Human resources

Recruitment: "Go further with the No. 1"

As one of the leading banks in Europe, No. 1 bancassurer in France and the country’s No. 1 banking employer, the Crédit Agricole Group endeavours to support young people. The Group has stepped up its efforts to inform prospective employees about its range of business activities and brands, as well as opportunities for career development in France and abroad, via a media awareness campaign, stronger ties with schools, a privileged pre-recruitment programme focusing on experience gained within the Group or in the banking sector and greater use of work-based training.

In 2007, the Group hired 7,600 permanent employees in France (3,100 for the Crédit Agricole S.A. Group and 4,500 for the Regional Banks), making it the No. 1 banking recruiter in France. More than 6,800 employees were hired outside France.

Respecting human rights

In keeping with its growing and significant international presence, the Group endeavours to respect human rights in all of the areas in which it operates. This is also in keeping with its commitments, such as its signature of the UN Global Compact in 2003 and its adhesion to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the respect of the ILO² standards. The General Secretary of Crédit Agricole S.A. is responsible for ensuring that these universal rules are applied.

Integration and training on the syllabus

As soon as they arrive, new employees of the Crédit Agricole S.A. Group participate in a seminar for new joiners and benefit from a personalised training programme.

In 2007, nearly 35,500 employees in France - an increase of 4% compared with 2006 - benefited from at least one training programme with an average total duration of 28 hours. Training costs represented nearly 4% of the Group's total wage bill in France. In addition, in keeping with its international expansion, the Crédit Agricole S.A. Group stepped up its apprenticeship and foreign language learning efforts.

Mobility between subsidiaries

As a means of fostering loyalty and career progression, mobility is a central part of the Group's human resources policy. In addition to transfers within each subsidiary, several hundred internal transfers between Crédit Agricole S.A. Group entities took place in France in 2007. Transfers are facilitated by the adoption of charters within the Group's subsidiaries (such as Eurofactor, Crédit Agricole Leasing and Predica, which has pledged to fill at least 30% of vacant positions internally) and by assessment centres to safeguard certain transfers (Finaref).

Crédit Agricole also relies on mobility to reinforce its international expansion, with the development of international experience, business line training projects and specific placements for high potential managers.

Motivating remuneration policy

At €49,190 a year compared with €44,150 in 2006, average remuneration for Crédit Agricole S.A. Group employees has increased, primarily as a result of variable pay. More than one in two employees benefited from an individual pay rise during the year. The majority of the Group's entities benefit from employee profit-sharing and incentive agreements, which saw a 16% increase in payouts compared with 2006.

Employee shareholders: more than 6% of share capital

Nearly one in two employees in France and one in five outside France, a total of over 68,000 people, subscribed to the capital increase in autumn 2007 representing a total of €541 million. Employees therefore held 6.34% of the Group's share capital at the end of 2007 compared with 5.63% at the end of 2006.

Company-wide agreements: setting up a European Works Council

91 company agreements and two Group agreements were signed in 2007, including the SNG agreement¹ with the aim of setting up a European Works Council. This Council - a body for information and discussions about economic, financial and social issues - concerns all employees working within Group entities in Europe. It was created in January 2008.

Throughout the year, the Social Concertation Committee informed the Group's employee representative partners about developments such as the SEPA programme, the capital increase, a summary of the Group's social situation and LCL's 2007-10 competitiveness plan.

Listening to employees

A number of subsidiaries in France, such as Finaref and Eurofactor, conducted surveys of their employees in 2006 which they plan to repeat in 2008.

Efforts to combat harassment

In addition to efforts undertaken at Calyon, in 2007, Crédit Agricole S.A. appointed a committee responsible for preventing and dealing with harassment at work. LCL also signed an agreement with all trade unions to combat inappropriate behaviour by certain clients and to support victims.

Vivao healthcare campaign

Combining the benefits of nutrition and physical exercise, the Vivao campaign has been rolled out within the Group until 2009. A total of 3,200 employees have already registered on the website to benefit from personalised monitoring. In addition to this campaign, conventional measures concerning anti-smoking and prevention of flu, workplace-related problems and serious illnesses were also implemented.