Newsletter

VE Training News n°12

Editorial

This new addition extends the Campus network and helps it to fulfill its mission of delivering the full range of skills development activities, projects and programs designed for Veolia Environnement employees. Its goal is to meet at least 50% of the training needs of our people.

Maintaining and building on the skills of our training teams is an ongoing challenge and an essential part of the support we provide for our operating divisions and customers. Whether they work in our companies or Campuses, our trainers must also benefit from expert resources, including training that reflects and supports the key factors that have made Veolia Environnement so successful: the ability to be simultaneously global and local, achieve excellence in its technical services and understand the complexity of the environment in which it operates.

The Campus network will also be involved in the deployment of the Agora project. This is a very long-term initiative whose aim is to transform the organizational structure of the Group to meet new performance demands and deliver the resources required to support its growth. Many training initiatives will support the roll-out of this ambitious project around the world.

Continuous innovation is a necessary part of training, and must clearly be shared throughout the network: some of our campuses are embracing the issue of sustainable development, which is a key industrial and commercial challenge for VE, whilst others have taken major strides in the introduction and operation of new technologies, like the powerful e-learning platform now available online for our companies and campuses. The network supports the local growth of its business by drawing on and conveying the central values and culture of Veolia.
These are all important subjects. Please discover them in more detail hereafter.

Christian Dapilly, Veolia Environnement Deputy Human Resources Director and head of training

Back to the list

A Campus for the Ile de France (Paris Region)

The Campus Veolia Environnement Ile de France will go live on January 1, 2010. As the latest of the six regional campuses in France, the Campus Ile de France is based on the Jouy le Moutier site.

Mission

The mission of the Campus Ile de France is to lead and guide training in the Ile de France delegation. With nearly 35,000 employees, 25,000 of whom are in direct contact with our customers, and a dynamic research function, the Ile de France delegation is one of the seven Veolia Environnement delegations in France. Since 2004, it has been headed up by Michel Plasse, who is also the Head of the Banlieue de Paris entity of Veolia Water.

Key figures for the Ile-de-France VE delegation:
  • 550 million m3 of water delivered to consumers' taps every year
  • 1.4 million drinking water customers
  • Nearly 12,000 miles of water supply pipes
  • More than 5,700 miles of waste water pipes
  • 5.3 million people served by sewage services
  • 4.7 million metric tons of waste processed
  • 2.7 million metric tons of waste collected
  • 1,400,000 homes heated
  • 130 million passenger transit journeys

With a dense presence in the Paris Region as a result of major contracts, and with 150 years of experience in working with local authorities, Veolia Environnement is an efficient and effective partner that respects people and the environment.

In terms of jobs and employment inclusivity, the Ile de France Region delegation has entered into agreements with the departmental councils (conseils généraux) of départements 92 (Hauts-de-Seine), 93 (Seine-Saint-Denis) and 94 (Val-de-Marne). These agreements recognize training as an essential route for bringing people into the world of work.

Governance
  • The members of the Campus Ile de France Management Committee include the four regional divisional directors and representatives of the region's main operating subsidiaries
  • The CEO of the new Campus is Manuèle Lemaire, who also heads the Centre de Formation d'Apprentis Institut de l'Environnement Urbain (Urban Environment Institute Apprentice Training Center, which operates within the French employment regulatory framework)
  • The Ile de France Training Coordination Committee will meet twice yearly to identify the precise needs and expectations of operations teams as part of helping the Campus Ile de France to develop its range of training services

The goal of the Campus Ile de France is to fulfill 50% of the training needs of the companies in the delegation. It will therefore focus its efforts on the business sectors and organizations specific to the geographic remit of the delegation. It may also be called upon to develop programs for the divisional training departments and technical departments.

Ultimately, the Campus Ile de France will be attended by more than 700 alternation training students and will supply nearly 200,000 hours of in-service vocational training.

Veolia induction days in Germany

The third round of induction days for new arrivals joining Veolia Germany was held in Berlin on October 28, 29 and 30.

With Veolia Water, Veolia Environmental Services, Dalkia and Veolia Transport, Veolia Environnement in Germany sets the benchmark for environmental services in its national market. With more than 24,000 employees, the Group has become the preferred partner of local authorities and industry.

The aim of these induction days is to act as an introduction to the various specialties offered in this country and to create a shared Veolia Environnement culture. Sessions also include general presentations from each division, and time for delegates to discuss their understanding of the Group and their future careers.

The creation of an inter-personal, inter-divisional knowledge network was another of the stated goals of this event. This is why particular care is taken to create opportunities for delegates to get together, whether in the meeting space itself (a loft apartment arranged for groups of 20-30) or at relaxed evening discussion sessions arranged to encourage more informal conversation with Veolia Germany senior management.

These induction days are the first milestones in the cooperative training initiative shared by all our divisions in Germany. These trailblazing events have already demonstrated the success of cross-functional working. Now at the planning stage, the future Campus Veolia Germany will adopt precisely this strategy of bringing together the employment challenges and collective skills of Veolia.

