2023 Supplementary Agreement: Well-being is created together

This year we once again renewed our second-level Supplementary Agreement, a tool we have always used to jointly construct the new frontier of corporate well-being.

For those not familiar with this tool, the second-level supplementary agreement is an arrangement between the employer and employees – in the presence of the union – that protects workers by introducing exceptions, measures, practices and improved benefits in the company beyond the limits of the law (relevant collective agreement). It is therefore a system that makes it possible to define a regulatory framework tailored to the company.

This valuable tool has enabled us to adopt a number of innovative measures that now define our corporate well-being system, starting with integral smart working, allowing us to pursue our common benefit goal, people’s happiness.

Listening to employees

At Way2Global, we believe it is necessary to start from employees’ wishes in order to define a bottom-up well-being system that is the result of participatory governance and effectively responds to the needs of the workforce.

We therefore took advantage of the biweekly meetings that help consolidate communication between departments to review the current agreement and jointly consider what changes and/or additions to make.

Through an anonymous survey, we invited employees to express their views on the agreement’s past measures, as well as their preference regarding the new measures proposed by the Board. The results were by no means predictable, involving many interesting insights that we readily embraced and translated into action.

We first realized that, partly due to the many new entrants in the company, the way in which certain measures function was not clear to everyone, so we took advantage of the plenary sessions to better explain the content of the agreement and to illustrate in detail how to take advantage of the various measures by clearing up any doubts.

At the same time, we have received excellent insights from people on how to change past measures and what new tools to include. These suggestions, together with the preferences expressed regarding the Board’s proposed new measures, formed the basis for revising the content of the agreement.

At Way2Global, we view the supplementary agreement as a flexible tool that must be systematically adapted over time, as the needs of employees change not only according to the historical context (such as the need for security due to the pandemic and the challenges of high bills due to the energy crisis), but also according to people’s life needs. While during the pandemic full smart working seemed like the perfect solution for safety reasons, now the workforce’s preference is shifting towards a more social approach that complements the indisputable work-life balance benefits of the remote organizational model.

So let us see what is new this year.

This year’s new developments

The 2023 Supplementary Agreement reconfirmed the flexibility measures that form the basis of our well-being system. We are particularly referring to smart working, a work model that over time has allowed us to ensure the continuity of our now fully digitized operations, as well as to improve people’s work-life balance and to recruit talent in all regions of Italy, while also supporting disadvantaged areas (South Working).

Other reconfirmed measures that go beyond legal obligations include the “friendly” hour bank, which promotes cohesion by allowing those with a surplus of vacation time to donate some to those who require it, special caregiver leave for those who are looking after dependent family members, the extension of leave under Law 104 for those caring for family members with severe disabilities, as well as, of course, equal parental leave, a tool we particularly care about to promote inclusive parenting in every respect.

This is complemented by measures to protect the physical and psychological well-being of our workforce. These include online fitness services and a psychologist bonus. The latter, in particular, constitutes an evolution of the psychological assistance desk included in the previous version of the agreement. The survey had highlighted a desire to be able to independently choose the professional to engage, as well as to conduct the sessions in-person rather than online, so it was decided to adapt the measure to meet the new demands.

Similarly, the company workforce welcomed the Board’s proposal to include a structural income support measure through monthly disbursement of an expensive bills bonus and a spending bonus designed to address the higher cost of living caused by the current geopolitical situation.

Last but not least, another important development is the adoption of a measure to encourage collective co-working. Again, the impetus came from within the company, namely from the precedent set by two project managers from Turin who, on a trip to Milan for their periodic visit to the occupational physician, spontaneously decided to stay for a day of joint work at an on-site co-working space. The initiative, which was appreciated and proposed to the entire company, was unanimously welcomed as a means of nurturing social interaction, which has been adversely affected by smart working, while fostering cohesion in the company.

Our Supplementary Agreement therefore contains many new features of which we are proud. Although it is not easy to strike a balance between social and economic sustainability, through dialogue and discussion we were once again able to lay the groundwork for the corporate well-being system that will accompany us in the coming year.