People

I have worked at for ten years and I believe I know the company from several viewpoints. Over this long period, Ansaldo has offered me unique and crucial opportunities, right from the beginning when I was given a role in the Cost Planning Office. This role gave me the chance to find out about the company as a whole. In terms of my start, I have to say that the Cost Planning Office was not my chosen area for beginning my career at Ansaldo. But if I look back, I have to thank the people who believed in me and who gave me this opportunity. Afterwards the experience I gained abroad in Denmark and the UK as a Construction Manager created some problems, particularly in terms of settling in, but also allowed me to expand my skills and have a level of training I would never have received in Italy. The company has been excellent in providing me with attractive and stimulating opportunities, while I myself accepted a certain level of risk in the life changes that my various experiences abroad brought about.

I began experience with Ansaldo Trasporti Sistemi Ferroviari in itially as a temporary employee, and was then offered a permanent contract after a few months. Right from the start I was aware that I had joined a company with a great past that was preparing to make a change, which resulted in the establishment of the new company Ansaldo Trasporti Sistemi Ferroviari. The change is still underway, and it has led to improvements in strategy and mentality, giving individual resources more power to take decisions. This change may be the perfect opportunity to highlight some of the darker areas that still exist. I am very happy with the responsibilities I have been given as time has passed, as they are a clear sign of the company´s esteem and trust. My role as Telecommunication systems designer for transport systems has brought me into contact with the problems and issues that arise in a delicate job like this on a daily basis. However, I am grateful to the company for giving me the chance to work on projects and programmes that enable me to enrich my professional know-how on a constant basis.

Working for SELEX Sistemi Integrati? A constant daily challenge to improve your professional skills that are tested in the international arena and judged by the results they produce. An obstacle course initially tackled with uncertain autonomy that gradually turns into a precise and productive group effort focussing on shared objectives. This was what I was looking for when I came from a medium-sized enterprise and was offered the chance to join SELEX Sistemi Integrati, a multinational company with a considerable level of technological innovation. In a complex environment like that of Defence, the respect for the Administration and the company´s customer-centric business mission merge in an equilibrium that is both tough and stimulating; it is certainly an excellent training ground for those wishing to learn about the mechanisms that regulate operations within a large company in the Italian industrial sector. I did not know SELEX Sistemi Integrati or the Defence sector, but in the nearly two years I have spent with the company as a Project Manager, I have discovered that I want to be able to develop the technical and specialised skills I gained from my degree in IT engineering and have the opportunity to develop others, including in business relations and organisation. The focus on people training and development is a priority at SELEX Sistemi Integrati, because it is the only way to work successfully on complex projects in a delicate field. Of course some improvements could be introduced, particularly in terms of organisation and the operating culture.  But setting up a European Joint Venture has provided a boost in this sense, as process, methodology and culture sharing must be as consistent as possible. Furthermore, working with foreign partners and clients from all over the world has taught me that Italian technology and innovation is acknowledged and appreciated worldwide.

1987 was a very important year for me, as it was the year I joined Ansaldo. I had written my degree thesis on Ansaldo, so it was not difficult for me to settle into the Company. I found people with the relevant competencies willing to help me integrate into a new environment. I will always be grateful to those who put their absolute trust in me just three years after I joined, when I was assigned a very delicate task that was made even more difficult because I had to manage the resources myself. Today, fifteen years on, in my capacity as the Electrical technology Unit Manager at Genoa and Naples, I would like to thank Ansaldo for providing me with the necessary know-how for managing the situations, at times very complex, that I regularly deal with. I would also like to add the importance of having been given responsibilities by the company not long after joining. This taught me the importance of investing in young people by giving them hard tasks and independence in dealing with complex issues that are difficult to resolve.