Agora: a transformational project for Veolia Environnement

More and more people are hearing about Agora, the project designed to introduce a new and integrated Group management control, accounting and purchasing system modeled on the Group's internal compliance procedures (based on the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) standards). Some training initiatives have already been developed to support its introduction, and many more will follow in the period 2010-2012: all will be deployed by our Campuses and network training centers.

The project was initiated by the Veolia Environnement Executive Committee as well as by Pierre François Riolacci (Head of Financial Services), and defined in consultation with the Group's divisions and companies.

At the heart of the project lie three key challenges:

  • to improve the accuracy of the processes used to produce the Group monthly accounts
  • to share a common IFRS-based accounting vocabulary and bring together a large number of separate databases
  • to introduce higher levels of professionalism in the management control and purchasing functions, and make it easier to introduce new purchasing policies.

The training courses

Based in Nanterre (France), the Agora team is headed up by Jean-Philippe Faure. Team member Catherine Cichy has been seconded from the Campus Jouy le Moutier in France to direct the training support package for all project deployments.

As part of responding effectively to user needs and expectations, the Agora teams have developed a series of training courses. These courses fall into two categories:

  • The "Lite" courses offering 4 types of training, including expenses claims and purchase requests
  • The "Job-specific" courses offering 9 types of training, including procurement, purchasing and general accountancy

500 people have received training as part of the VE SA (Veolia holding company) and Group IS Shared Services Center deployments, including 400 via the "Lite" courses. The next stage - the switchover of Dalkia Benelux (Energy) which began on November 15 - involves the training of more than 500 people in three languages: French, English and Dutch. Next year will see the rollout continue to include Veolia Environmental Services UK (1,400 people to be trained), Water France Régionalisée and the Campus VE network (France).

Agora is a key directional project for the Group, and reflects its commitment to being a competitive and responsible global enterprise. The ultimate aim of Agora is to harmonize Group finance and procurement processes to support the growth of Veolia Environnement.

A "Train The Trainer" program consistent with our training values

The "Veolia TTT" launched two years ago is now ready to be deployed as widely as possible. For the time being, the pilot deployments already tested twice in Saudi Arabia by Veolia Water will be extended to a number of other countries, notably by Veolia Transport for its Master Trainers network. The program will be fully operational in 2010.

Right from the start, this project has been guided and managed by a multicultural project team of training managers and master trainers from 6 countries: USA (B. Roach), France (L. Hupin, K. Benhammouda, B. Koskas and E. Steinthal), UK (R. Fairweather), Sweden (H. Sandberg), Czech Republic (K. Lavičková) and China (M. Chein).

This team is also representative of the 4 Group divisions, and is supported by the Training Quality and Strategic Projects Department (Campus France).

What makes this program special: is its general design, which covers all the Veolia divisions and is adapted to meet local needs.

Training its own training professionals is a major challenge for the Campus network. This program is aimed primarily at internal trainers working in Group companies and plants, and is designed to help them deliver training more professionally in particular areas.

This is an effective professionalization program based on the use of training resources and methods that "work" in every country, and on techniques that can be adapted to meet local needs.

In other words, achieving this ambition involves a degree of standardization and adaptation, which should together allow us to build on existing experience and maximize the return on investment, at the same time - and more importantly - as benefiting trainers themselves.

How it works: more training opportunities

Program deployment is the responsibility of a multicultural team. A team of Master Trainers will receive their Campus training centrally, by division and/or by geographic region.

These Master Trainers will then train the Internal Trainers for their own country or region. Program implementation will be coordinated by the regional or national Campus, or by the training center concerned. This process also ensures that Veolia people are trained by Veolia people.

Program content: the job of the trainer

The program is built around the following 3 resources:
  • a manual for trainers, containing the VE training principles and memo-cards illustrating the basic techniques used by trainers
  • a comprehensive guide to the TTT Training The Trainers program for master trainers to use during the program deployment phase, as well as a set of technical and facilitation forms
  • a tool box containing evaluation forms, checklists, preparatory charts, templates and other resources required to prepare, deliver and evaluate training sessions

Like the entire training system, these resources are intended to boost the value of training so that everyone can take control of their own environment and not just a particular area of technical ability. The goal here is to focus on intelligence and understanding the task in hand.

A fourth resource will be added as the Campus network develops. This will take the form of recommendations for the introduction of a certification process that will substantiate and complement this in-service training system. The outcome will be consistency with the principle that training should always be recognized by the award of a certificate or diploma.

So you can now start the ball rolling on organizing a TTT program for your own teams by contacting the Campus (Head of network) now to help you put the program in place.

Training course for a key Veolia Environmental Services function: the "Team Supervisors Program"

At the operational level, team supervisors are the cornerstones of the business. The Veolia Environmental Services Training Department has revised its range of training opportunities for the first level of operations management. A modular training course for team supervisors has been available since the beginning of this year.

The Team Supervisors Program includes:
  • a compulsory common core of modules applicable to all trainees
  • a "menu" of job-specific modules designed to meet individual needs
The added value of this program: more effective management

This training program is designed for team supervisors working in all areas of Veolia Environmental Services: solid waste collection and processing (hazardous and non-hazardous) and (from 2010 onwards) liquid waste collection and processing.

