SDA Bocconi with UNICEF and Corriere della Sera for Family-Friendly Workplaces

Employees who work in organizations perceived as truly inclusive (those able to combine a sense of belonging with the recognition of individual uniqueness) experience a range of benefits that can positively influence corporate performance and the ability to generate future value.

To identify these organizations and encourage others to follow their example, UNICEF, in scientific partnership with SDA Bocconi School of Management and with Corriere della Sera as media partner, launched the Family Friendly Workplace 2025 award at an event held yesterday at the Triennale di Milano.

The award was created to highlight companies that place employee well-being at the center and successfully integrate work–life balance policies into their business strategy. “As I often like to remind people, when values are placed at the center, they generate lasting value for individuals, for organizations themselves, and for society,” said Stefano Caselli, Dean of SDA Bocconi, emphasizing that inclusion and attention to family life today represent a concrete driver of competitiveness. (Photo; Paolo Rozera, Executive Director Italian National Committee for UNICEF, and Stefano Caselli)

According to Caselli, “investing in corporate policies that support families is not only an ethical choice but also a winning economic strategy.” This commitment is particularly important in a country like Italy, where only one in two women works and one-third of those who are inactive cite family care as the main barrier to employment. Family-friendly measures, he explained, affect three key dimensions of competitiveness: expanding the talent pool, strengthening productivity, and promoting gender equality. Parental leave, flexible hours, and parenting services reduce turnover, improve the organizational climate, and can generate returns up to four times higher than the initial investment.

The research conducted by Francesco Perrini and Clio Gressani, which underpins the award’s methodology, identifies the possibility of evaluating companies based on different levels of maturity, taking into account not only the formal policies adopted but also their effective implementation and cultural impact within organizations. In addition to tangible tools (such as flexible schedules, leave, or subsidies), manager training, team accountability, and outcome monitoring are considered essential to prevent unintended effects, such as new forms of penalization for parents.

Companies are assessed across three dimensions: governance and strategic commitment; design and implementation; monitoring and evaluation. “By governance, we mean the commitment and responsibility of corporate leadership in promoting and concretely implementing family-supportive policies,” Caselli added. “It is a strategic vision that integrates employee well-being into the very way value is created.”

Finally, the project also includes a long-term monitoring phase, with the goal of not only rewarding excellence but also tracking the evolution of Italian companies in this area. “We hope the award will become an annual event,” Caselli concluded, “able to show how companies are growing in awareness, innovation, and the impact of their family-friendly policies.”

Companies may submit their applications from December 9, 2025, to February 16, 2026.

SDA Bocconi School of Management