to this point?

The 2020 edition is the fourth launched in the last three years and it started at the beginning of April. Up to now we have received extremely positive feedback from participants. For them this is an unusual experience. The main objective is to offer buyers a new perspective that is offered to them by other buyers from different sectors. The strength of the programme lies in the approach which is not theoretical but rather pragmatic: a true experience, that is of Peer2Peer learning. At the same time, every participant learns from new cultures of business areas that are different to those of belonging, because to participate, companies that are non-competing and also not suppliers were selected. The buyers visit the premises of the partner company, they have networking opportunities and they can exchange information and develop relationships. Along with Clariant we selected some topics to focus on: the theme of digitalisation, sustainability, risk management, service management, category management, large investment management. The buyers of the two companies work in pairs and have autonomy of meeting and definition of the agenda. What they are able to define together becomes the result. Their objective is that of carrying out a comparative analysis of the working methods of each company that works also in reference to the selected theme, evaluating the pros and cons and listing any changes that should be introduced in processes, in systems, in behaviours, once they have returned to work for their own company. With this aim in mind, the buyers will be able to spend a few days in the premises of their programme partner to see what really happens in their daily life. For this edition of Talent Swap, the first international edition, 55 participants from both companies were involved. We created two “team-clusters” of work: one in Brazil and the other in Europe (in this case for Enel the participants come from Italy, Spain, Russia and on Clariant’s side, from Switzerland, Germany, China and Poland). We hope to close all the chapter by the end of September and within our intentions there is also the idea of organising a final seminar with both the functions of Global Procurement of the two companies. We will see if we manage to organise it physically or whether we will be forced to hold it in a virtual way.

What strategies have you put in place to guarantee the correct development of the programme in such an unusual period?

With Clariant, we reached the conclusion that the only way to launch the Talent Swap of this year would be by starting it remotely. To “measure the temperature” of participants, our Human Resources manager will have the task of carrying out some rapid follow-up meetings to gather feedback from the colleagues involved and make any necessary changes to the format of the initiative. At the moment, we are focusing on the theme of Sustainability, and then, starting from this experience and from the feedback received, we will launch the rest of the chapter in the next weeks. All the participants have been nominated “ambassadors” of their own company. Their mission is that of learning and improving their own abilities and being also, at the same time, representatives of Enel. That is the real message that we are sending, and we will send it at all times to all colleagues involved.