An excellent customer relationship
EDP, a major Portuguese global electric operator, is a customer of Stone Soup Consulting in Portugal and it is gradually expanding its business in Spain. This growth goes hand in hand with an expansion of its CSR and social action through its Foundation. An important part of this social action is its “EDP Solidarity” Programme; an annual call for social projects with a total budget of 500,000 euros.
Stone Soup Consulting started supporting EDP by preparing the start of this programme in Spain, based on the Portuguese practice. However, in Spain, the programme had a really special hallmark as the jury responsible for assessing the projects submitted is part of the company’s staff.
My work as a consultant for EDP began with the preparation and delivery of a short practical training for employees who were part of the jury. It was an interesting but complex mission as we had to convey sufficient knowledge to properly evaluate a wide variety of projects to people with varied professional backgrounds and sometimes far from the social sphere. On the other hand they were very interested in taking part of the process and incorporating the programme as part of the company’s work with the community.
After the initial training, the EDP Foundation in Spain requested us to continue supporting the jury throughout the evaluation process, acting as a coach and a technical referent, solving doubts that could arise during the process and giving a second look to shortlisted projects we visited together with EDP volunteers.
The work for the 2015 Programme ended in September with Stone Soup Consulting’s final report and its recommendations. The final projects have already been selected and will be supported by EDP throughout 2016.
It was a complex, exciting and satisfying job, with an excellent customer relationship.
By Ángela Millán, consultant at Stone Soup Consulting.
