“Offering teleworking for jobs that lend themselves to it, adjusting working hours or organising on-site rotas, using digital tools to communicate better and monitor needs, working with customers to adapt services while maintaining their quality, training managers to manage mixed teams well, on site and remotely…” When asked how to respond to new ways of working without hampering business performance, Dussmann HR director Christelle Noel has a list of ready-to-use solutions.
But what next? And how do we meet the challenge of employee commitment, which studies show is deteriorating all the time? “By giving meaning and reasons to get involved, by rewarding efforts and successes, by maintaining a transparent dialogue, by building on a healthy and flexible environment and by offering internal development opportunities,” says Noel, who works for one of Luxembourg’s largest employers.
Isabelle Faber at Post, meanwhile, believes that “employee commitment is first and foremost rooted in their personal journey. Although companies cannot create commitment artificially, they can encourage it by developing a favourable environment, in particular through a raison d’être that resonates with employees’ values and enables them to project their day-to-day work into an overall vision.”
Chantal Trausch of Rak Porcelain Europe explains: “We have the opportunity to work in an emotional field, where our products appeal to a wide range of customers, where our teams are passionate about their work and where we can pass on that passion. We’re in a business that has to constantly adapt to customer demand and come up with new ideas.”
And Julien Bossu, from CDCL Group, believes that “commitment comes through concrete actions: recognition of efforts, a culture of feedback and alignment of the company’s values with those of its employees.”
“At Sodexo Luxembourg,” says Ann De Jonghe, “we have not seen a decline in engagement, which we measure every two years using our global Voice survey.”
Leadership and transparency
“Once again, it’s all a question of leadership,” says Fabrice Encelle on behalf of SLG. “For example, we try to involve everyone in the strategic objectives. Everyone needs to be able to identify how their work contributes to the achievement of the organisation's major challenges. He adds: “Another point that is very close to my heart is making work interesting.”
“We owe it to ourselves to have transparent communication with employees, to offer them opportunities for personal development and advancement, while ensuring a balance between their private and professional lives,” says Léa Piot of Cocottes.
“We have put in place a number of initiatives aimed at maintaining the wellbeing of our employees, but we need to work more on team recognition,” adds Liliana Alves of La Provençale. “We note that the vast majority of our departures (80%), whether voluntary or involuntary, involve unqualified employees. An employee’s commitment to an employer stems from a series of elements that they find in their workplace: a link with their manager, meaning in the work they do every day, recognition for their work, etc.”
Together is everything
At Delhaize Luxembourg, Marine Cardé comments: “It is imperative to adapt and constantly question ourselves. Dialogue is at the heart of the solution: actively listening to our employees to understand their real expectations and co-constructing a motivating working environment.”
Co-construction? “Today, the challenge for any employer is to create and maintain the right conditions for a long-term partnership with its employees,” says Nicole Dochen of Banque de Luxembourg. “To achieve this, it is essential that the company co-constructs its objectives with the teams in line with the business strategy and communicates them clearly. It must also enable employees, through the tasks and assignments they are given, to demonstrate their full potential and make the most of their achievements. Finally, it must promote diversity and inclusion, while taking care of its employees.”
“We must continue to adapt our value proposition to our development measures and other actions to make the working environment more flexible, without giving in to exaggerated alarmism in the face of certain studies,” says Didier Lemeire of the Spuerkeess.
The importance of values
“Every year,” says Aurélie Ederle, “Société Générale Luxembourg launches an ‘Employee Barometer’ campaign, one of the themes of which is commitment. The responses we receive enable us to initiate an analysis, a dialogue and action plans in co-construction with our employees.”
“To strengthen commitment,” says Christopher Frères, of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, "we rely on a culture of proximity, regular feedback and initiatives focused on the meaning of work. We also measure the level of commitment of our employees via internal surveys followed by concrete action plans."
Scores to measure it all? “With a participation rate of 86% and a commitment index of 77% in our 2024 commitment barometer, we are an example of a highly committed collective,” argues Delphine Bath of La Mondiale Europartner. “My experience has taught me that employees’ aspirations are in fact both very simple and very essential: respect, consideration, sound leadership, a quality working environment, a culture of responsibility, a climate of trust and the space to contribute to an ambitious project. I am convinced that the organisations that are able to offer their employees this experience are the ones that get commitment in return.”
