Increasing numbers of employees are expressing a desire to be more useful to society and this has even become crucial for a quarter of them according to study conducted in 2019.

Whilst the voluntary sector is stable in France, many workers are unable to participate due to a lack of time. To address this issue, a number of companies have introduced arrangements to give fresh impetus to their employees’ commitments.

Société Générale offers skills mentoring as part of partnerships with around forty non-profits chosen by its Corporate Foundation for Solidarity. This takes two forms:

• One day per week, with the manager’s agreement and in compliance with professional requirements. No deductions are made from wages and this arrangement is especially popular with younger staff.

• Those who are three years away from retirement (and have at least ten years’ seniority) can leave, work part?time for a non-profit and be paid 70% of their final salary. Many senior employees see this as a way of better coping with the transition. 

These initiatives are also firmly in the bank’s interest as, drawing on feedback from numerous volunteers (10% of staff), they “help strengthen the company’s appeal, pride in belonging to the team, solidarity and internal cohesion”.

¹ « Employee Observatory », Kantar Group, February 2019.