Employees are key players in our strategy


Our teams’ unwavering commitment
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Bank’s employees have all remained fully mobilised to continue to support our clients.

  • 8,600 employees
  • 48 % in the international network
  • 102 nationalities

All through 2020, Crédit Agricole CIB’s employees demonstrated exceptional commitment in supporting the Bank’s clients in their projects. Working closely with them, HR teams were on the front line to adapt our ways of working to the changes caused by the crisis while continuing to prepare for the future.

Protected and mobilised

In mid-March, to cope with the health crisis, Crédit Agricole CIB, with Crédit Agricole group, set up specific measures to protect the teams and ensure the continuity of business. Remote working was extended to all activities that allow it and new measures were taken to protect employees working on site: health kits containing hydro-alcoholic gel and surgical masks were distributed, while offices were reorganised to comply with social distancing measures.

Fostering commitment and maintaining the link with employees

In order to maintain a link with its teams while most employees were working from home, the Bank strengthened its communication channels and listened carefully to members of staff. In addition to the annual Engagement and Recommendation questionnaire, two surveys were sent to employees in France, in April and May to allow them to explain how they were dealing with the situation and to identify their needs and the best practices they wanted to share. The results showed the teams’ very strong commitment, their exceptional mobilisation and their confidence in the decisions taken by the Group and by Crédit Agricole CIB to manage the crisis.

" The ambition of Crédit Agricole CIB’s Human Project is to develop employee engagement by providing them with the means to question their environment, take initiatives responsibly and decide wisely. This project also aims to encourage co-construction and collective intelligence. "
Anne-Catherine Ropers
Deputy General Manager, Global Head of Human Resources.

An exceptional collective commitment

  • 79 % IER de Crédit Agricole CIB
  • 70 % Survey response rate
  • 88 % « I am proud to work at Crédit Agricole CIB »

​This year, the unwavering commitment of employees is also illustrated by the best Engagement and Recommendation index (ERI) since annual surveys were launched in 2015. On average 79% of responses were favourable with a record 70% participation. The strong increase on issues linked to autonomy and empowerment illustrates employees’ support for the Bank’s Human Project. Results have improved in all business lines and almost all countries, demonstrating the global support for the Group and Crédit Agricole CIB’s strategy.

Development

Involved, empowered and self-reliant employees

As part of its Human Project, Crédit Agricole CIB wants every employee to become a key player of his or her strategy by providing them with a work environment that encourages development, empowerment, trust and initiative in serving clients.

Encouraging employee development in the context of remote working

Throughout their career at Crédit Agricole CIB, employees receive support from HR to develop their skills and employability. To give each employee the opportunity to take part in his or her own training, each year the Bank strengthens its digital training offer which is accessible to all teams worldwide via the HRE-Learning portal. In 2020, due to the health context, Crédit Agricole CIB also expanded its Mobile Learning offer. Since April 2020, the digital modules CrossKnowledge and 7Speaking, dedicated to personal development, leadership, management and languages, are " Anticipating lockdown measures allowed us to quickly roll out a solid and efficient organisation ensuring operational continuity. IT teams were mobilised each day to improve existing technical arrangements and remote working solutions and to strengthen the solidity of our platforms. Their responsibilities were twofold: to protect employees and maintain the Bank’s critical infrastructure. Their incredible mobilisation allowed us to meet this challenge. " Pierre Dulon Deputy General manager therefore also accessible from personal devices (tablets and smartphones) and from employees’ professional mobiles.

Transforming managerial culture to promote empowerment

As part of its Human Project, the Bank initiated an approach to develop a more empowering managerial culture. Its ambition is to promote employee development and engagement by strengthening their self-reliance and ability to meet the needs of clients efficiently. This new approach involves all levels of the organisation and is based on authentic leadership principles and individual and collective empowerment. It relies on strengths-based management and team involvement through discussion circles. In 2020 a pilot phase was launched within the teams of the Finance department.

" Anticipating lockdown measures allowed us to quickly roll out a solid and efficient organisation ensuring operational continuity. IT teams were mobilised each day to improve existing technical arrangements and remote working solutions and to strengthen the solidity of our platforms. Their responsibilities were two fold:to protect employees and maintain the Bank’s critical infrastructure. Their incredible mobilisation allowed us to meet this challenge. "
Pierre Dulon
Deputy General manager

Prospects

Preparing for the future and supporting tomorrow’s talents

Crédit Agricole CIB is looking forward and extremely keen to identify tomorrow’s talents and support its future recruits. In 2020, in the midst of the difficult health situation, Crédit Agricole CIB made the commitment, with the Crédit Agricole Group, to continue to support young people in their professional integration and thus prepare for the future. The Bank has this year adapted the ways in which it keeps in touch with students and young graduates and continues its policy of recruiting juniors. By taking part in more than 70 digital forums with universities and schools worldwide, Crédit Agricole CIB is working closely with students to give them the opportunity to talk with experts and discover the opportunities available to them. In addition to these meetings, Crédit Agricole CIB is keen to promote exchanges between the academic and corporate worlds in France and abroad. In 2019, in partnership with HEC Paris, Crédit Agricole CIB launched the first «Corporate Initiative» in Mergers & Acquisitions (the M&A certificate). This year, the first class of students enjoyed a month of intensive distance learning on the main aspects of mergers and acquisitions. In Hong Kong SAR, by joining the «Banking Talent» programme of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Bank supports young graduates at the start of their career. They join one of the Bank’s departments for a six-month period to complete the training provided by the HKMA. In 2020, 358 new interns, 269 work-study employees and 109 VIE (French International Internship Program) enjoyed a formative professional experience within Crédit Agricole CIB’s teams around the world. At the end of this experience, high potential young people joined the «Global Junior Pool». This year once again, more than 50% of the permanent junior positions in France were filled by young people from this pool.

