People are genuinely a capital asset for IMA and they benefit from a process of personal and professional growth that is aligned with the culture of the Company. Training and active involvement are considered the keys for the development of skills and empowerment of employees and collaborators. The Group promotes respect for work, workers and their trade union representatives, fighting against all forms of discrimination and guaranteeing full compliance with fundamental human rights, according to the principles contained in the UN’s Declaration on Human Rights. It promotes inclusion, integration, equal opportunities and reciprocity as elements that can enhance the value of diversity, removing the economic and social obstacles that restrict the freedom of the individual in application of the principle of substantial equality and respect for individual dignity. IMA protects the health and safety of the people working in the Group and in the supply chain. Moreover, the Company encourages the participation and responsible involvement of employees and collaborators, also through social dialogue, ensuring freedom of association.

Respect for human rights underpins the values of IMA, its way of working and doing business, its relations with employees, suppliers and other external stakeholders. In this sense, the Group has implemented specific policies for the protection of human rights. Specifically, approximately 9% of new suppliers who worked for the first time during the year for IMA companies in the world had to undergo an assessment based on social criteria (such as working conditions and respect for human rights).

IMA considers training and skills development a strategic asset. The educational rationale does not focus only on certain categories of employees, but it is based on the idea that lifelong training must involve the entire population, guaranteeing a harmonious and synergistic growth of the Company’s distinctive skills. Training therefore aims to develop and maintain people’s skills, while continuing to ensure support for the development and implementation of new technologies. In 2020, around 118,000 training hours were provided, increasing by about 20% every year since 2012. Most of the training was dedicated to soft skills, but there were different hard skills courses too, such as planning, safety, production, quality/standards, ICT and languages.

IMA is attentive to the issue of equal opportunities, despite operating in a production and industrial environment that, by history and tradition, tends to employ much fewer women than men: women account for 18% of the total workforce. Since 2013, the training path “IMA – Mainstreaming Actions” has been active to support women professionalism and equal opportunities. Its main purpose is to identify and implement objectives and promote networking to ensure the positive professional development of women. The training path consists of classroom sessions, project work and individual coaching on topics such as equal opportunities, the culture of gender diversity in organisations, the ways of achieving work-life balance and techniques for leadership and the management of emotions. So far, a total of around 600 women were involved.

For the fourth consecutive year, the Group wins the international TOP EMPLOYER award that certifies its pledge to ensure the well-being of its employees and collaborators, thanks to active welfare policies and innovative projects, increasingly oriented towards digitalisation and sustainability. IMA Group continues its ongoing investment in Talent Acquisition, development and constant training, with over 170 new hires. In addition to the number of new recruits, the commitment of the Company towards people is also translated in a continuous training activity, consisting in more than 103.000 hours of training. Such investment is not limited to the initial phase, but it is spread over time, aiming to enhance professional growth and individual motivation. The confirmation of the certification for 2022 allows IMA to stand out as an Employer of excellence, able to attract talents and maintain high levels of productivity and competitiveness, thanks to policies that focus on quality of work.