Hello Pierre, welcome to our blog! Can you introduce Saint-Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France to our readers?
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Hello Nicolas. Saint-Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France is a veritable universe of brands dedicated to professionals and private individuals alike. These brands, also known as trade names, operate in the world of building materials and services. You're probably familiar with some of them, such as POINT.P, Cedeo, La Plateforme du Bâtiment, PUM, Panofrance, Dispano and Asturienne SFIC. They all specialize in different segments of the building market, providing an essential service to craftsmen and professionals. Whether it's for new construction or renovation, small or large customers, individuals or local authorities, we cover all building segments.
We make a point of serving our customers not only by distributing building materials, but also by offering a growing range of services designed to help our craftsmen. For example, we help them to draw up quotes, calculate the best solutions for their projects, or make contact with private customers. Our mission is truly to support the construction ecosystem and craftsmen in France.
Our strength lies in our branch network. We have around 24,000 employees, and 2,000 sales outlets that form the essential backbone of our organization. It's often said that there's a Saint-Gobain Distribution Bâtiment branch every 10 km. This may not be true everywhere, but we're almost there. In this way, we maintain close proximity to the field, to be as close as possible to building sites and craftsmen.
Of course, the Saint-Gobain distribution universe is made up of several banners, all with their own specificities and roles. That's what makes us one big, united family, dedicated to providing the best solutions for our customers.
Despite all these banners, is there an overall corporate culture emanating from them?
Each of our brands has its own DNA, its own personality if you like, which is often very strong and which we wish to preserve and nurture. Whether you work for POINT.P, PUM or La Plateforme du Bâtiment, you wear your brand with pride and dedicate your work to it when you welcome our customers. It's this pride that fuels the energy of our teams.
However, all these brands belong to one and the same group, the Saint-Gobain group, and more specifically to Saint-Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France. It is therefore crucial to mobilize our teams around a few fundamental principles and strong cultural values.
These values are generally summed up in three words: trust, collaboration and responsibility.
When I speak of trust, I'm thinking of the simplicity of relationships, both between colleagues and with our customers. The average size of one of our branches is 8 people. It's a small core, a fine mesh, which needs trust and simplicity to function properly. We are often the first or second port of call for customers who come to us before and after going to their building site. They come for a coffee, a chat, or to get something. So it's essential to establish this trust and simplicity with them.
In terms of collaboration, I place great emphasis on proximity. Our teams are out in the field, seeing the impact of their work in concrete terms. They deliver materials, provide services, see what our products are used for. So they have to be very close to customers, very hands-on. And that's where the manager's role is crucial, because with agencies averaging 6 to 8 people, proximity with the teams is essential. This notion of collaboration is essential, as each member of the team can potentially replace an absent colleague to keep the agency running smoothly.
And the last point, responsibility, is expressed by the commitment of each employee. Whether it's a service commitment to the customer, a commitment to the team, or a professional commitment, every employee plays an important role. It's fascinating to see how passionate our teams are about their relationship with the customer, how much they love their customers, how attached they are to their colleagues.
In short, simplicity, proximity and commitment are the fundamental pillars of our culture at Saint-Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France, and they are essential to our future.
Whatwould you say to a candidate to make them want to join you?
I would say that one of the main reasons for joining Saint-Gobain is our raison d'être, the one that guides our every action. Redefined three years ago, it is expressed by the English expression"Making the world a better home". Although we don't translate it into French, its meaning is quite clear: we want to have a positive impact on all the places where we are present.
Whether it's the places where we work, study, live, care for or even entertain ourselves, we seek to improve the comfort and usability of these places, whether in terms of acoustics, luminosity, and so on. And all the while keeping our impact on the planet to a minimum.
How do we achieve this? Well, by manufacturing and selling energy-efficient materials, we manage to provide optimum comfort inside buildings while preserving the planet. We contribute to the global effort to reduce environmental impact by minimizing our consumption of resources, organizing recycling and reuse systems, and favoring the use of local resources closer to the building site.
In this way, we build high-quality homes, schools and buildings while using less energy, emitting less CO2 and using our planet's resources responsibly. That's the beauty of our mission at Saint-Gobain.
So why join Saint-Gobain's Distribution professions? Because it's more than just a job. It's the chance to be part of an extraordinary project that's both collective, because we're contributing to something bigger, and individual, because each member of our team can make his or her own contribution, their own initiative, their own small step towards a better world.
Whether it's selling a more efficient product, finding a better logistics scheme, or simply helping to make the world a little nicer, every employee has the opportunity to make a difference. And that's what makes working at Saint-Gobain so rewarding.
After listening to Laetitia Sylvestre's interview on BFM in December 2022, I learned that Saint-Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France has 24,000 employees, over 1,000 work-study trainees, and more than 200 different professions. With such expertise in recruitment, pre-integration and integration, I'd like to know how you manage to attract so many applicants. What do you think works well in your process to attract so much talent?