Crédit agricole cib builds links with students

  • 358 New interns in 2020
  • 269 Work-study contracts in 2020
  • 109 VIEs in 2020

Equality

Diversity is at the heart of our human project

Crédit Agricole CIB is convinced that the diversity of its employees is a real performance and innovation driver and has placed diversity and inclusion at the heart of its strategy. Throughout the year, the Bank launches initiatives to raise awareness, promote and strengthen diversity and professional equality within its teams. As part of its Human Resources Project, Crédit Agricole CIB is focused on strengthening the inclusiveness of all its processes: recruitment, talent selection, succession plans and development programmes. In 2020, for instance, the digital training course «Recruiting without discriminating» was rolled out within the Bank. This course is a reminder of the fundamental principles of equal opportunity and fairness in the recruitment process. In addition to these initiatives, and in spite of the health crisis, the career support workshops for women returning from maternity leave were maintained. As a result of these initiatives, Crédit Agricole CIB’s gender equality French index improved by one point in 2020, reaching 85/100. In the international network, initiatives deployed to support the Bank’s female talents were also praised by Asiamoney’s «Leaders for Women» ranking. Crédit Agricole CIB was ranked #1 for the number of female Vice Presidents and in the top 10 for the number of women in management positions and for the total number of women employees in the Asian financial markets. To raise awareness of diversity among all employees, the «diversity week», organised by the Bank since 2013, has become Diversity Month. All through November, employees in all Crédit Agricole CIB locations were invited to take part in conferences, workshops and quizzes in a 100% digital format this year. During the event, employees were able to rediscover the Akteos training platform and complete their intercultural profile. This tool offers various modules to better understand the challenges of diversity, to learn how to decipher cultural codes and thus make relations easier between colleagues and clients from different countries. With more than 100 nationalities represented in our teams, cultural diversity is a daily reality at Crédit Agricole CIB.

  • # 1 In the asiamoney ranking for the number of female vice presidents in the asian financial markets.

A week dedicated to innovation and digital transformation

For the third consecutive year, Crédit Agricole CIB organised My Digital Days, a global event aiming at mobilising and federating the whole Bank around innovation and digital transformation themes. This first edition was 100% digital and gathered 1,430 participants throughout the world. All our employees in Paris, APAC, EMEA and the Americas were able to take part in this inclusive, instructive, inspiring, innovative and fun event. The programme included conferences on the challenges of innovation and digital technologies, workshops to experiment innovative digital solutions implemented within the Bank, thematic stands and activities with innovation tools. With 96 speakers representative of the Bank’s various business lines and regions, this digital transformation week is in line with Crédit Agricole CIB’s Medium-Term Plan. Designed as a source of inspiration, this event was an opportunity to celebrate achievements, to thank the teams for their initiatives and to share a common ambition: for all to be actively involved in the digital transformation.

Compliance

Anchoring a native compliance culture within the bank

The Embedded Compliance project was launched this year to strengthen the dissemination of an active and native compliance culture among all employees. It targets in particular the first line of defence, which comprises staff having direct contact with clients, including Front offices. Measures were taken in 2020 to increase employee awareness of compliance issues. The governance of certain compliance bodies was also adapted, in particular to better integrate Front offices in the decision-making process concerning compliance issues. This project has strengthened the sustainable embedding of compliance culture and reinforced all compliance aspects during the lifetime of the client relationship as well as in the daily activities of employees

Payroll giving, a generous initiative

In spite of the unprecedented period we went through in 2020, the Crédit Agricole Group was keen to further strengthen its CSR commitments and decided in a spirit of solidarity, to launch the “Payroll giving” system in France, in line with the existing one in the UK. With this initiative, each employee in France can make a donation of up to 5 euros a month to a charity via a payroll deduction. To make a commitment alongside its employees, Crédit Agricole CIB will match the amount paid by each employee and finance the expenses of the platform so that 100% of these donations reach the charities chosen by our teams: Pure Océan, Institut Curie, Hôpital Necker-Enfants malades and Les Restos du Coeur. In 2020, 301 employees took part in the payroll donation scheme, which, thanks to the Bank’s contribution, raised over 18,000 euros for the charities involved.

The bank protects its suppliers

To protect the economic environment and its suppliers, Crédit Agricole CIB took the decision to pay the full amount of the services that were planned between March 17 and 31, 2020, even if they could not be fully completed. This decision, quite unusual in the market, was followed by other Group entities and greeted with messages of thanks from the Bank’s suppliers. It is completely in line with the Human and Social part of the Medium-Term Plan and with the “Responsible purchasing in supplier relations” label received in 2018.