There are different ways to enhance and select young talents and make innovative ideas grow. Large groups are increasingly refining their strategies to "capture" the figures who best respond to their needs and are also following innovative paths of recruitment and discovery of new ideas.
An example, in this sense, comes from Terna, together with Fondazione Cariplo and Cariplo Factory, launched the selection project in 2016 Next Energy which reached its third edition in 2018 and which over the years has been enriched with new ideas and contents. Moreover, just this year, to that already innovative initiative, another one has been added which has made people talk about it. This is the selection of young trainees on stage, on the stage of the Teatro Eliseo in Rome in April, in front of a crowded audience. But beyond the methods developed to select human capital and ideas, the underlying theme of Terna's journey with Next Energy was all oriented towards environmental sustainability with the specific intention of creating a bridge between the development of innovations in the electricity sector and interventions on the territory.
In particular, the project in the 2018 edition was divided into three different directions: on the one hand the selection of young graduates, on the other the comparison of teams of innovators and finally the identification of start-ups and innovative companies . All through three different "Calls", or tenders, which collected 236 applications between the Call for Talents (136 young students), the Call for Ideas (48 between start-ups and innovators) and the Call for Growth (52 start-ups already constituted presented themselves to the call).
NEW TALENTS ON STAGE AT THE THEATRE
The surprise came, alongside Next Energy which now has its own consolidated start-up, with the further selection of young graduates. In Rome the selection passed in April from the Teatro Eliseo and is currently being evaluated. An entire day on the stage of one of the best-known theaters in the capital and divided into four acts saw the protagonists of the creation of a full-blown theatrical performance - from writing the text to casting to staging - the 100 young graduates in economics and engineering. 1000 presented themselves, only one out of ten passed the first selection, based on the required requirements: degree obtained with honors, no more than 12 months ago and under the age of thirty. But the degree, in fact, was not the only focus: the recruiters of the giant of electricity transmission in Italy wanted to test leadership aptitude, result orientation, teamwork, flexibility and digital aptitude. And so the boys had to improvise a theatrical piece, over the course of a day divided into four acts, from writing to casting, from trailer to staging. A success judging by the applause with which the young performers were welcomed.
News that Catia Bastioli, president of Terna wanted to underline, highlighting the desire to "encourage collaboration and sharing of values between companies and promote the contamination of skills and ideas to identify new paths that help us find innovative solutions and at the same time at the same time sustainable".
IDEAS FOR THE FUTURE
Returning to Next Energy, while waiting for the 2019 edition, 136 young graduates – in engineering, mathematics, physics, statistics and economics – who took part in the call. Ten of them were selected with two events between Milan and Rome in December and will start their internship at Terna in January 2019. The theme on which the 48 teams of innovators nominated in the Call for ideas section, double that of last year, and the 52 companies and start-ups in the Call for growth section are confronted is that of“Interaction between electricity infrastructure and the territory” since attention to environmental sustainability is one of the essential requirements of Terna's business strategy. It is an important theme that is growing to become increasingly essential for companies not only in the electricity and infrastructure sectors, but also in the luxury, fashion and economy sectors which are over time embracing the challenges of change.
The selection times for the last two Calls invest the month of December and are projected into January 2019. In the Calls for ideas, Green Technologies projects are currently in first place (27,1%), followed by Solutions or technologies serving the electricity system (18,8%) and sensors and the Internet of Things (12,5%). The first selection of 20 projects will lead, from 23 to 25 January, to a further training and selection event at the Cariplo Factory in Milan which will choose the 10 best teams to start the 3-month personalized incubation program, spread throughout the country .
Finally, for the Start-ups already operational in the Call for growth, the selection will be limited to 5 selected and sent to the Cariplo Factory development and innovation platform.
In conclusion, the Next Energy project is projected forward, into that future that combines innovation and sustainability.
