13 November 2023
Feed minds with great thoughts
But surprised I was, nonetheless. Generali is a household name for insurance professionals and hints of the values it projected were visible from the outside. Then I got to witness first-hand what made it different, from the strength of the team, to the emphasis placed on people and business excellence.
And then, somewhere along the way, I got acquainted with another side of the company, one that for me, personally, was equally necessary as it was motivating: being a responsible citizen beyond business obligations.
We engaged as volunteers, planted trees, supported local hospitals or collected items for those less fortunate. Above all else, we embarked on this new adventure called The Human Safety Net, which became in a very short time a testament to Generali’s commitment towards the community and a sustainable future.
I was happy to join as one of the first volunteers, along with a few other colleagues, all of us united by a bit of curiosity and a strong, heartfelt desire to make a difference. At the same time, we had mixed feelings about our involvement, as we were not addressing any immediate need like the lack of food and shelter – the types of situations that trigger the strongest emotional reaction. What we were doing was supporting early childhood development, a concept we were just beginning to understand at its true value.
With this in mind, and under the careful guidance of our NGO partners, we went to a kindergarten near Bucharest, in a small village. We were going to spend the day with the kids there and we had the task to encourage their parents to support pre-school education.
We quickly started to play with the kids who were very open to learn new things or listen to us reading stories. At one point, a mommy told me that she would like to know how to read as nice as I do, because she wanted to spend evenings with her child reading bedtime stories. That is when we learned what some of the underlying issues were. Many parents could not read well or at all. Her openness impressed me deeply, but it also broke a little piece of my heart. I felt her insecurity, which was probably playing a big part in the decisions regarding her children’s education, as well as inhibiting her drive to ask for support.
The day ended and I got back together with my colleagues who shared the same feelings. We all had a wonderful sense of fulfillment, but also understood that this will be a long journey, with many challenges to overcome if we hoped to make a difference.
Therefore, I started to carry the THSN flag with me at running events, joyful that other colleagues followed my example and spread awareness about THSN.
However, it was not to be long until the pandemic struck, and we found ourselves transposed into “a new normal”. It made us search for ways to continue our daily business, and challenged us to remain close to the ones in need. We missed being together at the office, cracking a joke at lunch or sharing a ride home, but I could only imagine the disruption it caused to the help we committed to provide.
During the early stages of the pandemic, we witnessed an impressive mobilization to help mitigate the effects and quickly reorganize the way we served our customers. But, as months went by, it seemed we drifted apart, probably as a side-effect of the isolation. Even more, our journey with THSN became remote and that came at a cost, as the display of a computer has the bad habit of filtering emotions.
And this, for me, was the main challenge of the last few years. We learned that meeting online could also be relaxing, as we could drink a coffee from the comfort of our own home. We also learned that we needed to be together again and continue to help each other, as there is no substitute for that.
We are now back to in-person volunteering work, planting trees, collecting goods for those in need and continuing on our mission with full speed.
We learned that being consistent is key to having a meaningful impact. THSN never lost its consistency, even through the years of the pandemic. It has shown me that the company I work for puts its energy (and its money) where its mouth is and makes me happy to support it with all my energy, so we can achieve together a sustainable future.
Read the article in original language
Feed minds with great thoughts
It was about 7 years ago when I arrived in Generali Romania. I had been working in insurance for a long time so patterns and stereotypes about the industry and the people within, were already engraved in my mind. That is why I had set my expectations accordingly and I thought there would not be any surprises once I started this new chapter.
But surprised I was, nonetheless. Generali is a household name for insurance professionals and hints of the values it projected were visible from the outside. Then I got to witness first-hand what made it different, from the strength of the team, to the emphasis placed on people and business excellence.
And then, somewhere along the way, I got acquainted with another side of the company, one that for me, personally, was equally necessary as it was motivating: being a responsible citizen beyond business obligations.
We engaged as volunteers, planted trees, supported local hospitals or collected items for those less fortunate. Above all else, we embarked on this new adventure called The Human Safety Net, which became in a very short time a testament to Generali’s commitment towards the community and a sustainable future.
I was happy to join as one of the first volunteers, along with a few other colleagues, all of us united by a bit of curiosity and a strong, heartfelt desire to make a difference. At the same time, we had mixed feelings about our involvement, as we were not addressing any immediate need like the lack of food and shelter – the types of situations that trigger the strongest emotional reaction. What we were doing was supporting early childhood development, a concept we were just beginning to understand at its true value.
With this in mind, and under the careful guidance of our NGO partners, we went to a kindergarten near Bucharest, in a small village. We were going to spend the day with the kids there and we had the task to encourage their parents to support pre-school education.
We quickly started to play with the kids who were very open to learn new things or listen to us reading stories. At one point, a mommy told me that she would like to know how to read as nice as I do, because she wanted to spend evenings with her child reading bedtime stories. That is when we learned what some of the underlying issues were. Many parents could not read well or at all. Her openness impressed me deeply, but it also broke a little piece of my heart. I felt her insecurity, which was probably playing a big part in the decisions regarding her children’s education, as well as inhibiting her drive to ask for support.
The day ended and I got back together with my colleagues who shared the same feelings. We all had a wonderful sense of fulfillment, but also understood that this will be a long journey, with many challenges to overcome if we hoped to make a difference.
Therefore, I started to carry the THSN flag with me at running events, joyful that other colleagues followed my example and spread awareness about THSN.
However, it was not to be long until the pandemic struck, and we found ourselves transposed into “a new normal”. It made us search for ways to continue our daily business, and challenged us to remain close to the ones in need. We missed being together at the office, cracking a joke at lunch or sharing a ride home, but I could only imagine the disruption it caused to the help we committed to provide.
During the early stages of the pandemic, we witnessed an impressive mobilization to help mitigate the effects and quickly reorganize the way we served our customers. But, as months went by, it seemed we drifted apart, probably as a side-effect of the isolation. Even more, our journey with THSN became remote and that came at a cost, as the display of a computer has the bad habit of filtering emotions.
And this, for me, was the main challenge of the last few years. We learned that meeting online could also be relaxing, as we could drink a coffee from the comfort of our own home. We also learned that we needed to be together again and continue to help each other, as there is no substitute for that.
We are now back to in-person volunteering work, planting trees, collecting goods for those in need and continuing on our mission with full speed.
We learned that being consistent is key to having a meaningful impact. THSN never lost its consistency, even through the years of the pandemic. It has shown me that the company I work for puts its energy (and its money) where its mouth is and makes me happy to support it with all my energy, so we can achieve together a sustainable future.