The 100 TXT Days: 5th week - By Tatiana Coviello, Group Chief People Officer
The journey continues....
Time flies, and it flies even faster when you do things you enjoy. I continue SpongeBob-style journey in TXT Group, I look, I observe, I absorb, but in the meantime the normal activities have also begun, the ones where you carry out tasks. The space and time I take to ponder on what I am learning is precious, because I often realize that, absorbed in doing things, we no longer worry about learning. And so let me immediately tell you all about the first thought of these last two weeks:
- When you do, don't stop learning. I realized that the initial period in a company is like a sort of observatory, you are "given" time to learn. I ponder. What will happen in a year? Will I still be able to learn, or will I be swallowed up by things to do? Does one exclude the other? I don't think so, on the contrary, I am sure of it. But it takes space for each one of us, managers and non-managers, to reflect on what we are learning, at least one thing a week we must strive to learn it. What virtuous knowledgesharing mechanism could be set in motion if we urged all management to write down one thing a week they have learned about and from their company? If we have nothing to write; then there we must be alert The company is imploding on itself. I ponder. As CPO I am reflecting on how to give space and voice to these thoughts, and create that famous virtuous circle.
- CLEANSKY. It is the largest European research program that supports the development of innovative technologies with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions, as well as the reduction of noise pollution by promoting collaboration between aircraft and engine manufacturers, in favor of leadership and global competitiveness. TXT is on board, in every sense. On the dedicated website www.cleansky.eu you can find a lot of interesting information. By the way: I discovered that from November 24th to the 26th, the Aerodays will take place.
- Data, oil and connecting the dots: what can I do with Data Lakes. They are called correlations, and they allow you to study how a new prototype performs during test flights. This allows aircraft design and configuration improvements, to increase safety. In addition: analyzing the data by putting them together in a single "repository" thus creating a single Data Lake, allows for more accurate analysis which, with the help of artificial intelligence, can also be used in predictive mode. Connecting the dots at full throttle, I dare say, since I never thought that the price of oil could influence the hours of offshore flights, meaning those towards oil platforms, and vice versa. Understanding how an event can affect an entire business, that apparently may seem unrelated, has become of strategic importance as we live in increasingly connected and interdependent ecosystems. We take care also of this.
- The basic software of a car is a bit like underwear. Yes, you read that right. Because no one sees it, yet it is the thing that "holds everything up". The application zone (the dress) is what I see when I turn on the car when I leave, but it is the basic software that makes the hardware (the body) speak with the application (the dress). I worked for ten years in the automotive industry but had never entered the maze of Embedded systems and Concetta Argiri, Head of the Automotive Line of Business, helped me understand a bit better what it is, the linen metaphor? Well, a vice of mine, that of trying to turn ideas into tangible concepts, I hope it works and facilitates understanding even for non-engineers like me, those who don't see the software but simply hope that it works, possibly always. However, having said that, with our Automotive sector we are located right here, in the B2B. For Marelli, for example, we are a Tier2, meaning we give Marelli a piece of software which they then sell to Fiat. Suppliers of technological "underwear". Another thing I have learned is that to become a Tier 2 Supplier in the automotive sector you must have not only an ISO 9001 certification but also an ISO 26262 and Automotive spice development standards. Spice as in the flavouring or as in Spice Girl? Not at all, it's simply a good acronym: SPICE stands for Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination, cool stuff! ;-)
- The Governance of Digital Transformation requires agile but above all reasoned and shared approaches. This is a crucial aspect on which our newly acquired HSPI can support our customers (www.hspi.it). With the acquisition of these new skills, today we are able to support our customers not only as a digital enabler through innovative solutions, but also with targeted advice on the context in which the customer operates and the challenges they face. Digital transformation projects often fail in the face of unclear Governance and a consequent lack of sharing and clarity on goals and solutions. It is not uncommon to see how companies opt for a technological solution without a clear definition of objectives, and just as frequently we find ourselves immersed in the quagmire of an investment from which there is no turning back, because of the huge sums already invested. The quagmire then transforms into quicksand and - unfortunately - how that ends is something someone already knows too well: what was supposed to be a transformation capable of making the company more agile and competitive, is now making it slower and more stuck within its own systems. HSPI supports companies in managing this change in an agile way, without necessarily going through quicksand.
Challenges for the coming weeks.
1. Deepen the topic of the New Skills Fund and active labor policies to analyze the opportunity for the TXT Group.
2. Analyze the training needs for the year 2021, highlighting what skills the market will require from a partner like TXT.
3. Make an initial evaluation of the HR budget and Group Communication based on the information that I am gradually collecting, and on the shared priorities