30 Years of EdC

Feeling astonished by what the EoC life generates in a company where it is lived seriously, in everyday life

by Pietro Comper

Dearest Alberto,
I would like to write to you these few lines to tell you about a reflection that has been on my mind for some time as I live out my commitment of belonging to the EoC in Tecnodoor.

For some years now, I have been noticing that within the company there is a continuous dynamic in the relationships between all the staff, starting with the employees in the various offices, both technical and administrative. I have noticed that there is not only an exchange of ideas and opinions between them, but also a desire to help each other in almost any complicated task that arises during the course of the day. I see with great satisfaction that every time they solve a problem, whether a major or minor one, they have a tendency - if one can call it that - to celebrate, thereby creating the impression in the eyes of customers arriving or passing by that someone has won something or that there is a birthday party going on.

In fact it is not exactly so because this way of being is constant, even at times when certain events create some tension or discouragement. From one or the other person, there’s an immediate rise of enthusiasm to start again, dealing with whatever problems or misunderstandings that may have come up, trying in every way to resolve the case and recover from it in serenity.

This new way of behaving also occurs at the production line, the workshop where manual work and work with machines involves much more personalised and non-group action, and with some special behavioural characteristics the implementation of which I have only seen very few times in the years of my life as an entrepreneur. That is to say, I notice that it is normal to help out each other in the production schedule; if one or more of the colleagues is late with the delivery of the finished product, helping each other becomes spontaneous to prevent the slowing down of the entire production cycle, using the most appropriate ways not to lose fraternal charity and solving the problem not only for the colleague in difficulty, but also, indirectly, for the company itself.

I see the same thing among the young people involved in the assembly of our products in our units in rural areas or in various cities of Italy. Certainly, I often see them tired, but in their comments, I also hear the satisfaction of having put a product in the hands of the customer, whoever it may be, a product that, as they say, has become a masterpiece: I see the satisfaction and joy of their work in their eyes and the pride of receiving compliments from customers.

It’s been a few years now that the company management decided to send everyone, each person to refresher courses for the task he or she performs, whether administrative, professional or safety, to stay at the forefront of new laws and technologies, including renewals of the licences needed to drive forklifts or other sophisticated machinery. The thing that really amazes me is that they all go willingly and then discuss and put into practice what they have learnt. That is what I have been experiencing again and again all through this time.

 Many times throughout the year someone feels the desire to throw a really nice party. It is never the same people who propose it. Some people propose to have a Friday evening barbecue or a dinner all together and they invite all of the families, too. But what’s peculiar is that the party and dinner must be held on the company premises: in the yard or garden and everyone is happy to bring something to share. Those who gather together often find themselves tasting food ranging from Sicilian specialities to those of Romagna, or even Tyrolean - and the list goes on. This is an opportunity for everyone to get to know each other and create new relationships, to understand each other's family situations, to create conditions of mutual help and to create a ‘family’, so to speak.

Tecnodoor's staff consists of twenty-five people plus external craftsmen who are always involved in these instants of gathering and celebration; sometimes there are even seventy to eighty of us.

Something touching happened towards the end of last winter on a hike to see the sunrise at the summit of Mount Stivo, at an altitude of around two thousand metres - an episode recounted to me by my son Damiano.

They all reached the summit together, after a three-hour walk in the night, helping each other, and ended up near the refuge, which was closed at that time. They lit a fire to warm themselves and to have breakfast outdoors all together. Damiano told me that there was a beautiful, almost heavenly atmosphere between them: they found themselves singing together and telling each other about some of the special moments in their lives.

At a certain point something rather peculiar happened. Damiano, who often goes with his dog to that peak in the summer, had discovered that one of the employees, a fitter named Luca*, whose father had died, placed a picture of Padre Pio near the cross on the summit. A few weeks earlier, Marco*'s father, a design engineer of Neapolitan origin, had also died. Damiano therefore suggested to Luca that he should involve Marco and explain to him that we as mountain people of Trentino, when reaching the summit, have the impression of being closer to our loved ones who are already up there! They climbed up together and once they reached the cross they embraced each other in silence and wept together.

What is the message of this unusual and rare event to me, which happened between colleagues who, in addition to sharing the problems of their work, are able to create a spiritual communion at special times like this by also sharing the pain that each one has in their heart?

I believe that everything described in these few lines is but the result of a life lived and dedicated to the economy of communion that manifests itself in its fullness, slowly creating a work environment that is not only nice and interesting, but that little by little becomes as sacred as a cathedral can be.

* because of the sensitivity of the situations described, the names of the protagonists in this beautiful story are invented