Be the employer of choice

Caring for those who care is our priority, to enhance the quality of work for the Group's 56,000 employees, every day, all year round, and to guarantee constant quality of care. This consists, first and foremost, in strengthening the social contract that binds Korian to its teams by ensuring a safe and healthy work environment, reducing workplace accidents and the associated absenteeism, encouraging permanent employment through improved work organisation, better needs planning and reducing staff turnover throughout Europe, and investing in our site managers and our teams, who are the cornerstone of the network.

Our social responsibility is guided by three concrete commitments

• maintain or improve employees’ average length of service, currently 6.7 years
• invest in training leading to professional qualifications: our goal is to have 8% of staff in a training programme by 2023, i.e. twice the number as in 2020
• ensure diversity at all levels of the organisation. We aim to increase the number of women in Top Management by 10% to reach a ratio of 50%.

Key figures in 2019 in France:

• More than 400,000 hours of training
• 200 employees with accreditation of prior experience (VAE) became nursing assistants, 300 in 2020
• 100 employees undertaking training leading to a qualification
• 25,000 interns
• 15th on the latest list of female representation in governing bodies in the top 120 largest corporations

Commitment 1: Maintain or improve employees’ average length of service, currently 6.7 years

Nadège Plou, Human Resources Director, Korian France

“The objective: maintain and increase the average continuity of service in the Group by relying on the best practices identified in the countries in order to improve the “Korian social contract".

The quality of the care provided by our employees to residents, patients and people at home on a daily basis is directly related to their length of service. This is because they need to be good at their jobs, feel good about themselves and have peace of mind so that they can offer the extra empathy that transcends professional tasks. Continuity of service is also essential when dealing with people with neurological disorders that may deteriorate if they don’t see the same faces.

To help us maintain and improve this continuity of service, at a time when job applicants in our sector are becoming scarcer and staff turnover is high, we’ve drawn up a new "social contract". It brings together everything that we, as an employer, promise to our employees over the long term, from the very first contact (welcome and induction) and throughout their working life (health and safety  at work, training, professional promotion, etc.).

We reduce job insecurity by transforming fixed-term contracts into permanent contracts, we offer salaries that are often higher than most in the sector, and we encourage professional development by investing heavily, through our training institute, the Korian Academy, in training courses leading to qualifications (VAE, or accreditation of prior experience). Such training is crucial to learning how to act, and procedures, but it’s the way of applying this and the accumulated experience that make all the difference.

It takes time and resources to build this experience, but it also means paying careful attention every day to those who care. This is why we’ve delegated the implementation of this social contract to the local facilities and managers. They’re trained to develop their teams and to acquire the necessary sensitivity to be attentive to each person, because we know the power of the symmetry of attention: a manager who is attentive to his employee means an employee who is attentive to those he or she supports, improved quality of life at work and a lasting commitment to an ever more professional and humane form of care.

Commitment 2: 8% of employees on a training programme leading to qualification by 2023

Christophe Guillery, Director of the Korian Academy France

“Korian's ambition is to become a learning company, a reference in its sector. Fulfilling this commitment means doubling the number of employees in a qualifying programme compared to 2020.”

We aim for excellence in the quality of the support provided by each profession, from the caregivers to the technicians and our chefs. This is why we’ve made training, which is at the heart of our social contract, our key lever in the face of two challenges: recruiting in a sector with a shortage of candidates and building loyalty in our teams.

Recognising our employees’ expertise is our priority. We give them the opportunity to develop skills throughout their career, and to choose and access career paths easily, including through e-learning. We give priority to accreditation of prior experience (VAE in French) so that, with their knowledge and experience recognised by diplomas, Korian employees can develop, build on their skills and grow professionally.

This focus on training leading to professional qualifications also contributes to the attractiveness of our sector. Even before they are hired, increasing numbers of young people can come and learn a trade with us through apprenticeships, a new departure in our sector. Self-employed workers can also have access to our geriatric passport, for example, the specialisation we have developed for nursing assistants and nurses who support seniors. Our Academy creates educational content, in conjunction with experts, in order to provide training that meets the needs of those in the field.

A number of e-learning modules are developed to facilitate access for those in every facility. In 2019, nearly half of all employees took advantage of this. We are redoubling our efforts to reach this ambitious target of 8% by 2023, driven by the challenges we face.

Commitment 3 : 10% of women in Top Management to reach 50% by 2023

Rémi Boyer, Human Resources & CSR Director, Korian Group

“Korian's staff represent a wide variety of backgrounds, nationalities and ages, particularly in the care and service professions. Korian is committed to gender equality, and ensures that women are recognised at all levels.”

At Korian, 83% of our employees are women, but they represent only 46% of top management. Although they make up the majority of our workforce, they are less present at the top of the hierarchical pyramid, especially in key positions. Women are also in the majority among the residents and patients we welcome in our homes and clinics; it’s therefore important that women are there to listen to them, to be their voice, understand their needs and feelings and influence our offers and operations from their point of view.

Hence our commitment to rebalancing the number of women at all hierarchical levels and in all professions. We want to move forwards in an equitable way so that all our employees can develop their skills, be promoted, fulfil their potential and grow throughout their career.
To reach the ambitious target of 50% women in top management, in addition to complying with regulations in the countries where we operate, we’ve adopted the rule that there must be at least one woman on the shortlist for any appointment to a management position.

In 2019, we also created the Korian Women's Club; a forum for discussion to stimulate career choices and also a think tank on all issues related to the presence of women in the Group. This club guides our human resources policies. We’re fortunate to have talented women in our company, and this commitment helps us to identify them and bring them to the fore.