With a CSR initiative launched this summer, the Groupement d'Employeurs pour l'Insertion et la Qualification (GEIQ) specializing in construction trades in the Loiret and Eure et Loir departments received the results of its stakeholder audit in September. The company received a 4.51/5 rating for its CSR label: a score awarded by its stakeholders.
It's not an easy exercise, but it's essential. To cope with a decline in employee motivation and the expectations of tomorrow's public policies, CSR provides keys to understanding the situation, provided that the diagnosis and solutions are realistic enough to be addressed.
To ensure a pragmatic sustainable strategy, the GEIQ BTP Loiret team, with its director Isabelle DUBILLOT, played the game of transparency and questioned their customers (members), employees, institutional partners (DREETS, Region, etc.), training centers and prescribers (Pôle Emploi, Mission Locale, etc.) on more than 80 criteria drawn from ISO 26000, ISO 20400 and the SDGs. In addition to assessing their impact at a given point in time - which constitutes the score on the CSR label: the score awarded by stakeholders - Geiq was able to test the popularity of its planned future CSR measures with their entire ecosystem. A "top down" and "bottom up" approach that also enables stakeholders' expectations and suggestions to be fed back into the process.
This inclusive, educational approach is also the best way to raise awareness and gently engage employees and customers in the transition. Even when it comes to the most closed profiles. While participation remained relatively low - 33% of the 254 people identified as stakeholders - the score awarded was well above management's predictions, underlining the excellent management of GEIQ BTP Loiret's activities with regard to the main stakeholders.
" Committing to a CSR approach seemed important to me, but unattainable. I wouldn't have done it without the support of a professional. The first steps in building the file were punctuated by doubts and certain difficulties, but little by little, the sky lightened and I have no regrets whatsoever about having embarked on the journey.
In the end, this stakeholder evaluation has given me great satisfaction, with surprisingly positive and pleasant results that will enable us to make continuous improvements. Now that I'm just a few months away from retirement, I really feel I've added another stone to the GEIQ BTP Loiret edifice. "
- Says Isabelle Dubillot, Director of GEIQ BTP Loiret.
The construction sector has already turned the corner to sustainable development, and there's still a long way to go.
Larger companies took part in Rate A Company's audit with ease, unlike smaller structures which probably lack time, resources and knowledge of the ecological transition in our trades. Inclusion, which is already anchored in the practices of building and civil engineering companies, still remains to be organized and improved in the teams on the ground, which is one of the primary roles of GEIQ BTP Loiret.
Rate A Company's guarantees on an anonymous evaluation made it easier for managers to respond. It's clear from the responses that there are still many barriers to overcome. It's not just the manager who is responsible; he or she also has to persuade his or her teams of the merits of diversity. And it's this joint effort that will help to overcome the obstacles encountered by the GEIQ, which is responsible for recruiting, training and placing people who are sometimes very isolated from the job market, in a sector that is under pressure.
There is also still work to be done in terms of environmental awareness. The majority of employees would like to receive additional training on "how to behave in the workplace" (30.9%), or on "respect for colleagues and social diversity" (26.5%). Only 23.5% are interested in "good ecological practices".
However, employees' expectations are in line with those of member companies. Nearly 44% want employees to receive training in company attitudes, whereas only 18.8% want them to receive training in "good ecological practices" on the worksite. This request is also supported by training centers, which do not see the point of introducing modules on sorting, water or energy management or waste reduction, but are also in favor of additional training on good corporate citizenship and professionalism.
Surprising results, given that almost 70% of the company managers who responded admit that the environmental impact of their activities is "very important" or even "crucial" for their organization.
When you consider that, according to France's Ministère de la Transition écologique et solidaire, the building sector accounts for 43% of France's annual energy consumption and generates 23% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions (2022 figures)*, you realize that Geiq à has a decisive role to play in raising awareness, at its own level, so that France can achieve its 2050 targets.
* https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/construction-et-performance-environnementale-du-batiment
