Poste Italiane is aware of the key role it can play in promoting the principles of sustainable development, given its great importance as a Company within the Italian economic and social context. Therefore, the Group has adopted a Code of Ethics, supported by several corporate policies and guidelines to protect and safeguard Human Rights. These include the Corporate Policy on the Protection and Safeguarding of Human Rights, the Policy on the Diversity of Management and Control Bodies, the Diversity & Inclusion Policy and the more recent Active Parenting Support Policy. Moreover, in compliance with the international principles concerning the protection and safeguard of Human Rights, in addition to following the above-mentioned corporate policies and guidelines, Poste Italiane is committed to ensuring the well-being of all the people working in the Company or collaborating with it, and to improving the conditions of the community in which it operates, by playing an active role in the dissemination of the principles laid down in the regulations and international standards.
The Group's Corporate Policy concerning the safeguard and protection of Human Rights reiterates the rules of conduct to be observed in relations with all stakeholders with whom the Company interacts, as already set out in the Code of Ethics. Poste Italiane pays particular attention to the protection of the rights of all those who are included in the Group's value chain, and who belong to specific categories such as: own workers, women, children, indigenous people, migrants, external workers, local communities, suppliers and partners, customers, people with disabilities, and people who are victims of any form of discrimination and violence. The Policy sets out the Company's commitment to align company processes with the main international standards and best practices, and to promote these principles and periodically report on the performance achieved, in terms of management and monitoring methods, identified risks and management and mitigation actions. The Policy also regulates various aspects concerning the prevention and condemnation of all forms of discrimination or violence, including forced or child labour and human trafficking, and promotes freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining and fair remuneration, with the aim of supporting personal well-being.
Poste Italiane considers it essential to encourage and develop a business culture based on respect for and appreciation of diversity in all its forms and manifestations, at all levels of the organisation. Managing diversity in an inclusive manner not only creates shared social values, but also provides a competitive advantage for the entire Group and intensifies people's engagement and commitment to the company's goals.
The projects and initiatives promoted by Poste Italiane in order to ensure social inclusion and enhance diversity are part of a broader strategic framework, which is aimed at developing balanced organisational models that favour communication and the emergence of personal characteristics, while protecting individual vulnerability. The path taken by the Group is geared towards evolving from an approach focused only on the protection and integration of diversity, towards a more proactive strategy aimed at overcoming barriers and solving the factors that hinder the employment inclusion of individuals. In fact, the Company's mission and strategy on diversity and inclusion are defined with the aim of creating a collaborative, supportive and open working environment that allows the Group to maximise the resulting opportunities, both for the well- being of the Company and for competitive advantage in the business.
The Group has enshrined its guiding principles and values through the elaboration and formalisation by the Board of Directors of a Diversity & Inclusion Policy, through which the governing body defines measurable, multi-year objectives. In particular, the Diversity & Inclusion Policy is based on four pillars:
- Gender. The Group has embarked on a path with more than 10 projects to support gender equality and remove obstacles to women's professional development. In particular, the Group contemplates the strengthening of governance systems for career progression, the design of composite focus groups aimed at assessing the main conscious or unconscious biases that influence inclusive leadership, improving work life adjustment mechanisms in terms of reconciling and sharing family responsibilities, and adhering to the path for the prestigious international Equal Salary certification, achieved in November 2022, as per the ESG plan, further sanctioning and confirming the Group's commitment to pay equity between women and men within the organisation. The Group broadened its focus on issues concerning sexual orientation and the prevention of gender harassment in the workplace by extending an information programme to raise awareness among all employees. The aim is to provide an overview of gender harassment and its impacts on individuals and organisations, to promote a culture of respect in the workplace.
- Generations. Poste Italiane promotes integrated strategies to foster dialogue and exchange between the different generations within the company, taking into account demographic perspectives and their effects on turnover. The Group promotes the contamination of different social, cultural and professional experiences, as well as the different skills, knowledge and competences typical of each generation. This openness to complementarity and diversity encourages the interchange of experiences to support inclusion and employment opportunities.
- Disability/Vulnerability. The Company has undertaken awareness-raising initiatives at a collective level to preventively recognise situations of vulnerability and facilitate job placement and quality of work for people with sensory, motor or cognitive disabilities. In this context, Poste Italiane is committed to developing intervention policies aimed at spreading an inclusive business culture and introducing a distinctive identity that takes into account situations of fragility.
- Interculturality/Inclusive culture. Poste Italiane has designed multi-year initiatives aimed at promoting interaction between different cultures and experiences through envisioning programmes and the dissemination of knowledge in organisational and managerial environments, with the objective of promoting a cross-cultural vision open to multi-level confrontation and geared to organisational and social cooperation.
Diversity and Inclusion Management
The main actions aimed at promoting Diversity & Inclusion are overseen in the Human Resources and Industrial Relations area through the People Care and Diversity Management function, set up in 2019, within which a contact person operates with the role of promoting the implementation of the project initiatives envisaged in the Diversity & Inclusion Plan, also taking care of programme management activities for cross-functional projects. To support these initiatives, a budget defined on the basis of annual planning is allocated. Generally speaking, Diversity & Inclusion projects and initiatives are managed by internal databases through dedicated company systems for mapping participants, reporting and monitoring, as well as through the company intranet.
