Analyzes & Data

On 26 September, the Global Compact unveiled a survey of 1,500 companies on their implementation of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Nils Pedersen, a general delegate of the Global Compact, spoke to mind RH about the areas for improvement to ensure that these goals are at the heart of firms' strategy, the impact of the CSRD and the approach taken by the organisation's French network (2,200 member companies). On the social front, decent pay is emerging as a major issue in terms of companies' commitment.

One year after the launch of Clariane, replacing the former brand Korian, the private retirement and healthcare company's HR director for France talks to mind RH about its challenges. The organisation, which was caught up in the media storm that swept the sector in 2022, needs to restore its image and face up to recruitment difficulties in professions where it has a real need for manpower. To do this, it is focusing on CSR and strengthening social dialogue.

Under pressure from the electoral success of the far right, Germany is continuing to roll out an increasingly restrictive migration policy, to the point of reintroducing controls at all its land borders on Monday. At the same time, the country is signing bilateral agreements for selective economic immigration.

The employment rate among the over-55s is growing steadily as a result of the gradual rise in the retirement age in most European countries. The rate of employment remains, however, significantly lower than that for the 45-54 age group. This reflects the difficulty of getting and keeping older workers in employment. Our comparison of 31 European countries shows that the countries that emphasize lifelong learning and quality of life at work have the highest employment rates for older workers.

The French banking group and LinkedIn have set up an unprecedented partnership that will give employees access to 24,000 training courses on the platform. Using generative artificial intelligence, the group's staff will be offered training based on the skills that match their career plan. The aim is twofold for Crédit Agricole: to succeed in making employees players in their own careers and to pre-empt changes in skill needs, particularly in the face of digital transformation. Bénédicte Chrétien, Crédit Agricole's group HR director, and Fabienne Arata, head of LinkedIn in France, talk about the experience.

Schmidt Groupe, which specialises in the design of living spaces and was awarded the 'B Corp' label at the end of 2023, put sustainability at the heart of its strategy at the start of the year. The human resources department is working with a new sustainable transformation department to train employees, adapt business lines to a more virtuous model and get franchisees and subcontractors on board.

The European directive on pay transparency – to be transposed by 2026 at the latest – will generate administrative constraints for companies. That said, it can also become a strategic tool in the fight against pay inequalities, which can boost employee retention. This is the gamble taken by industrial group Lacroix, which has been using the Figures digital solution since 2023.

Even as inflation rates slowly declined compared to 2023 in most European Union countries, the average level of minimum wage increases has remained more or less the same over the past year. Five of the 22 European countries with a minimum wage have implemented a subsequent increase since the start of the year. Greece is one of those but had not raised its minimum wage since April 2023.

In 2023, French energy giant Engie launched a global programme to pre-empt its skill needs for the following three years. After surveying each of its global business units, Engie has set up a recruitment and training action plan, focusing on sales, hydrogen and biogas-related professions. The approach is unprecedented and has necessitated a dedicated structure for each business and geographical location.

In recent months, the first generation of post-lockdown agreements on telework have come up for renegotiation. More than four years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, are companies backtracking on the number of days granted? Mind RH has compiled and analysed 225 agreements from France's largest companies, signed between 2020 and 2023. Our study confirms the average maximum telework allowance of two days per week but significant differences emerge between sectors.

After a year of experimentation, a number of Portuguese companies have adopted the four-day week. They are seeing productivity levels maintained as well as an improvement in employee commitment and loyalty, and a reduction in the number of absences, thanks in particular to a better work-life balance. To achieve these results, companies have had to adapt their working methods.

Faced with the imminent arrival of the social and environmental reporting directive (CSRD), the retail sector will be particularly affected. The increasing complexity of business models and supply chains makes ESG (environmental, social, and governance) reporting 'unmanageable,' according to Ghislain Boyer, Director at the ESG Center of Excellence at KPMG, interviewed by mind Retail.