Sustainability report 2007 - Il Gruppo Hera

Group workforce. One of the primary elements of this process is the role of facilitator,
assigned to the direct supervisor of the personnel present in each training classroom.
With the objective of improving internal communication, the workforce was engaged in
order to analyse their experience of the tools used (House Organ, intranet, Video Hera),
receive useful feedback to improve these tools and ensure they respond better to real
needs. This analysis, carried out in March 2007, comprised a qualitative part (with six
focus groups of employees at various levels and ten in-depth interviews on a sample
representing the employee population) and a quantitative part (one thousand on-line
interviews were carried out to assess the intranet). The results obtained demonstrate
different uses of communications tools, based on the employee profile and the type of
work carried out. As a result, improvement actions were defined: for example, the
usability of the corporate intranet will be improved, rendering it easier to use by
prioritising news items based on importance, and increasing the number of links and
pages for personnel (also including a section on Cultural Associations) and for the
Territorial Operative Companies.
Customers
Customer satisfaction survey
In Autumn 2007, customer satisfaction surveys were carried out for both residential and
business customers.
The residential customer satisfaction survey was preceded by an update of the issues
dealt with and the most suitable questions for investigating these issues, based on the
results of about thirty interviews with residential customers throughout the local areas in
which Hera operates: lasting about one hour, the interviews dealt with issues that
allowed Hera to substantially redefine the survey methods in several areas, such as the
technical quality of the service provided, and the image that customers have of Hera.
Thus, the decision was made to increase the focus, as compared to the past, on the
service satisfaction index (Service CSI), an index which summarises the customer
satisfaction for the sole aspects of service effectively provided (electrical energy, gas,
water and waste management).
This index reaches high levels, with a score of 71, confirming levels of excellence in
reliability, safety, cost and quality if Hera’s services: most of the Territorial Operative
Companies scored higher than 70. The overall satisfaction index (CSI) for residential
customers, which includes the intangible elements of ideals and expectations, and media
and management effects, fell by two points compared to 2006, reaching 65.
The probably causes include the impact of the change in IT systems (with resulting
invoicing errors, long waiting times both at the call center and branches, increased
complaints), implemented in the last two areas to enter the Group, Ferrara and Modena,
and regulatory changes on the distribution of electrical energy, which affected Modena
and Imola.
For 2008, actions have been implemented to improve customer satisfaction: careful
planning for the start of tariff adjustments, more frequent communications with
customers, increased information in issues such as investments in the water and waste
management areas, the launch of the Hera Group’s new internet site, new on-line
services and the new Club Hera Insieme.
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