In order to ensure alignment with market trends and best practices, the HR Research Centre continued its activities in 2022, participating in inter-company round tables, also exchanging views with associations and institutions to generate new opportunities, visions and enabling orientations with respect to corporate objectives. The Centre also provides selected content, organised in thematic areas presented in an innovative editorial manner, using the dedicated online site, available to all employees in Human Resources and Organisation. The user-friendly platform encourages the exchange of information, the socialisation of experiences and the broad sharing of content and approaches in support of inclusive culture and people's well-being in general.
In order to act on the cultural awareness of the context in which Poste Italiane carries out its activities, professional figures called "Diversity and Inclusion Supporters" have also been identified, who operate in the Human Resources area throughout the country, with the aim of supporting and disseminating corporate initiatives and gathering suggestions and ideas from staff in the relevant areas, always in a bottom-up logic of collaboration and expression of needs, involving all corporate entities. The supporters were also included in a training course with the Palo Alto School to acquire the techniques of animation and management of corporate communities.
A wide range of initiatives promoted by the company translate the principles of inclusion and equal opportunities into action. Fundamental to this was the drafting of the "Framework agreement on harassment and violence in the workplace", with which the Group aims to maintain a working environment in which respect and dignity are guaranteed for each person. Poste Italiane also cooperates with the two main advocacy organisations operating at national level, the Anti-Violence Network "D.i.Re" (Donne in Rete) and the voluntary association "Telefono Rosa", and finances a fund for the economic and working autonomy of women victims of violence, providing many of them with training opportunities, job placement and in some cases accommodation. The principle of equal career development opportunities is applied by ensuring that personnel selection is carried out on the basis of professionalism and skills in accordance with the company's needs, regardless of personal characteristics such as age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, nationality, political opinions and religious beliefs.
Diversity and Inclusion policies
Furthermore, during 2022, in order to strengthen the Group's commitment to its diversity and inclusion policies, an intervention plan has been identified in the area of affective orientation and gender identity, divided into the following areas, for which four working tables have been set up:
- Active parenthood: concerns the regulation of the employment relationship and in particular the institutes pertaining to parenthood and their application to homogeneous families. This is an area characterised by an important legislative intervention such as the Cirinnà Law 76 of 2016, which introduced same-sex civil unions into the Italian legal system;
- Change of corporate culture: focused on training and informing staff at all levels of the organisation to raise the level of awareness of each employee and overcome prejudices that often condition people's behaviour;
- Gender transition: the topic has important impacts in the corporate area in various aspects, from the initial phase of finding employment to dress codes, from management support for bosses and employees to identification documents during the transition process, to the rules of use of company premises (e.g. changing rooms and toilets). A further area for exploration is the possible support interventions that the Supplementary Health Fund can provide to accompany the transition process;
- LGBTQI+ Policy: drafting of a company policy that integrates the principles, values and rules that the company intends to adopt with regard to standards of behaviour and internal organisational processes, also making a structured synthesis of the results emerging from the other working
Additionally, the Group has adopted a "Diversity Policy for Management and Supervisory Bodies", which is the document with which the Company declares its responsibility to adopt a perspective of this value. The Policy establishes the criteria for a qualitative and quantitative composition of the Board of Directors functional to the effective performance of the tasks and responsibilities entrusted to it, through the presence of individuals who ensure a sufficient degree of diversity of perspectives and skills, which are crucial for a good understanding of current affairs and the risks and opportunities associated with running the company's business over the long term.
The Policy defines the criteria for selecting the members of the Board of Directors according to their responsibilities and tasks, as well as ensuring the presence of people with different perspectives and competences, who are able to manage the risks and opportunities related to the company's business in the long term. Through the Policy, the Group is able to ensure a qualitative composition of the Board of Directors that is optimal for the effective performance of its functions. In defining said criteria, the Board of Directors considered various factors, such as the nature and complexity of the company's business, the social and environmental context in which the Company operates, the experience gained by the Board itself with regard to the activities and functioning methods of the Board and of the internal Board Committees, as well as the results of the self-assessment processes carried out in recent years.
Finally, while respecting the requirements of professionalism, honour and independence, as well as situations of incompatibility and/or disqualification provided for by law, regulations and the By-laws, the Policy also takes into account age and seniority in office, gender, geographical origin and international experience. In addition, the Policy recommends specific professional expertise in the areas of finance or contribution policy, accounting and risk management, as well as adequate knowledge of the sector in which the company operates in order to assess the associated risks.
The Board of Directors, thanks to the assistance of an external company specialised in the sector, annually carries out the Board Review, a self-assessment in line with a procedure that involves conducting interviews, also making use of specific questionnaires, with each director, statutory auditor and with the Secretary of the Board of Directors. The final report prepared by the commissioned company is reviewed and shared with the Board of Directors in its collegiality. The Board Review carried out in 2022 showed that the quality profile of the administrative body in terms of skills, professionalism, experience and diversity, in its various meanings, is appropriate.