At BDO, says Matina Korma, “we work to consistently adhere to our core values and maintain authenticity in everything we do. We keep our promises, build trust and foster a supportive and engaging work environment that motivates our employees to give their best.
“Flexibility is a very important benefit for our employees, as is personal development,” adds Edith Brunner for Lombard International Assurance. “We have invested a lot of resources in these two initiatives and our engagement rate has only increased over the last two years.”
The problem exists
“Global scores,” says Julian Troian of ING Luxembourg, “show stagnant figures on employee engagement, which clearly shows that the problem exists. We have launched a major effort to improve the whole employee experience. Our onboarding programme has been awarded as the best in the ING Group, and we intend to replicate this approach for every stage of the employee journey.”
“Is employee engagement really at a low ebb?” asks Pictet’s Lise Roda. “Isn’t it just a perception because the relationship with work has changed, whereas the commitment, the skills used, the creation of value and the results are still there? Doesn’t this new relationship with work ultimately force us collectively to focus on what’s essential, on what makes sense, is efficient and has an impact? I wonder.”
Magali Maillot of A&O Shearman, adds: “It seems to me that some organisations have taken flexibility too far by offering ‘full remote’ or by not sufficiently supervising presence in the office, which has been detrimental to the creation of links and identification with the organisation’s values and culture. The office should remain the main place of work, particularly for collaboration and creating commitment. Studies by the Gallup Institute show the importance of making friends at work to boost engagement and performance.”
“The key is to respond to employees’ aspirations by offering them flexibility adapted to their role,” says Christelle Noel from Dussmann, “while maintaining a structured framework that guarantees customer satisfaction and company performance.”
And at the ABBL, says Myriam Sibenaler: “To strengthen the commitment of our employees, we favour regular, authentic and constructive exchanges. Recognising work accomplished, valuing efforts and celebrating successes, however small, are at the heart of our approach.”
The working environment
To increase employee commitment, we need to understand what motivates them individually,” says Géraldine Hassler of KPMG. “Everyone has their own drivers, but they all share a common need: a healthy working environment. Regardless of generation, we all want a stable and respectful environment, which is essential for our psychological balance. By diversifying initiatives, while remaining true to the company's values and culture, we can meet everyone’s expectations and strengthen their commitment.”
“It’s crucial,” adds Marc Parage of Lalux, “to create a working environment that values employee contribution, offers opportunities for development and fosters a sense of belonging. Initiatives such as regular performance recognition, transparent dialogue and projects aligned with their values can rekindle employees’ motivation and their attachment to the company.”
Commitment “requires an even more human approach to nurture the bond between employer and employees and find our bearings in a post-covid world that has shifted the lines,” says Louis de Looz-Corswarem of BGL BNP Paribas.
“At Raiffeisen, we are constantly developing a working environment that puts people at the centre of our concerns. Our employees are not just human resources, but true ambassadors,” adds Laurent Derkum.
A question of meaning
“It’s important to have an in-depth understanding of the challenges facing our sector and the expectations of our employees,” says Anaïs Bouillet of Rockids. “Our HR cafés and regular employee satisfaction surveys help us to identify these expectations. We offer opportunities to work part-time, we work on adapting our schedules to allow our employees to organise their personal lives and we encourage the right to disconnect.”
Olivier Schmitt at the CHL is proposing to resolve this alleged crisis in employee commitment by “giving meaning to their actions! Using facts to show the impact of their work on the performance of the institution and the individual and collective development of the teams.”
At the Fondation Hôpitaux Robert Schuman, Karine Rollot observes that “the problem of commitment runs deep. It starts even before the candidate is recruited. We run campaigns to raise awareness of the health professions so that we can mobilise our future workforce from an early age. Then [we continue] through internships, summer jobs and throughout the life cycle of our employees, via internal mobility, training, recognition and innovation programmes.”
This article, originally published in French, was written for the Paperjam HR Leaders 2025 supplement in the February 2025 edition of Paperjam magazine published on 29 January. The content is produced exclusively for the magazine. It is published on the website to contribute to the complete Paperjam archive. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
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