Today, we're delighted to share this conversation with Héloïsehead of communications at Vendredi, an innovative platform dedicated to corporate citizenship. In this fascinating interview, you'll discover how Vendredi works, how they mobilize company employees around major societal issues, and the various types of missions offered on their platform!
Enjoy your reading 😉
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Hello Héloïse! Can you introduce Vendredi for our readers?
Of course! At Vendrediour mission is to enable companies to mobilize their employees for the common good and to be fully involved in their social and environmental transition.
How do you carry out this mission?
We offer an online platform that enables employees to take action around their company's transition. On the one hand, they can raise their awareness of major issues (ecology, gender equality, disability, etc.) through fun courses featuring videos, articles and questionnaires to help them progress, as well as monthly awareness-raising events. Employees can also get involved in high-impact missions proposed by associations (marauding, mentoring, skills sponsorship, etc.) or by their company.
What types of assignments are offered to employees via the platform?
On our platform, we work with over 2,500 partner associations who publish their volunteer needs. The missions on offer are diverse, ranging from helping associations communicate to concrete actions such as food distribution or waste collection. Companies, for their part, can also organize their own missions: collections, solidarity team-building, workshops...
In this way, we enable companies to mobilize their teams around their transition process. We also encourage the regular promotion of this commitment, notably through the organization of CSR events. Our aim is to make employees aware of the key issues and enable them to take concrete action!
And what is your role as communications manager?
As head of communications, I create content aimed at CSR managers and those wishing to commit their company to a social and environmental approach. We create guides (Les 10 fondamentaux de la RSE, le Guide de la sensibilisation...), studies (le Baromètre de la RSE) or webinars.
In addition to my role as Communications Manager, I have two other responsibilities at Vendredi. Firstly, I lead the Impact at Workcommunity, which brings together over 1,000 CSR managers in a Slack group. We organize workshops and events to help them in their social and environmental transition. Secondly, I'm in-house CSR manager at Vendredi one day a week.
If you had to describe your corporate culture in a few words...
Our five core values are
- "Impact at all costs": all our decisions and strategies are guided by our mission to have maximum impact. We always seek the most direct route to this impact, making the most effective choices to achieve it quickly and efficiently.
- "Cultivating enthusiasm": we adopt a positive, solution-oriented attitude and transmit this enthusiasm in our exchanges with others.
- "Every day even better": we are constantly striving to improve and reach our maximum.
- "Be yourself every day of the week": we value authenticity and encourage everyone to be themselves in their uniqueness.
- "We share our successes and failures to move forward together. We attach great importance to mutual support and availability between team members.
And how do you attract candidates?
We're fortunate to have a great aura and an attractive brand as an impact startup and company. Our reputation is a natural source of applications. However, for certain positions where we're looking for specific profiles, we also have to conduct active searches.
We believe that the best talent comes to us by being authentic and sharing our knowledge and expertise through guides and other resources accessible to all. We reflect this value in our recruitment platform, our communications and the people who speak up within the company. It's a comprehensive and effective approach!
How does the selection process work?
This process generally takes place in several stages. First, we make an initial selection based on the applications received. Next, we organize a short telephone call to get to know the shortlisted candidates. Next, we propose a job-specific case study to assess the candidate's skills and ability to solve real-life problems. Finally, there is a final interview with another member of the team to assess the candidate's cultural compatibility and values.
The duration of the recruitment process can vary depending on the position and the number of people involved in the selection process. In general, it can take from 2 to 4 weeks. We do our best to respond quickly to candidates to respect their time and their search for other opportunities.
How does Friday's work organization work? Are you open to hybrid or teleworking?
Of course! Although the majority of our employees work on-site at our Paris office, we also offer the possibility of partial telecommuting. Usually, this means two days a week, but this can be negotiated with the manager. In addition, some teams, such as the Tech team, have adopted a "remote first" approach and work mainly remotely. We value flexibility to meet our teams' needs while ensuring effective collaboration.
How do you go about onboarding new talent?
Onboarding new employees at Vendredi is a structured and comprehensive process. We provide detailed documentation on the administrative steps to be taken, and we have an onboarding kit on Notion that contains all the information needed to guide new employees through their first few weeks. This kit includes tasks to be completed, recommended reading, relevant newsletters, and even meetings with company executives. We want our new employees to feel welcome and supported right from the start of their career at Vendredi.
Last question: why should we NOT join you 😉
In reality, you shouldn't join Vendredi if you prefer to work alone, without getting fully involved in the mission you wish to pursue. As an impact company, we value commitment, energy and the will to progress. If you're not ready to get involved, take the initiative and be part of a great collective adventure, then Vendredi may not be the environment for you.
Many thanks for your time, Héloïse!
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