DNFP 2020

2020 DECLARATION OF NON-FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF THE DESCOURS & CABAUD GROUP 26 Social policy Throughout its history, the DESCOURS & CABAUD GROUP has always invested in the professional development of its employees. In recent years its investment in the digitisation of tools and of staff training has provided access to e-learning and to new remote training modules and also enabled it to develop remote working in a highly reactive manner in 2020. This was also a year that gave the Group the opportunity to reflect in depth on its Employer brand and, with the assistance of its employees, to ensure that the image conveyed externally was true to the actual working experience perceived internally. The Human Resources Department’s roadmap was brought forward in numerous fields, but its basic pillars remained the same, i.e., to develop or recruit tomorrow’s talent, to reinforce staff commitment, and to instil a strong attachment to the entrepreneurial culture and its values. The Group’s growth plan, consisting of an operational performance programme to enhance the service offered to its customers, is accompanied by a social innovation aspect, “Uniteam”, sustained by the ambition to improve its Employer brand and to assist its managers by proposing a more collaborative and more aggressive corporate culture. The roll-out of an Employee Experience Barometer will make it possible to collect data concerning employees’ degree of commitment and to determine action plans for the Group, its subsidiaries and its staff. This Barometer will provide quantitative and qualitative bases on which to create action plans relating to indicators such as absenteeism, staff turnover and the loss of attractiveness. The context of the pandemic obliged the Human Resources Department to postpone the launch of the Barometer, originally planned for 2020, until 2021. The health crisis and the difficulty of providing practical field support for the launch totally vindicated the postponement. Two other risks need to be included at the heart of our action plans: the absence of preparation for key roles and management posts, together with a deficit of knowledge or lack of preparation in relation to the changing nature of our trades. DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF PERSONAL TALENTS In a trading activity, the personal factor is of key importance. If we also take into account a corporate culture that is primarily oral, it is clearly vital to be able to build a solid knowledge management strategy. This must be agile enough not only to react to existing conditions but also to anticipate the future development of new techniques and skills. In a world in which it is becoming easier and easier for a novice to acquire a minimum level of expertise in a given subject, our customers increasingly expect a much more detailed knowledge of the characteristics of our products combined with personalised advice. It is therefore important to ensure that our employees’ product awareness is totally up-to-date and that information is regularly made available on the latest market trends. This requirement affects all the countries in which the Group operates, and the transmission of information adapted to local markets and made available in local languages has become a major challenge. It would appear that the use of the latest technology in terms of e-learning can be an efficient tool for disseminating knowledge rapidly and simultaneously while at the same time guaranteeing a standard level of knowledge.