The challenge to establish an open culture and guarantee “wellness” at work in a fast-growing company for new and existing employees
April's CEO in Madrid, Grégory Duhamel, had been looking for a while for a way to improve the wellness at work in the company. In 2 years, April went from a small family of 20 employees to 250 employees. The challenge was therefore to create an open culture and to welcome new recruits quickly and retain them. To achieve this, Grégory wanted to find a way to support exchange between all employees to keep this family dynamic. Closeness between employees, communication, and trust, where the main values to be achieved. In addition, the project was also part of their desire to accelerate digital integration. In a context of growth, April wanted to strengthen its positive culture and promote transversal exchanges in order to improve the well-being of its employees and thus attract and retain talent. Finding an innovative solution to attract and retain talents was also crucial. Indeed, 49% of millennials are more attentive to corporate culture than the salary in their choice of their future company.
Having already identified recognition as the main lever of his mission, the digital solution provided by the young start-up was perfectly integrated into his project to enhance the well-being of his employees.
The solution
A solution that supports with positive reinforcement softskills for the individual corporate culture
The software solution invites everyone within the company to write and send an appreciation to a colleague, who gave value to a person/a team along the individual corporate softskills via a “Big Up”. A “Big Up” is a “like”, that an employee is giving esteem to a colleague for their softskill. This offers the opportunity along with the individual corporate values, to give and receive recognition from anyone to anyone in the company. Therefore, it´s a democratic way of improving corporate culture.
Each month the employees are rewarded according to their Big Ups. The reward might be little gifts or other gratifications.
The advantage of the solution compared to other solutions, was first of all the transparency of the messages exchanged on the platform.
Further, the personalization of the messages on values individually determined by the company, were a perfect match to Aprils requirements. This allowed to reinforce not only its culture of positive feedback, but also to bring its values to life on a daily basis. Finally, the solution offers previously invisible data on the company's culture. Thanks to the data and the mapping of the real interactions, the company manages its culture in a more precise and efficient way, and can identify its future managers, namely leaders recognized for their human skills.
Insights
What had the customer tried before?Grégory Duhamel wanted to create a company, where he would have loved to work at the beginning of his career. This is why he organized the company's structure in an innovative way (in tribes) to encourage exchanges. He had also already hired two chief happiness officers to look after the wellbeing of all employees.Additional challenges at the customer
Raise awareness among teams of the importance of using soft skills to achieve company's values on a daily basis and thereby strengthening corporate culture.
Develop business agility.
Accelerate the digital transition.
Develop a culture of trust.
Give employees a voice.
Empowering employees to take responsibility for their role in recognition at work.
Business
Benefits
The implementation of the solution at April is a real success.
After more than two years of subscription, 98% of registered users have activated their account.
Almost all of them have sent and received messages on the platform (95% and 97%) and more than 6300 positive feedback have been exchanged.
A positive feedback culture that promotes well-being, employee engagement and talent retention was created.
Grégory Duhamel says: "We noticed that this additional recognition allows them to feel more recognized by the company and by their colleagues, so they feel more motivated and committed in the company."
According to the employees, the use of the platform has developed soft skills in the company, in particular communication improved by sending messages on the platform.
Interactions and collaboration between teams was enlivined. This feedback culture brings employees closer together and improves the sense of belonging, which makes people want to move forward as a team.
The project schedule
Grégory Duhamel announced the launch of the solution during a team building session after which the employees were invited by e-mail to activate their accounts. Then, they followed the tool's onboarding process via e-mails and online presentations.
In addition, customer follow-up is provided based on one meeting per month with the project manager at April and the Cocoworker account manager to discuss the needs and developments.
These meetings also allow personalized animation to be directed online and through notifications in order to ensure user commitment.
Project maturity level
Used company-wide
Project duration
The project is implemented at April since October 2017, which means that employees are using the solution for more than two years.
Project cost (digits)
5
Running costs (per month, digits)
4
Involved employees (Operating phase, FTE)
0
Involved employees (Project phase, FTE)
0.5
Technical
Skills required by the customer
None
The project schedule
Creation of the personalized environment for the company.
Customization of the platform with the values and behaviours according to the corporate culture.
Integration of users.
Activation of automatic communication and process onboarding.
Technical Facts:
Releases are announced to users through notifications and online presentations on the platform.
Access to the software is secured by a password.
APIs/Integration:
The tool is integrated into the company's social network.
Where is the data stored?
Customer data is stored in France.
Providers
Faustine Duriez (CEO)
Faustine Duriez
The information may of course vary in individual cases. Please contact the provider for an assessment of your project.
