The Practical Cloud: Societe Generale

20 May 2011:

Societe Generale, like every company in the banking sector, had huge pressure to change in the middle of the banking crisis. The crisis undeniably changed the whole sector and they had to accept that times had changed - and that Societe had to change with it.

Part of that change involved a move to a Cloud-based HR system from SuccessFactors.

As well as changing the way it does business, Societe Generale changed the way it managed its human capital. HR Director Luz Helena Rojas explains that, hard for the group to accept as it was, it had to admit that banking is now literally less profitable today. There is also a greater focus on governance and ethics, and products need to be simpler - which looks less exciting and innovative.

The over-arching ambition of the group is to become ‘the’ relationship-focused bank. But when it came to attracting talent, it was hard to source the best candidates from banks simply because of pay, which remains a clear driver for the sector.

Societe Generale is made up of different businesses in 83 countries. It varied wildly as to what kind of HR system was in place. There was a clear need for a shared system which all parts of the business could use in common. The bank ran - and continues to run - on a ‘glo-cal’ system which Rojas explains is:

“A global business but run on a local scale.We need to speak the same language. One of the key difficulties when you work in HR internationally is trying to have visibility to all your people around the world, so it helps when you have a common platform when you want to speak about HR processes, about talent retention.”