In Tor.Met, a new era has officially begun. The logistical change has stimulated a consequent renewal of both the methods and ways of experiencing work by both management and staff.

During 2022, we embarked on an HR project aimed at consolidating the group and establishing a new approach to work. Work is seen as a means of livelihood but also as an opportunity for personal growth.

This activity has allowed us to obtain a pool of ideas to explore, which have come directly from those who live and grow the company. The first requests we decided to respond to was “to be able to learn.”

Thus was born the idea of founding the Tor.Met Academy, a space reserved for employees where free access courses and seminars on various practical and theoretical-cultural topics will be held periodically.

A business unit conceived as a producer of added value.

Why create a corporate academy?

Creating an academy means building the future of the company through the valorization of people and the consolidation of the professional identity of each collaborator, with the courage on the part of ownership to take a medium to long-term perspective.

With this type of activity, the focus is no longer on a tangible good, the product, but on another type of intangible but invaluable resource: knowledge.

In technical jargon, the company departments dedicated to this type of project are called “learning organizations”, a term that creates an association between the organization and learning.

“It is no longer enough to provide a catalog of training courses.”

Allen, 2012

Companies do not provide one-shot courses just to have the prestige of offering them; the seminar topics are carefully chosen to become places of knowledge exchange and personal growth. The academy contributes to achieving the company’s business objectives and creating value and employability.

A bit of history: corporate academies

1927: This is the year in which General Motors founded the first corporate “school” in its New York City plant. An innovative idea judged as a risk by most, but it worked.

In 1955, General Electric also founded its academy and called it the “Corporate University.” The idea of training was conceived exclusively at a technical level, to specialize workers, but it was still something of profound value that was provided to employees. These first fortunate experiments made General Motors realize the cultural role that this service provided to employees and it was carried forward with pride.

However, the post-war period arrived, which marked a period of forced downsizing for the entire society and companies, and even the most enlightened ones abandoned academic projects in favor of restructuring.

New life came in the 1990s and beyond, where we went from 400 cases of corporate academies worldwide (in 1980) to over 4000 realities of today.

In Italy, the first corporate academy arrived in 2001 thanks to Eni, followed by numerous and prestigious examples in every field.

An opportunity for learning but also for personal growth for the entire staff.