Faced with social and environmental challenges, businesses must transform themselves in depth. And to succeed in their transition, engaging employees is essential. But this commitment cannot be established without a solid foundation: Corporate culture.

Beyond strategies, culture brings teams together, anchors change in daily life and guarantees their sustainability. Making culture a driver of commitment means sustainably transforming the company.

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Why is culture at the heart of business transition?

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Employees are the key players in the social and environmental transition of companies

All companies must limit their negative impacts as much as possible and maximize their positive impacts, on the planet, society and all of their stakeholders (employees, ecosystem, customers, suppliers, etc.).

And This Cannot Be Done Without Realizing Their Social and Environmental Transition and therefore integrate concretely Social and Environmental Issues In their model and in all of their practices (HR, business, organizational).

The human factor plays an essential and central role in this transition:

• Teams will have to understand the new challenges in order to accept the changes that are proposed to them.
• And they will therefore have to adapt their daily practices in order to be aligned with these new challenges: new processes, new discourses, new organizations...

Employees are therefore The Key Players of the social and environmental transition of businesses.

In fact, this is one of the conclusions of ECOTAF sociological study conducted by ADEME in 2023. This survey states that employee engagement initiatives”Effectively make possible approaches that encourage the evolution of business practices towards greater sustainability”.

“The most powerful effect of the devices is more the emergence of a shared culture of ecological transition and a certain alignment of actors. It then leads to the legitimation of the company's CSR policy, promoting the acceptability of the sometimes radical changes that result from it.”
— ECOTAF study, ADEME, 2023

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Thus, for the transition to be effective, but also sustainable and complete, it is essential To Involve Employees Every step of the way.

Very concretely, this consists in allowing them to:

• Understand This leads the company to transform itself, and therefore to learn about social and environmental issues
• Give Their Opinion On these changes, and therefore on their company's CSR strategy
• Act at their level By participating concretely in initiatives, reflections and actions

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Corporate culture is the cornerstone of effective and sustainable employee mobilization

”Culture is only one bite of strategy.”
P. Drucker

If all these changes take place simply through a change in strategy, imposed and implemented by managers, we can doubt its effectiveness but also its effective sustainability and its adherence by the teams. Indeed, what induces lasting and effective change is an alignment between:

• The Strategic Direction of the Company, dictated by key decisions ⇒ The strategy
• How this strategic direction is going to be integrated In organization and practices ⇒ Culture

These two aspects are thus intrinsically linked, and influence each other. It is by matching A strategy to align with social and environmental issues With a Committed corporate culture That the company can expect a complete, sustainable, and successful transition.

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What is a committed corporate culture?

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Corporate culture, the DNA of the organization

Culture is The personality of a company, its DNA, beyond its offer of products or services. It is at the same time the atmosphere that emanates in the premises, the unwritten rules that everyone seems to know and share, and the way in which individuals interact and live together.

It brings together the company's internal stakeholders around common standards, and gives the organization and its members their uniqueness. Concretely, corporate culture consists of 3 key ingredients:

• Vision and values. The vision dictates the purpose of the company, and the common objective of the various stakeholders. Values define a common frame of reference and guide daily behaviors by reflecting both a vision of the world (= way of carrying out activities, close to the reason for being) and the relational framework (= way of acting with stakeholders)
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• Governance, which is a set of rules and/or policies, formal or informal, that govern how a business operates. Governance creates a framework to allow the business to function well with all its stakeholders
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• Corporate rituals and team behaviors, which represents the usual and regular practices, collective as well as individual. It can therefore be work or team routines, the way in which stakeholders are used to meeting, communicating...

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Committed corporate culture: when impact is felt at all levels

A Company Has a Committed Culture When Commitment is Integrated into its DNA, and therefore at the same time in its vision, its values, its governance and its rituals. But then in concrete terms, what is The Commitment ?

Commitment is the set of practices that contribute, directly or indirectly, to the resolution of social and environmental challenges as defined by the UN (17 Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs).

In a committed corporate culture, commitment is infused at all levels, without effort: social and environmental issues are taken into account In All Decisions and Practices. In concrete terms, a company that has a committed culture is a company in which, for example:

• Social and environmental issues are a concern for management;
• Management members and managers support initiatives in favor of social and environmental issues;
• Resources (human, financial) are allocated to the subjects of engagement;
• Concrete actions to advance the company's social and environmental transition are being implemented;
• Time is dedicated to employees to enable them to train and get involved in these issues;
• A large number of employees are taking up these issues, by promoting, supporting and participating in initiatives;
• Rituals exist to gather regularly around social and environmental issues;
• Employees lead committed initiatives and communities of ambassadors exist to involve the collective;
• Social and environmental issues occupy a place in the daily exchanges of employees;

And this is illustrated very concretely within our partner companies:

• At AccorInvest, thanks to a community of ambassadors active all over the world, commitment is part of the daily life of employees.

“We have created a culture in which everyone is aware of CSR issues and is in a position to get involved!”
Alicia Goya, ESG/CSR Manager at AccorInvest

• At Mc2i, a consulting firm, commitment is a real driver of an employer brand.

It has become a tool for HR attractiveness and competitiveness with our Responsible Digital Label commitments.”
Olivier Hervo, Vice President, Director of Operations at MC2i

Like them, bring your commitments to life with Komeet!

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The benefits of a committed corporate culture

By placing commitment at the heart of their culture, companies develop:

• Their human resources, by becoming a committed and engaging company. A committed corporate culture makes it possible to developAttractiveness of candidates and the employer brand, to build team loyalty, to strengthen the quality of life at work (QWL) and to promote better team cohesion.
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• Their competitiveness, by making their CSR approach a driver of long-term performance. Having a committed corporate culture means being more efficient in obtaining CSR labels and certifications, facilitating extra-financial reporting and regulatory compliance, strengthening a committed brand image and benefiting from social and/or fiscal advantages.
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• Their social and environmental impact, by contributing to a better world. Concretely, a committed corporate culture makes it possible to support the associative ecosystem, to contribute to the 17 SDGs, to develop its territorial roots or to promote the adoption of new internal practices.

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Committed Corporate Culture: A Dynamic That Brings People Together

A committed corporate culture, rooted in common values and daily practices, Promotes the involvement of each employee in the necessary changes.

When this culture is aligned with social and environmental issues, it makes it possible to create a strong collective dynamic, which reinforces both the performance and the positive impact of the company.

By integrating social and environmental issues into the heart of their vision, governance and daily rituals, companies can become real agents of change, able to inspire and unite their teams. Together, let's work for companies that are resolutely committed!

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