Attracting a multitude of candidates to Saint-Gobain's distribution professions, given our large number of employees, interns, work-study students and vacancies, as well as the diversity of our professions, is a real challenge. However, we have found an effective strategy that has paid off.
We've found that the best way to talk to candidates is to let our teams speak for themselves. After all, it's our people who know their job, their environment, their team and their company best. They can share their experience in an authentic and engaging way.
With this in mind, we launched an initiative last year where we chose one of our employees, Cedrick, to become an "internal influencer". Cedrick visits all our stores to meet our employees and learn about their jobs. He spends a day with them, understands their work, what motivates them and records it all on video. These short films are then shared on social networks, used in our internal communications and at job fairs, to give potential candidates an authentic insight into life in Saint-Gobain's Distribution banners.
In addition, we have launched a second edition of this initiative in a new format called "DistriQuiz". This game, inspired by a popular TV game show, brings together representatives from all our banners. They take part in a challenge that allows them to discover the different facets of each profession and each brand.
We also strongly encourage co-optation. When one colleague recommends another, it creates a mutual commitment that often results in quality hires.
In short, at Saint-Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France, we emphasize authenticity and human commitment in our recruitment process. We believe that it is our employees who are the best ambassadors for our company.
What does a "Made in Saint-Gobain" recruitment process look like?
The recruitment process at Saint-Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France is extremely structured and decentralized, adapting to the diversity and specificity of our positions. Each banner manages its own recruitment, but we also have a dedicated team for more specialized profiles. Over 90% of our recruitment is carried out locally, using traditional tools such as job boards, school relations, unsolicited applications and, of course, co-option.
We emphasize manager involvement in the recruitment process. They are trained to recruit without discrimination and play a central role. For example, they cannot open a position unless they have undergone recruitment training. We also offer more structured training on interviewing and job specifications.
We prioritize the assessment of soft skills, because most of our jobs can be learned by doing. We strive to make managers understand that we won't necessarily find all the skills in one person, but we can train the right person with the right attitudes.
We also use tools to manage the flow of applications and interview follow-up. This is what happens in the background to help us manage the volume of recruitment.
As far as integration is concerned, we have found that poor onboarding almost certainly leads to departure. We have therefore created integration paths which vary in length and content depending on the position. To prevent new hires from becoming absorbed in the day-to-day running of the business, we send them to another branch to learn about the company's culture and work outside their new location.
Finally, we are very proud that Saint-Gobain has joined the Olympic and Paralympic adventure as "Official Supporter of solutions for renovation and sustainable construction". This major partnership provides us with an exceptional opportunity to recruit for a variety of positions. At present, we have a number of vacancies in the commercial field, including salespeople, sales assistants, warehousemen and drivers, as you mentioned. Our mission is to continue to find and train the right people for these positions, so that we can continue to make Saint-Gobain a strong and innovative company.
Can you think of any other professions for which you are currently recruiting? Are there any other interesting news or developments you'd like to share with us?
Indeed, the range of professions we offer is extremely broad. And this is reflected in our recruitment process, which is as varied as the profiles we seek. Whether you're a field sales professional, a supply chain specialist, an expert in sustainable development, a passionate manager, a fine IT or data technician, or a digital marketing whiz, there's a place for you with us.
We place particular emphasis on the training and development of our employees. Whether you're a newcomer or a long-standing employee, we strive to provide you with the tools and opportunities to flourish and progress in your career.
On the other hand, in terms of news, there are indeed some exciting projects we're working on. For example, our commitment to sustainable development is reflected not only in our day-to-day operations, but also in our partnership with Paris 2024. It's a project of incredible scope, which enables us to put into practice our commitment to a more sustainable future.
We have also put in place initiatives to improve our operational efficiency, reduce our environmental impact and strengthen our commitment to our customers and employees. These efforts are reflected in our commitment to optimizing our logistics operations, improving our waste management and introducing technological innovations into our operations.
At Saint-Gobain, we are proud of the diversity and breadth of our activities. We believe that this diversity makes us stronger and more capable of meeting the needs of our customers and our community. We are always looking for talented people to join our team and contribute to our mission of building a more sustainable future.
👉To discover all Saint-Gobain's opportunities, click here
Last question: why should we NOT join you?
The first reason would be if you're not a morning person. Our branches open very early to meet our customers' needs, so if you like late mornings, this could be a challenge.
The second reason is that you won't have time to get bored with us. After all, innovation is the order of the day at Saint-Gobain. Whether it's product or service innovation, we're constantly looking for new ways to improve our offerings. So if you prefer an established routine without too many surprises, you might find this difficult.
Finally, the third reason you might hesitate to join us is if our mission doesn't speak to you. At Saint-Gobain, we are guided by the ambition "Making the world a better home". If you don't feel inspired by this idea of contributing to a more sustainable and equitable future, then maybe Saint-Gobain isn't the right place for you.
However, if you are keen to immerse yourself in a dynamic and stimulating environment, and to commit yourself to a mission that has a real impact on our planet and our society, then we would be delighted to welcome you to our team.
Many thanks for your time, Pierre!
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