Persico is a leading multinational company in the automotive, industrial and marine sectors as a provider of a full range of services: what is your driver of innovation?

“Human capital is undoubtedly our main resource.
People in Persico are at the center, consider that we have between 550 and 600 resources: we try to make the most of all of them, and we consider it vital to create the right conditions to foster a cross-fertilization of experiences between different areas.

We have also recently changed our organizational structure model in order to be able to expand and enhance even more the R&D function, which is of fundamental importance to us.
Today we have a matrix organizational model that creates a great deal of synergy between the various production units in order to foster dialogue and a smooth exchange of ideas between people who are involved in different businesses.

Third pillar for innovation is partnerships of excellence with companies and research centers.
One example is our collaboration with Intellimech, a private consortium of large, medium and small companies aimed at interdisciplinary research in the field of mechatronics for applications in different industries.
Within it, we have a fruitful exchange with companies from different industries but all oriented toward finding disruptive solutions that can compete in the increasingly difficult international arena.

Finally, in a business as specific as ours, the fourth pillar of innovation is the company’s know-how and the ability to transfer it through people: the focus must run through the entire production chain, and that is why we are starting an internal Academy, in order to give a training and growth path to people, especially the younger ones.”Tell us about this innovation, the Persico Academy

“It is precisely an innovation that we have been working on for a few months but in which we believe very much.
It is about building structured training and professional development paths for our resources, with measurable and objective criteria.

First, we aim to identify employees’ key competencies, both soft and hard skills, in order to develop high potentials.

At the same time, we want to systematize training processes over time, so as to activate growth paths consistent with the role, skills and development of the organizational chart.

The idea is to set up not just vertical but horizontal career paths, giving people the opportunity to move across different areas.

With the Academy, we aim to increase the sense of belonging to the company, attract and retain talent and consolidate the company’s values, for which, moreover, we are working on the drafting of what will be a real Persico Charter of Values: a document that will then be shared with staff at all levels, but also with our main external stakeholders, such as customers and suppliers.

Finally, I want to emphasize how a project focused on resource growth will give us the opportunity to increase our ability to listen to people, which is increasingly important for creating a solid, trusting, long-term relationship.”What drives you to do business: passion, striving for improvement…

“I answer with one key word: responsibility.
Personally, I grew up immersed daily in this company, which was founded over 40 years ago by my father: I breathed its air as a child and in a way grew up with it, for example, I started learning English by being a switchboard operator in the summer during my high school years.
Its values as well as the type of business are in the DNA of those of us at its helm!
The sense of responsibility we feel toward all stakeholders in this company is profound and leads us in the choices we make every day.
We know that our operations have an impact on the communities in which we operate, but also on the environment.
That is why we have put in place a series of sustainable development policies, the flagship of which is the restarting of two hydro-electric power plants dating back to 1921, purchased in the expansion of one of our production sites: an investment that integrates sustainability into the business, making our plant energy self-sufficient and also providing energy for the market in the area.”