Vilmorin & Cie - Annual report 2017-2018

ANNUAL REPORT Vilmorin & Cie 113 2017-2018 4 Flexible organization of working times and in certain Business Units, services on offer (day-nursery, canteen, sports activities) make it easier to reconcile professional life and personal life, thus meeting the growing expectations of employees in terms of physical well-being, balanced times and management of their family responsibilities. In France, teleworking is continuing to develop. Today 31 agreements have been set up to deal with the organization of working times involving several of Vilmorin & Cie's companies, a constant increase over the past two years (20 in 2015-2016). They allow employees to do their jobs – if compatible with their function – outside the premises of their employer, and using information and communication technologies. Teleworking can contribute to creating a good balance between private life and professional life. It is now an integral part of the provisions implemented through the Group’s Professional Equality agreement. Working better together In an increasingly international environment, it is essential for Vilmorin & Cie to address the issue of “working together better” in order to achieve its objectives. Working together better means knowing each other better, understanding each other and coming together. To achieve this, regular or ad hoc actions allow for smooth working relationships on a daily basis: Team coaching to facilitate interactions within the same team and promote collaborative work has been deployed in several Business Units and at Vilmorin & Cie’s head office. Internal communication actions have been implemented, in particular through internal newsletters, which enable employees to better understand the different activities of their colleagues, whether in the Company itself and/or in other Group companies. Meetings with international teams are facilitated and made more fluid by using the ever-increasing deployment of video conferencing with Skype. Annual events bring employees from different countries together (meetings involving different business lines or management meetings). New knowledge bases have been established, which allow access to useful knowledge for a greater number of people and thus facilitate daily work and a broader understanding of one's working environment. In fiscal year 2017-2018, a corporate social network, going by the name of Yammer, was launched globally in order to facilitate collaborative work and foster exchanges between teams throughout the world. Compensation policy Vilmorin & Cie is concerned to develop a fair and motivating compensation system for all its employees, which is seen as attractive and competitive. Remuneration is both approached in a global way for equity of treatment, and adapted to the context of local employment in order to be as close as possible to the employees' expectations. Compensation In 2017-2018, the total amount of gross compensation paid by Vilmorin & Cie stood at 291.5 million euros, an increase of 0.6% compared with the previous fiscal year. This compensation includes benefits packages, as well as profit-sharing, and an attractive system for employee savings in France. Certain employment contexts also involve the payment of public transport, meals and even accommodation costs. Benefits As in previous years, during fiscal year 2017-2018 several informative meetings were set up for employees mainly devoted to promoting the tools the Group makes available: profit-sharing, Group Savings Plan, Collective Pensions Savings Plan (PERCO) , health and providence Schemes. Profit-sharing Profit-sharing, originating in France, has now been extended to companies in other countries and at all levels of competence. The Group’s profit-sharing agreement now involves all of Vilmorin & Cie’s subsidiaries, including those that have recently joined the scope, and for which Vilmorin & Cie holds more than 50% of their capital stock. It comprises a Company proportion calculated on the basis of the subsidiary’s performances and a group proportion. The calculation is mainly based on a redistribution of the economic income. In 2016-2017, a new Group profit-sharing scheme was introduced with the objective of a fairer redistribution of profits to all employees. It is characterized by a significant increase in the Group’s share and greater consistency in the amounts distributed between each company. This new system was designed to make it possible to pay a higher amount than in previous years, with a better match between the amounts distributed and the Group’s results. Evolution of collective profit-sharing (in thousands of euros) Profit sharing (1) 2015-2016 8,670 2016-2017 12,319 2017-2018 11,013 (1) Change in the calculation method: as of fiscal year 2016-2017, the figure concerns the amount paid out. In 2015-2016 the figure concerns the amount budgeted. 4.3. Conducting activities in an ethical, sustainable and effective manner Social, environmental and societal INFORMATION