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Overview of activities, risk factors
2.7 Risk factors
DANONE
REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2015
31
RISK IDENTIFICATION
RISK MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT
Human resources and staff
The availability, quality and commitment of Danone's employees
play an essential role in Danone's success. If Danone's ability to
attract and retain employees with the necessary skills or talents
– notably in the emerging countries and/or Danone's principal
markets – were to diminish or be insufficient – especially in
an environment marked by efforts to control wage and salary
costs and/or in light of the impact of the economic crisis on
Danone's various annual andmulti-year variable compensation
plans – then Danone's ability to achieve its objectives could be
adversely affected, which could also negatively affect its results.
As described in section 5.2
Information concerning Danone's
social, societal and environmental performance in compliance
with the Grenelle II law
related to Compensation and promotion,
Danone offers competitive and fair compensation, and to that
end has developed appraisal systems and procedures that are
also described in this section.
Danone has also developed a social, societal and environmental
responsibility approach that it has rolled out in its subsidia-
ries, including in emerging countries. Danone believes that its
approach and the actions implemented contribute to the Group's
appeal. This approach and the related actions are described in
sections 5.1
Danone social, societal and environmental approach
and 5.2
Information concerning Danone's social, societal and
environmental performance in compliance with the Grenelle II law
.
Human resources and restructuring
Danone works continuously to improve its efficiency in order to
achieve better performance and anticipate adjustments needed
to respond to changes in the market, projects, competition, and
with respect to its internal organization, jobs and skills. This
policy may in some cases result in difficult decisions regarding
jobs (plant closings, restructuring plans with layoffs, etc.).
These decisions may be poorly understood and received by
both employees and local stakeholders (local elected officials,
governmental authorities, etc.) and could affect Danone's
employee relations. result in labor disputes, which could include,
in particular, work stoppages, strikes or other disruptions that,
along with the financial impacts, could adversely affect the
Danone's reputation, activities and results.
Moreover, mobilizing Danone's management and staff to suc-
cessfully implement these restructuring projects and, more
generally, the Company transformation projects could affect
their availability and focus on the Company's business and its
operational projects, which could have a negative impact on its
activities and results. This is particularly the case of the One
Danone transformational project approved by Danone in 2014
and implemented starting in 2015.
Lastly, this risk could exacerbate the risk associated with attrac-
ting and retaining people with the necessary skills and talents
described in the above section Human resources and staff.
In order to limit the various risks associated with such decisions
(labor disputes, increase in local unemployment, risk on repu-
tation), Danone's policy consists of (i) preparing a restructuring
decision as far in advance as possible, when the Company still
has the time and resources to responsibly prevent and manage
the social and human impacts of such restructurings, and (ii)
limiting their potential impact through its organization of actions
and policies, in particular:
•
deploying dedicated teams with support from external
resources to implement major projects:
•
ensuring ongoing employee dialogue within the company;
•
developing the employability of all employees;
•
signing collective conventions with the International Union
of Food workers (IUF) that focus in particular on steps to be
implemented when changes in the company's activity affect
jobs as well as their implementation, with an emphasis on a
return to employment and support for employees.
These elements and additional information are presented in
sections 5.1
Danone social, societal and environmental approach
and 5.2
Information concerning Danone's social, societal and
environmental performance in compliance with the Grenelle II law
.