Big resignations, flexibility, smart working, short week, mismatch. These are the five great phenomena that are revolutionizing the Italian labor market and international, creating a new reality in front of which many companies find themselves unprepared and unable to act. And it is no coincidence that the themes at the center of the 52nd National Congress of the'AIDP – the Italian Association for Personnel Management – held in Florence on 12 and 13 May. The title of the event is exemplary: "The roots of tomorrow: depth of action and speed of thought" A tomorrow that requires speed in decisions.
During the congress, human resources experts, managers and professionals and an audience of about a thousand participants met to try to find an answer, both "deep" and "fast", to the changes affecting the labor market .
"It's no longer time for control. The era of the procedure, of the norm, of the guideline no longer works. Today we need to listen to people and think about them well-being. This is the legacy that the pandemic has left us, the new reality in the face of which we must, as companies and personnel directors, find a different approach and different solutions ”, he explains to FIRSTonline Matilda Marandola, national president of AIDP, the reference association in Italy for all those who professionally deal with the individual/company relationship, combining the needs of business and people development.
President Marandola, there has always been talk of changes in the labor market, but this time it seems that the transformation has really arrived...
«There is a real change and also a very fast one. It is a digital transformation, but above all a cultural one in the face of which, as Chair Manager and Chair Director, we need to shed our skin. And companies must do it with us too. We need to be more profound in analyzing phenomena, problems and above all opportunities. We must listen, be empathetic towards people. The era of the procedure, of the norm, of the guideline no longer works. We need to understand the needs and requirements of the individual, give personalized answers, but above all learn to ask the right questions with depth of thought».
You mentioned "speed". In this regard, until a few months ago it seemed that the so-called Great Resignations concerned only the USA, but now they have also exploded in Italy. What are the causes and effects of this phenomenon?
«Major resignations are now a reality and a problem for all companies, mainly for those in the Centre-North, but in any case it is an increasingly widespread phenomenon in Italy. The pandemic has changed the priorities and objectives of reconciling professional and personal life. People have realized that they are no longer willing to suffer for work. The moment they find themselves in an unfavorable climate, accumulate stress and encounter situations in which they are not comfortable, they no longer intend to accept these conditions, which they did before. So they decide to change and they do it by giving less value to their career and money, but looking for a different balance and psychological and emotional well-being. This is the legacy that the pandemic has left us, the new reality that HR managers and companies have to deal with and in the face of which we have to find a different approach and different solutions. As always, listening saves us».
And what could these solutions be?
«It is necessary to start from the understanding of the needs. Let's not assume that smart working or the short week are always the answer, but we must have the courage to experiment. Today, especially young people, are asking for smart working because it pollutes less, has a lower impact, involves lower costs. Not only. It guarantees greater flexibility and expands the labor market. Because if I have a company in Brescia I can also hire a person who is in Messina and have them do smart working. This therefore widens the pool of candidates, but we need to have the courage to work towards objectives and let go of the paradigms of the past linked to attendance, timetables and so on».
However, many companies fear that smart working will affect productivity…
«I don't believe in this paradigm, it's no longer the time for control. The pandemic has taught us that you can't control everything. Even a person who works face-to-face can be unproductive, demotivated, hate their boss. Yet he punches the clock. But that doesn't mean anything. We need to work on engagement, motivation and trust. This cancels out the distances. If we have a relationship based on trust and fairness, we can also work at the two opposite poles of the world».
Let's talk about the short week. A large-scale experiment has been done in the UK and Spain is also trying. In Italy, however, the initiative is left to individual companies. What is your opinion on this great issue?
«Our research center coordinated by Professor Frigelli carried out a very interesting survey which shows us that those who deal with people and organizations are not against the short week in any way, but we need to understand the regulatory and economic impacts. We are ready to experiment and we as AIDP will certainly push in this direction. The experiments carried out abroad are encouraging, but it is necessary to understand well how to configure this new reality: whether to reduce the weekly working hours or, on the contrary, increase the daily hours over the four days. We need to study, understand and open a dialogue with the trade unions. In any case, I believe that the time is ripe because productivity depends on motivation and skills, not on working hours».
Speaking of skills, in Italy the mismatch is increasingly widespread, a problem that the association sees very closely. How is it resolved?
«We have to network with schools and universities to have common working groups. From this point of view, AIDP has many very important projects which also involve STEM professionalism for young girls and women. I think that going into schools, telling the professions that until recently were considered predominantly male, but which instead have no gender - because skills have no gender - is necessary and dutiful».
Let's come to the Congress: what are the objectives that the AIDP sets for itself with this two-day meeting?
«We have almost a thousand visitors from all over Italy and our goal is to learn from each other, return home with new projects, ideas and relationships, find the way together to implement a new way of dealing with people, putting them at the centre» .
Can we conclude by saying that the so-called "Wellness" is no longer just a word?
«Well-being is an obligation for all realities. What is now taken for granted in large and evolved companies may find it difficult to enter the culture of medium or small companies. Precisely for this reason, AIDP has implemented a SME area that works precisely to create a culture of the centrality of the person even in micro-enterprises that don't even have a personnel director. Even the entrepreneur must be the owner of an ethical culture that puts the person first. The association is at their disposal to talk about models and tools that can change things».
