With 108,179 employees worldwide, Publicis Groupe is a major employer. Employees are the Company’s core asset. This human capital is at the heart of the Top Management’s concerns, as it is very aware of the value of each individual and is keen to ensure that everyone feels good in their professional activities. The direct impacts on employees are numerous, from the rapid evolution of professions and skills requiring constant agility to working conditions enabling effective flexibility for all, and even taking into account employees’ physical and mental health.
The direct positive impacts are tangible in view of the decisions taken at critical moments, such as that to maintain the wages of our employees in Ukraine faced with the war in 2022 or the #WorkingWithCancer program, protecting the compensation of employees affected by chronic illnesses (Section 4.3.6.3).
The employee turnover rate is structurally high in the communication and technology businesses. The objective of the Groupe’s HR and Talent teams is to limit voluntary departures and to propose internal changes towards new professions or other countries. Publicis Groupe is a constantly evolving group, which is constantly changing its organization according to the projects carried out for clients and the need for new skills. Reorganizations are carried out with a focus on internal professional opportunities.
Social issues are addressed by several internal bodies under the responsibility of the Secretary General. On the one hand, they are dealt with within CTOs Council, which meets once a month and which is steered by the Groupe’s HR Operations Department. It brings together HR and Talent Directors (Chief Talent Officers) and Compensation and Benefits Officers from the main countries and entities to work on structuring projects, whether tools or international actions such as #WorkYourWorld or #WorkingWithCancer, as well as on developments in Groupe HR policies. On the other hand, social issues of equity and equal opportunity are addressed within the Groupe Impact & Equity Council, which meets every two months and is managed by the Groupe CSR Department. It brings together managers from countries and entities to work on joint actions, training tools and joint initiatives such as the fight against domestic violence. [S1-4-37, S1-4-38 (a) to (d), SBM-3-14 (c) & (d)]
The Groupe’s major risk mapping (see Chapter 2 of this document), the risk mapping for the Duty of Care Plan, the risk mapping of ESG risks and the Double Materiality table address the risks or issues related to employees and human capital. Thus, issues related to the health, safety and well-being of employees, those related to the attractiveness and retention of talent and finally issues related to equity and equal opportunity.
The structural rotation of teams in the industry is closely monitored by the Executive Committees in the countries and every quarter by the Groupe’s Executive Committee. The risk is the departure of talent who contribute to the Groupe’s success and who best meet client expectations. To address these risks, ad hoc monitoring has been in place for several years on the Groupe’s Top 1,000, employees with whom the Chair and Chief Executive Officer can interact directly and regularly. In addition, the concept of Key Executives has been refined in the Janus Code of Conduct and Ethics in order to more closely monitor career development of employees with key responsibilities in the Company. In order to improve the retention rate, various training and individualized support programs have been renewed and redesigned (Sections 4.3.5 and 4.3.6). [S1 SBM-3-14 (a)] The HR & Talent and Impact & Equity teams have a key role and remain the local contacts, in particular to implement ad hoc systems in the event of problems that may affect employees (whether intense climate events affecting the agency and/or employees, or epidemics as in previous episodes before Covid-19, with SARS) [S1-3-32 (a)] The programs implemented in various countries are concrete examples of the work carried out locally to prevent this type of risk. In terms of well-being at work, a global audit was carried out in 2023, with the help of WTW, in order to obtain a precise vision of the protection systems in each country and subsidiary and, among other things, to draw on these elements to implement #WorkingWithCancer (Section 4.3.6.3) so that it quickly benefits affected employees in all countries. This audit revealed that 100% of the Groupe’s subsidiaries were in compliance with their local regulations and the Groupe rules set out in Janus. In terms of additional contingency and healthcare coverage, 95% of countries have extended their medical coverage (care and surgery, dental, ophthalmology, etc.) and 91% have extended their death coverage. Finally, numerous actions have been launched to promote equal opportunities (Section 4.3.4). [S1-4-41-AR 37]
The Groupe has not identified any entities at risk of using forced or modern slavery, or child labor. [S1 SBM-3-14 (f) & (g)]
