6. Risks related to employees
Description of the risk
The health, safety and well‑being of our employees is at the heart of the Groupe’s concerns. The Groupe’s talent may be exposed to climate, geopolitical, psychosocial and other risks that could affect them physically or morally.
The advertising and communication industry is known for its high turnover among both management and talent. Technology companies and the Internet sector attract certain profiles that the Groupe would like to recruit or retain. Talent retention and attraction remain difficult for certain areas of expertise due to their scarcity on the market and the intense competition. Furthermore, significant recruitment took place. The loss of this talent could damage the Groupe. Publicis' success depends to a large extent on the skills and expertise of its teams as well as on the quality of its relationships with clients.
In an environment where digital and artificial intelligence expertise is key to the transformation of organizations, the Groupe’s businesses are seeing significant turnover, which may represent a risk if not sufficiently anticipated.
Finally, the rapid changes in our business require our talent to continuously develop their skills. The absence of an adequate training plan could impact the implementation of certain projects and lead to a lack of resources in specific areas of expertise.
The Groupe has launched ambitious action plans around diversity, equity and inclusion both at global and local level. The risk of non‑execution of these plans within the allotted time could lead to the departure of certain talent and harm the Groupe’s image as an employer.
If the Groupe were no longer able to actively attract, retain and motivate valuable managers or employees, its prospects, business, financial position and results could be highly affected.
Risk management
The Groupe is working on measures to improve the integration of new talent and then retain them. The implementation of these action plans led to a decrease in turnover in 2023.
The Marcel platform fulfills several functions, including “Marcel Classes,” which offers a wide range of training courses. In addition, relations with academic institutions (high‑schools, schools and universities) and training organizations enable cooperation on current and upcoming changes to the training courses of future professionals.
The Groupe’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) policy, part of the Janus Code of Ethics, sets out the founding principles on which local actions are aligned. The Groupe’s policy is regularly updated, and the implementation of action plans in the countries and agencies is the responsibility of local management, particularly the Talent/HR Departments and the teams dedicated to DEI projects. Inclusion is at the heart of the Groupe’s Top Management priorities. For 15 years, the Groupe has selected eight criteria to monitor, in particular: gender, age, ethnicity, education, disability, sexual orientation, religious affiliation and veteran status, with a specific legal framework determining the type of indicators that may be monitored for each country. The Groupe’s culture is based on the motto Viva la Différence, founded on respect for each and every individual, both internally (the diversity of our employees) and externally (the diverse cultural contexts in which the teams work with our clients).
The Groupe has rolled out the internal tool LionAlert in order to be able to contact employees in the event of an extreme emergency and ensure that they are safe. LionAlert is activated locally according to events (earthquake, cyclone, flood, major fire, but also acts of terrorism, political tensions, etc.). The CTOs (Chief Talent Officers), in collaboration with local management, and, depending on the situation, with Groupe management, ensure that action and communication plans are deployed in accordance with the situation.