Vilmorin & Cie - Annual report 2017-2018

ANNUAL REPORT Vilmorin & Cie 114 2017-2018 Social, environmental and societal INFORMATION 4 Employee savings A Group Savings Plan (GSP) , the operating costs of which are fully borne by Vilmorin & Cie, is available to French employees. It is made up of three funds – two of which are exclusively reserved for them – that involve investment profiles that combine security and performance, with the common goal of offering a return higher than that of the market. Among these funds is a solidarity fund, labeled socially responsible by specialized reference organizations (Finansol and CIES) . This fund is partly invested in solidarity-based companies that act in the areas of social and vocational integration (ADIE, Initiative France, Groupe La Varappe), mobility (Wimoov) and access to accommodation (SNL-Prologues, Foncière Habitat & Humanisme) . A Collective Pensions Savings Plan (PERCO) , involving an employer’s contribution to accompany employees in their efforts to save for retirement, was implemented in 2011-2012. In France, the entry rights and management fees for this plan, which is interesting from a tax standpoint, are also covered by Vilmorin & Cie. Internationalization of the Group health and providence plan Social protection of its employees is a major objective for Vilmorin & Cie. It plays a high-profile role in attracting and retaining employees, and must also facilitate mobility between the Business Units. Vilmorin & Cie aims to cover all its employees in health and providence. The objective is to benefit from homogeneous cover in each country and for all employees, whatever Business Unit they belong to. In fiscal year 2014-2015, an audit was carried out in all non-French companies in order to assess the level of cover in each company. Results of the audit show that 67% of non-French employees have health cover and 72% providence scheme cover. The study also set a target for standards in each country. The objective is that each employee at Vilmorin & Cie will benefit from: A health program at the level of market standards, A providence program proposing at least one year's compensation in the event of death. Since this study was carried out, cover has already been extended to 20 companies for the benefit of 1,000 employees. Discussions are in progress for other regions, in partnership with the different Business Units. Results Social climate Surveys on the quality of life at work are conducted within the scope of Vilmorin & Cie. During this past fiscal year, 34.8% of the total permanent staff were asked to participate in these surveys. Evolution of the departure rate and staff turnover The departure rate rose to 9.75%, up 0.7 percentage points compared to 2016-2017, but this variation is not significant, since there can be great disparity between countries. By comparing arrival and departures we can note a turnover rate of 9.88% and a net creation of permanent jobs of 168. Evolution of applications 687 vacant positions were published in 2017-2018 on the Group’s Intranet site, 646 internally and 681 externally. In 2017-2018, nearly 24,697 applications were received on the website (compared to 20,792 in 2016-2017). On average, 35.32 applications were submitted per published offer. Presence on social networks Since September 2016, the Group has communicated its employer brand on the social networks LinkedIn, Facebook and Viadeo. Every week, several articles are published on presentations of the Business Units, life in the company, portraits of employees presenting their activity, agricultural innovation, vacant positions, etc. Audience on these social networks has increased sharply, particularly on LinkedIn, with 8,000 more followers over the fiscal year. Measurement of the engagement rate (1) also yielded very good results this year, with constant progression: 2.28% (vs 1.56% in 2016-2017) for LinkedIn and 5.52% (vs 3.86% in 2016-2017) for Facebook. What is most remarkable is the long-lasting impact this presence had on the number of applications received on the Group’s website, which once again increased by 19% over the fiscal year, going up from 20,792 applications received in 2016-2017 to 24,697 in 2017-2018. A Social Networking Guide was published by Vilmorin & Cie for HR representatives and Campus ambassadors to optimize the Group’s promotion on social networks. Finally, a charter of social networks was published for all the Group’s employees in three languages (French, English and Spanish) when the Group’s new Intranet was opened with its internal social network, called My Yammer. (1) The engagement rate is the ratio between the number of people who have seen the publication and those who interact (Like, Share). 4.3. Conducting activities in an ethical, sustainable and effective manner