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 Sage
is a manufacturer of software for accounting, finances, sales, payroll and HR
management. The company currently employs over 2,500 – twice as many as three
years ago. What was the key to integrating and motivating employees from so many
different backgrounds? A far-reaching company plan spanning five years.
Françoise Bernard, Recruitment, Mobility and In-house Communication Director,
tells us about it.Why did you set up the "Sage 2010" plan? Sage France has considerably widened its scope over the last few years. In three years, we merged with several companies, such as Adonix, C2G, Elit, Cogestib, Xperts, KDP, and XRT France. We also positioned ourselves on new markets. Many changes have resulted. One of our priorities was to integrate these new employees. Another was recruitment, since the company welcomed 400 new employees this year throughout our 25 French sites. Our large, shared company plan, which we called "Sage 2010", helped us develop this in-house symbiosis. Tell us about its main features.  The
idea was to encourage Sage's five principles – simplicity, innovation, agility,
trust and integrity – to our subsidiaries around the world. Every year since
2006, Sage has celebrated one of these values. In 2006 and 2007, respectively,
simplicity and innovation were our flagship values. This year, agility is being
stressed. By choosing this gradual approach, we were able to fully concentrate
on one value at a time and bring it alive. We also purposefully chose an
educational approach. All our in-house communication resources were used for the
plan: a poster campaign, Intranet, a team-building kit, an in-house bulletin and
newsletter, conventions, and Sage Day. We made sure that Sage 2010 would be as
varied as possible, and reach all levels of the company. The second in-house
satisfaction survey just ended. Did it confirm the usefulness of the strategy? These surveys especially help us measure to what degree employees have embraced Sage values. They are an indispensable in steering our in-house communication actions. The recent survey shows greater awareness of the Sage 2010 plan, with a 17% improvement in results compared to the 2006 survey. We have noticed Sage values are now noticeable in employee mindsets and are implemented by them on a daily basis. Recently, 60 Sage managers gathered for a seminar near Paris which addressed, among other topics, the value of the year. All company employees, no matter what their job, got involved one day contacting our clients. In fact, 5,200 customers were contacted by a Sage France employee. It was a huge operation that demonstrated the versatility of Sage France employees. |
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