Active resilience, an antidote to the difficult international situation

by Francesco CALABRETTA

Cluster Leader Hungary and Italy - Audax Renewables

* The article is taken from the Audax Renewables eBook Change Starts with Energy. 5 Themes for a Transforming World free downloadable in the version pdf.

We do not know how the years just passed – 2020-2022 – will be considered by those who, in the future, will have the task of reading and giving a critical interpretation of what happened, perhaps finding a specific name for the era we are living in. Without a doubt, it has been an exceptional period, with the Covid-19 pandemic as a common thread capable of changing, sometimes temporarily, sometimes forever, what we have known until now. And the great social and economic uncertainty generated in this period, just when it seemed to be on the way to being resolved, has found new life, this time in the consequences of the Russian military aggression in Ukraine.

Already in the ebook published a year ago, we reflected on the importance of having a "resilient" attitude. Today, we confirm what we said. Resilience, in fact, has the merit of giving full consistency to that very human ability to know how to face negative and critical events or periods, not so much through a firm and intransigent opposition, but rather a flexible and dynamically adaptable attitude that leads to knowing how to reorganize and find a balance following adversity, having the opportunity to emerge from it, if possible, strengthened. But not only that. It is also a way of looking with optimistic rationality to the future, fearlessly aiming for growth without upsetting plans already decided.

A choice that is proving to be a winning one for us at Audax Renewables Italia. And not only in terms of economic results, which also say a lot: the turnover has reached 169 million euros (in 2021 it was 90 million) and the EBITDA has gone from 1.9 million to 5.2 million, for a number of customers that has grown to 40 thousand units with a particular spread in the production sectors (from small businesses to SMEs to industry). But also for having bet on growth starting from those who "make the company" every day, filling it and giving it life with their presence, their time and therefore their work. In this difficult period the Audax team has increased both in terms of employees and external collaborators and consultants. Furthermore, under the pressure of the changed ways of working imposed by the pandemic, the space in which to meet has also been rethought, hence the decision to move to a more comfortable, dynamic, open place, a place where you can work according to smart, flexible logics and no longer just "office-centric" as happened in the past. Thus, after the inauguration of the new and larger Milan office, an important change is also planned for the Turin office.

Added to this was a deep work of design and implementation of customer services. A notable organizational effort for a growing company like Audax Italia and which has seen the introduction of advanced customer care and customer management systems, for an increasingly close and immediate relationship with those who have chosen us.

We believe that only by continuing on this resilient – and courageous – path will it be possible to overcome this long critical period.