Innovative for People
A group where people feel good!A GROUP WHERE PEOPLE FEEL GOOD!
Arkema is continually investing in Quality of Life at Work (QLW) – an essential factor in employees’ wellbeing and performance, which helps to retain existing talent and attract new people.
HIGH SCORES FOR ARKEMA
Arkema is among the top 20 companies based on employee ratings. Capital magazine questioned 20,000 French employees in some 2,100 companies with a workforce of more than 500: “On a scale of 0 to 10, would you recommend your employer to someone you know or to a member of your family?” For the third year running, Arkema was one of the top-rated companies, with an average score of 7.79/10. Our group ranked 20th overall and came first among businesses in the Oil and Chemicals sector.
PATERNITY LEAVE
We want to promote parental equality. Arkema demonstrates the importance it places on parenting by offering two weeks’ paternity leave on full pay after a baby’s birth.
THE CAMPUS EFFECT
QLW is a priority for Arkema. Last fall, it opened its new Campus, which was immediately popular with employees. Laid out over 400 square meters at the Group’s headquarters in Colombes, it offers a variety of spaces including a brainstorming room to encourage creative thinking, a calm area to recharge one’s batteries, a modular auditorium that can be adapted to different types of events, and a coworking space with a more relaxed, informal atmosphere, complete with coffee area, library and games room. The whole campus is full of intuitive digital devices and tools. “The idea was to design a new type of space to encourage employee well-being, multidisciplinary collaboration and creativity,” explains Corinne Haran, QLW manager at Arkema’s headquarters. “At meetings, people are interacting in a more straightforward, friendly way. It’s a virtuous circle. Improving the working environment has a clear impact on human relations, including QLW.”
The Campus illustrates an underlying philosophy at Arkema which is to encourage interdisciplinary projects between teams, support digital transformation, and of course improve well-being at work. The Bostik headquarters’ move to Colombes was another pilot project. Employees were involved in the project to secure their support. The project was about more than just designing open plan offices; it also involved new approaches such as going paperless. Different ideas are being considered to ensure employees’ wellbeing, including sound-absorbing finishes, ergonomic furniture for a pleasant and light-filled environment, and a quiet zone on every floor for employees who need to withdraw from the open-plan spaces from time to time. In China, Arkema’s headquarters in Shanghai is based on the same concept. The Social Club is an example of action being taken to encourage well-being at work.
Various leisure and sporting activities are available to anyone here, regardless of seniority. Initiatives like these reinforce the sense of belonging, and this is reflected in the decrease in employee turnover registered in 2019.