The sustainability culture is the path to change
At Berardi Imballaggi, our staff is our most important research because, along with the owners, they make the company's development and improvement projects a reality. They are the link to growth, the driving force that mFrom the beginning, our sustainable revolution involved all employees who expressed their ideas for sustainable growth, suggesting possible improvements and providing valid insights. Proposals and the desire to participate in this urgently needed change were the starting point for the transformation process that has affected us all and shaped our thinking in a sustainable way.
Planning personal meetings with an occupational psychologist was also essential to initiate the valuable knowledge migration from the most experienced workers to the younger ones. This delicate and important step involved several generations in the remarkable process of sharing the "secrets" of the trade.
Good practices that reinforce the sustainability culture
The change also involved adopting new behaviours that reinforced the feeling of loyalty among Berardi Imballaggi employees, customers, and stakeholders. For some years now, we have been following a path of social sustainability based not on the personal sensitivity of our stakeholders but on transmitting the sustainable feeling of ownership to everything that surrounds it and helps it grow.
Social sustainability took shape through various company decisions, including regular communication with all those involved to keep them updated on the choices and long-term company goals and the certifications it has obtained, triggering a transparent communication process; constant and proactive internal communication capable of generating positive feelings; the sharing of development and growth choices with the introduction of technological innovations capable of improving company life; and limited recourse to turnover, which makes it possible to preserve skill and harmony in the work teams as well as enhance expertise through training and professional refresher courses.
"A boat in the middle of the sea that, having passed through a heavy storm (a major crisis), now feels the need to understand where it is going and what it is doing."
The journey with Berardi Imballaggi began in 2017 when I met Francesco Berardi to share some ideas with him about a "possible" work to be done in the company, to voice what he had already been detecting for a while. The moment had come for his company to confront the internal dynamics of its operations from the psychological point of view.
I remember the metaphor that he used to define the company at that moment in its history: "A boat in the middle of the sea that, having passed through a heavy storm (a major crisis), know feels the need to understand where it is going and what it is doing."
So, we started here. What makes life in the company good or bad? What lets this boat sail, and what weighs it down, blocks it, and works against it?
We surveyed the company's wellbeing and unease indicators and tackled complex issues such as conflict management, clarity of objectives, relations and the generation gap between workers, tendency towards innovation, decision-making processes, and communication.
These issues were voiced in group meetings, listening to the meanings attributed to them by the workers, understanding the differences in interpretation, and creating a common ground for reflection, often with serious, even arduous discussions for those who decided to get seriously involved.
This means laying all your cards on the table, staying the course even through surges of misunderstandings, of "why are you bothering to say anything", "nothing ever changes", etc.
What does the psychologist do in all this? The psychologist is merely a facilitator who creates the conditions for awareness of specific mechanisms and facilitates sharing how to proceed that is specific to that organisation. It is not a question of providing ready-made solutions but of acting as an escort along a path of awareness, helping the ship/company cross the high waves of problems without ever stepping in or taking the helm.
Where this ship arrives will be decided by all those who have decided to be part of the crew, each assuming the responsibility of contributing to defining the route to follow in order to discover the hard-to-reach and beautiful places of organisational growth.
Meetings with the occupational psychologist for knowledge transfers
City food collection for the most needy
Constant communication with employees, customers, and stakeholders on commitments and intentions