Azimut-Benetti Group opens training academy

Azimut-Benetti Group has formed the Azimut-Benetti Group Corporate Academy, a business school designed to train top yacht industry professionals, with the dual aim of supporting the professional growth of its employees and of creating the roles most in demand in order to generate new jobs.  

The company says the initiative is aimed at enhancing the merit and professionalism of current and future employees, and is the first in the yachting world to look at the industry as a whole, bringing a holistic approach to training.

The teaching model embraces technical know-how and handcrafting expertise, managerial development in addition to education and guidance projects set up in partnership with vocational training agencies, secondary education institutes and universities.

The training is structured in four action areas: the Shipyard Academy and the Executive Academy, which provide upskilling, reskilling and executive education for group employees, the Development & Career Path, split into multiple internal growth paths, and lastly Education and Guidance Projects for students.

“We are at the forefront of a growing industry in which Italy leads the world rankings and that is always looking for specialists to recruit. Our Group employs some of the world’s top professionals and our network of partners and suppliers is second to none, making it both a responsibility and a privilege to share this heritage in order to create new opportunities for people inside and outside the Yard,” says Azimut-Benetti Group CEO, Marco Valle. 

The Shipyard Academy has been set up in partnership with Turin-based training organisation Fondazione Casa di Carità Arti e Mestieri di Torino as part of the Innovative and Sustainable Integrated Mobility Academy promoted by Regione Piemonte which launched on 5 June 2023. It is hoped the courses – over 18,000 hours of training – will promote a culture of continuous improvement, valuing and strengthening the skills required by the company in order to train highly specialised professionals in the techniques of bodywork production, carpentry, outfitting, and mechanical and hydraulic assembly. 

Santi Carlino, Azimut-Benetti Group chief people & ICT officer, explains: “The Shipyard Academy has been created to focus on ‘homo faber’ and the ability to create and build, celebrating both the craftsmanship that is an integral part of the production process and the great professionalism of our workforce, which has always been one of the company’s distinctive features.” 

Receiving a total of more than 28,000 hours of training though the Executive Academy, Azimut-Benetti says its managers will take part in leadership development programmes designed to strengthen their skills in the areas of communication and listening, people management and decision making. The training path will also include classes that focus on specific requirements, such as the customer experience in the luxury industry.

The Azimut-Benetti Group Corporate Academy will extend the vocational education project launched by the company to attract young people to the yacht industry and facilitate their transition to the world of work. The group has been working with professional schools to train specialists in the areas of carpentry, outfitting and bodywork, with secondary education institutes to implement skill adaptation strategies aimed at developing mechanical and naval study plans for training naval operators, with the maritime technical college to train young captains and crew, and with higher education institutes on activities ranging from the development of new technologies to induction and co-teaching.  

Earlier this month (June 2023), Azimut-Benetti Group announced it had signed an agreement with Eni Sustainable Mobility for the supply and use of HVOlution, a biofuel produced from renewable raw materials.