What does it mean?

It means understanding, anticipating and meeting the fundamental needs of both internal and external customers at all times and at all levels of the organization. With this attitude, Saint-Gobain people show a strong focus to meet customers’ needs while also being able to proactively provide creative solutions when necessary.

To do so, Saint-Gobain people need to develop their empathy, i.e. their ability to put themselves in the shoes of the customer and change their perspective to understand the fundamental needs of others.

Why is it important?

Serving customers and markets by creating great living places and improving daily life demands the whole innovative potential of Saint-Gobain, and is one of the key objectives of the Group’s strategy. It is essential to ensure Saint-Gobain’s unique position in the market while perfectly understanding the evolving needs of the customers in a constantly changing environment.

What does it mean?

Acting as an entrepreneur means being results-driven as if it was one’s own company. Acting as an entrepreneur means showing strong commitment and having a sense of ownership: all the projects on which you are working are yours. You make them successful through your personal initiative and drive. It also means having an impact and leaving your personal footprint on the results, performance and sustainability of Saint-Gobain. To do so, you need to have the courage to take risks and make decisions to advance the results and performance of the Group.

Finally acting as an entrepreneur relates to being an active part of change and showing enthusiasm for it.

Why is it important?

Saint-Gobain is more than ever evolving in a changing business environment. While it is essential to stay true to our Principles of Conduct and Action, we also need to change our perspective on risk-taking and initiative. Acting as an internal entrepreneur within the Saint-Gobain Group is having the right mindset to align our strong values with the necessity to go forward in today’s world. «Intrapreneurship » is now needed to foster our dynamic growth, change and innovation. As such, it gives to each and everyone the opportunity to develop one’s leadership skills while inspiring change.

What does it mean?

Innovate refers to the ability to be open and think differently. It means thinking out of the box, being original and experimenting with new solutions. It implies being future-oriented and anticipating changes in markets, customers and technologies. Finally It is the ability to promote a safe space where failure is accepted as being part of the game and where every one can learn from it.

Why is it important?

Saint-Gobain is already in a rapidly changing world. This requires the Group to constantly innovate to meet its challenges (i.e., integrating a diverse workforce and making it evolve, enabling coopetition with competitors when the market requires it, questioning the past procedures to propose new ones, thinking of new ways to lead R&D through co-development…

What does it mean?

This is the ability to be quick in action and mind. It means embracing change and being an active part of it. This requires Saint-Gobain people to develop their self-awareness, the awareness of their team and of their environment (both inside and outside the organization), knowing the strengths and ways of improvement of the people around them. It also requires a lot of energy while ensuring two demands, to know the capabilities of ones team and always to adhere to a perspective of sustainable development.

Why is it important?

More than ever, Saint-Gobain is today facing new challenges: getting products to market quickly, adapting to new methods of communication, finding new ways to manage new generations, equip all BU’s with an adequate digital strategy… New challenges will occur overtime. This uncertainty requires from Saint-Gobain people, at all levels, to develop their agility while enhancing their ability to be dynamic, energetic, quick and flexible.

What does it mean?

The first requirement, at all levels, is to be open-minded. This means accepting differences, being open to take both positive or negative feedback, being open to try new ways of working and collaborating (internally and externally), to create a safe space where each and every one can express themselves to boost team spirit. This means developing a transversal approach whilst being collaborative, taking a global view and learning continuously. Being true to our General Principles of Conduct and Action, it means also exemplarity, integrity, respect and trust. Demonstrate inclusive leadership which involves and develops people based on an open and meaningful dialogue.

Why is it important?

Today’s world is volatile, uncertain and complex bringing daily risks. It challenges us and pushes us out of our comfort zone. What was true yesterday or what is true today, will not be true tomorrow. In the face of such a challenging environment, individualism or a battle of egos cannot be a sustainable solution. The answer comes from an ability to work collaboratively in an inclusive environment that enables innovation and agility. The ability to establish a supportive environment where each and everyone feels at ease, and is prepared to contribute and develop continuously becomes a key success factor. In this stressful environment it is necessary to combine emotion, fun and rationality.

Professional commitment

means mobilizing to the best of one’s ability the knowledge and know-how of the individual and also calls for training to keep both up to date. It requires personal commitment and a willingness to take on the tasks assigned and to acquire knowledge necessary to do the job. It implies the effective contribution of each person in caring particularly for the environment and for worker health and safety.

Respect for others

is an absolute prerequisite for the professional and personal development of each person. It applies throughout the Group worldwide. It implies an acceptance of pluralism and other cultures and of people of all origins. It is expressed in a readiness to listen to others, to inform, to explain, and to engage in dialogue.

Integrity

requires a rigorous adherence to probity in all professional activities. It means that no individual may compromise the interests of the Group entrusted to that individual in favour of his or her own private interests – whether in dealing within the Group or in dealing on behalf of the Group with third parties,whatever local practices might be. Detailed rules of conduct may be adopted for certain categories of Group personnel where the nature of their responsibilities so requires.

Loyalty

requires honesty and fairness in dealing with superiors, colleagues, subordinates and third parties dealing with the Group. In particular, it is incompatible with the pursuit of self-interest where the latter conflicts with the goals of the individual company or the Group as a whole. It implies the adherence to the guidelines and internal rules of individual companies and of the Group.

Solidarity

is based on a sense of individual responsibility at work, which prevails over self-centered thinking. It encourages team work and bringing out the best in each person, in order to achieve the objectives of the company and the Group. It means rejecting management or operational methods geared more to the self-satisfaction of given individuals rather than the interests of the individual company or the Group as a whole.

Respect for the law

All Group companies must apply in all areas all laws and regulations of the countries where they do business. Particular attention is drawn to the areas described below. All Group companies must prohibit all actions which might breach applicable norms of competition law. They must refrain from any form of financing political parties or activities, even if allowed under local law. They must also reject all forms of active or passive corruption whether in domestic or international transactions(2). Furthermore, Group companies must not exploit loopholes or inadequacies in any such laws or regulations where this would mean non-compliance with the norms of the Saint-Gobain Group in the areas described below.

Caring for the environment

Group companies are to actively promote the protection of the environment. All company sites, wherever they are located, must be managed in a way that allows the setting of clear environmental targets and the regular monitoring of environmental performances and measuring the same against these targets. They must strive to raise the main relevant environmental performance standards of their own sites to the level of particularly effective performance standards found in the Group for comparable sites – even if that means going beyond the requirements of local legislation.

Worker health and safety

Group companies are to take particular care to adopt all measures necessary to ensure the best possible protection against health and safety risks in the workplace. They must adopt risk reduction policies and follow-up on the due application of the same, checking actual results against the applicable standards. Such policies apply both to their own employees and to employees of sub-contractors, when the latter are working on a Group site. They must strive to raise the main relevant health and safety performance standards of their own sites to the levels of particularly effective performance standards found in the Group for comparable sites – even if that means going beyond the requirements of local legislation.

Employee rights

Group companies must scrupulously ensure that employees’ rights are respected. They must promote an active dialogue with their employees. In addition, and without limitation, they must respect the following rules, even if not provided for by applicable local law. They must refrain from any form of recourse to forced labour, compulsory labour, or child labour(3) – whether directly or indirectly or through sub-contractors when the latter are working on a Group site; and they must refrain from any form of discrimination with respect to their employees, whether in the recruitment process, at hiring, or during or at the end of the employment relationship.