‘With You. Always’: at Comelit, being close to people starts from within the company with its employees
‘For Comelit, setting goals around people essentially means being there for our employees and for those who work with us every day. This is what lies at the heart of the journey of growth that our company has embarked on. Comelit’s success is built on its people: this is why, when we came up with our new claim ‘With You. Always’, we were thinking of them first of all.’
Silvia Brasi, Chairman of the Comelit Group, has no doubts: a company’s growth is the result of the joint efforts and commitment of all the people who are personally involved and experience it on a daily basis. Therefore, sharing the results of this development with them is both ethical and natural: ‘For 23 years in a row, we have been granting a performance bonus, which is shared with trade union representatives, to all our employees, which amounts to approximately €2,000 per year on average. This bonus is calculated based on a number of parameters that include the company’s gross operating margin and turnover growth, and is taxed at a preferential rate (10%). This year, once again, it will be paid out in July, and given the rising prices of many essential commodities, I have the feeling that this bonus will be very much appreciated. Moreover, for several years now, part or all of the bonus can be uploaded on a Welfare platform, which allows our employees to benefit from the full tax-free amount of the bonus. Consequently, the platform allows the amount to be used for many different services: vouchers, travel, training, school fees, healthcare, transport, and much more.
At Comelit, the performance bonus is synonymous with sharing: ‘As I was saying, Comelit’s growth over the last few years was made possible by our employees, thanks to their commitment, enthusiasm, sense of responsibility and dedication to achieving the goals that our company has set itself. It is only fair for them to be able to benefit from it too. In 2011, 124 employees received it and, this year, it will be 311. This also demonstrates that our company is on a path of growth. I would also like to point out that, in 2020, despite the difficulties brought about by the pandemic and a decline in turnover, not only did we increase the number of our employees, but our employees also regularly received their performance bonuses, which we decided to supplement with an additional bonus at the end of the year. The reason we did this was that we wanted to thank them for their extraordinary dedication and for putting so much effort into tackling this extremely challenging situation.’
However, welfare at Comelit is not just about this: ‘People have always been at the heart of our company philosophy. And, since last year, in addition to choosing our claim, ‘With You. Always’, we have implemented a company policy that is in keeping with this direction: ‘The willingness to value and reward our employees is part of our company’s DNA,’ adds Silvia Brasi. ‘For some time now, whenever a child is born or an employee gets married, they receive a gift and a voucher. In addition, starting last year, we have introduced scholarships for the children of our employees who get their secondary school diploma or earn a university degree: seven scholarships were awarded in the first year.’
However, a true revolution will be taking place in July: we will be implementing a new remote working scheme, a new way of working that we experimented with during the pandemic, but we now want to make sure it is applied in a structured manner to about 190 of our employees in Bergamo and Rovetta, who carry out tasks that are compatible with this mode. This decision reflects a corporate culture that is increasingly concerned with and mindful of the importance of a healthy work-life balance. It also introduces a new concept of work, which needs to be based on a sense of responsibility, targets and performance to be achieved, and which is also aligned with the journey towards sustainability that is being introduced within our company: less commuting, less CO2 and less traffic. It is definitely a corporate cultural revolution, as is the planned extension of flexitime starting on 1 July. These new measures will go hand in hand with dedicated and organisation-wide coaching activities, along with the introduction of a set of best practices to be adopted.’
And, last but not least, health: ‘As contractually agreed, from 2021 onwards all Comelit employees will be eligible to receive healthcare benefits under the Metasalute fund. As of last January, we have decided to implement Plan C, which extends these services and increases the benefits.’
It is therefore a well-structured and detailed programme of initiatives: The Chairman concludes: ‘The aim is to make sure that our employees increasingly enjoy their work life at Comelit, and we are convinced that, in the long term, this will help us make our company even more appealing to the young talents that we are constantly seeking to attract. Investing in people is the only way we can continue to grow.’
