Global leadership for the Angelini Group

Uniting exceptional managerial training with concrete corporate leadership experience. These are two pillars underpinning the program for young talent promoted by Angelini Holding through the Group’s Corporate Academy, an initiative created in collaboration with SDA Bocconi School of Management.

One of the Academy’s proposals is the Angelini Future Leaders Program, a concrete example of a comprehensive process of renewal set in motion by the Angelini Group, onboarding all levels of the organization from the strategic holding to the many operational companies.

An element of this radical evolution was the 2019 decision to invest energetically in recruiting and training talented young people, both in Italy and abroad. And the Group found an ideal partner in this transformation: SDA Bocconi. In the first Angelini Future Leaders Program, 14 candidates got the opportunity to take this training path, in an international context, and the company got the chance to lay the groundwork for a new generation of leaders.

“The first time we ran the Program, it was a huge hit. Despite the challenges we’re facing today, the young ‘Future Leaders’ showed us their enthusiasm, passion and innovation in the projects they were given, and for their final assignment, the proposals of each company actually multiplied. To continue to respond at a Group level to the need for talented young people from various businesses, and to give continuity in our investment in young people - in line with our vision, our purpose and our company values - we decided to relaunch the Program for a second time, engaging even more participants,” says Marco Morbidelli, Chief HR & Organization Officer for the Angelini Group.

The partnership between SDA Bocconi and the Angelini Group has deep roots. The story began in 2017 with the first “global climate survey,” addressed to all the employees in all Angelini companies.

Over time, the collaboration evolved into a multi-project and multi-channel undertaking: through framework agreements, personalized training programs were activated for the executives of the different companies in the Angelini Group, centering on developing leadership skills that are directly linked to corporate values. This learning experience was also extended to every company employee through various online and on-demand training programs, all offered in English.

In the context of this wide array of training programs, the process of transforming and renewing the Angelini Group focused on enhancing the value of human capital, with a special accent on young people.

The Angelini Future Leaders Program, mentioned above, is an example. First offered in November 2019, this wide-ranging, structured program encapsulates the Group’s desire to create global leaders. These are people who are capable of reading the global context where they are growing and developing the businesses of the Angelini Group, while at the same time acting in the interest of the local communities where these businesses operate.

The learning objectives of this 18-month international mastery program revolve around enhancing transversal competencies in general management and individual skills such as leadership, communication and teamworking, as well as entrepreneurial spirit. The Program targets candidates from all over Europe with university degrees in both STEM and humanist disciplines, people who are interested in investing in their professional growth and taking on roles and responsibilities in the international arena.

Due to the emergency caused by the pandemic and anti-Covid restrictions, classroom time was redesigned with a blended learning approach. Participants can choose whether to attend classes in person, respecting rigid safety protocols (social distancing, disinfecting learning spaces, staggered lunch breaks with participants sitting at separate tables), or they can opt for distance learning via a live video link.

Every candidate was given two job rotations in countries where the Group operates, in companies like Angelini Pharma, Fater, or Fameccanica (these last two are joint ventures with P&G). During this on-the-job training, candidates took on critical managerial roles in their assigned companies and applied what they learning in the classroom. For example, for one young person tapped to become a leader in global medical management, the first work project was in the business development function and the second in global regulatory affairs. The combination of SDA Bocconi training and work experiences in two functions related to the final destination of young managers complete the learning experience, and fuel their desire to continue their career paths in the Angelini Group.

In the words of Marco Morbidelli: “From the very start our aim was to build a talent incubator that guarantees generational transition and long-term sustainability. The Angelini Future Leaders Program constitutes a cornerstone of our Talent Management strategy. The ingredients of success are meritocracy, constant innovation and originality of the training programs, which are also exposed to knowledge contamination, while fully embracing the need for business growth.

• After completing the first Program, graduates will fill positions that are consistent with their managerial maturity; in some cases, this will mean taking on new roles.
• In the wake of the outstanding results of this initiative, Angelini Academy will run a second Angelini Future Leaders Program, with 16 new young candidates, from November 2021 to May 2023.

Global leadership for the Angelini Group