The aim of this program is to boost their professional management abilities with particular emphasis on the essential skills of: team management and coordination, business organization, customer relations and service quality, safety quality and environment, and service administration and profitability.

This program also helps managers to network more effectively within the Group.

A tailored program designed to meet individual needs is prepared on the basis of a preliminary evaluation of each trainee.

The first deployments are already in place

The test session for this course has now been completed, and four live sessions are now being rolled out all over France. Initial evaluations show that trainees have developed their general appreciation of the waste management culture, are better placed in their professional environment and have acquired new skills. They have also improved their leadership skills and are more assured in their management roles.

Naturally, the opportunity for trainees to discuss issues face-to-face as part of the training course has also been very productive in developing individual skills and identifying synergies that could benefit Veolia.

Download the document : Team Supervisors training program

The Veolia Energy e-learning platform has been upgraded

The Veolia Energy Training Department has totally revised its e-learning platform. The upgrade is part of the ultimate aim of establishing the e-learning platform as a central resource to be shared by all divisions of Veolia Environnement. Internet-based remote training will be available from the end of October this year via a single web address: http://veolia.campus-elearning.net

You can view a demo by clicking on "guest access" to visit the site. The platform is simple to use for students, and offers rapid access to the activities and courses they are involved in.

A dedicated system for all those involved in training

As well as a forum, platform coordinators can also publish topic-, session- or business-based blogs. So, for example, tutors can add extra content to training courses by providing students with additional information and support. Students can enter questions or comments.

The platform also offers statistical and learning monitoring facilities for all users with an open identity (instructional tutors, company tutors, line managers, training managers, etc.).

The benefits of the e-learning system

The platform also offers multilingual access based on the language set in the user profile. More than 880 trainees have already registered. Over 20 courses are available in French and English covering energy, water treatment and cross-functional and inter-divisional subjects. Examples include electrical accreditation, the basics of electricity, the basics of water treatment, heating system installation, an introduction to IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), telephone technique, legal reporting, VECTOR, French employment law, accident prevention and health and safety.

This resource is designed to supplement face-to-face training, and covers the basic and conceptual aspects at both the introductory and advanced theoretical levels. In practical terms, this means that the course on solar energy for sales staff addresses the basics of solar photovoltaic and/or thermal energy using an e-learning course, whilst the class-based section of the course focuses on sales resources.

It can also be extremely useful in producing evaluations or accreditations, and in implementing or operating simulators.

Lastly, as an Open and Distance Learning (ODL) resource, e-learning cannot replace the impact of traditional face-to-face training; it must be used as a supplementary resource made available to enhance and stimulate training initiatives and evaluations.

Campus commitment to sustainable development

© Photothèque VEOLIA - Richard Mas

Every day, every part of our Group is fully engaged in meeting the industrial and commercial challenges of sustainable development, from economizing on scarce resources to reducing greenhouse gases and protecting health and biodiversity... all of which are imperatives for our customers, and must therefore form an integral part of the services we offer. These preoccupations are now global, and are reflected in the Group's targets, although the routes to progress differ from one country to another as a result of local realities.

We can all see the tensions that have emerged with the realization that the time has come for global commitments to be made by countries and regions as divergent as Europe, Africa, Asia and North and South America.

It is the responsibility of VE and its units to ensure that we are in a position to respond by offering our customers the services, equipment and skills they need, at the same time as setting a good example ourselves.

"As Veolia Environnement employees, we are seen as "knowing about" environmental issues. However, our general culture on these issues is not distributed consistently and is not conveyed convincingly.
So to prevent the risk of losing credibility amongst our customers, it is vital that we work with them to build relationships within which our services divisions provide the route forward to the sustainable development of our companies and our planet. Integrating these challenges into our environmental services will enable us to formulate a standard procedure for our business; one that is clearly structured, properly formalized and universally distributed. It is this that makes skills development such a real and immediate challenge, from management right through to operators."

Geneviève Ferone, Vice President, Sustainable Development at Veolia Environnement

Our campuses have introduced a series of different sustainable development approaches tailored to the situations of individual countries, the expectations of local authorities and corporate customers and the needs of VE companies.

Training for operations and sales managers

In France, Campus Atlantique has responded to a request from its regional delegation by putting together the first introductory sustainable development course based directly on needs identified at grass roots level. Designed for operations and sales managers, this regular two-day training course is offered for all Group business sectors, and was first introduced in June this year.

Training for teaching teams

Campus UK in London is focusing its priorities on its teaching teams to prepare them for conducting courses at local level. With this in mind, a series of training sessions will be held at the beginning of 2010 exclusively for training professionals working in the Campuses and divisions, with particular emphasis on Europe. The courses will involve a contribution from Geneviève Ferone, Vice President, Sustainable Development at Veolia Environnement, and will concentrate particularly on the resources and content required to understand and convey customer-related challenges.

Increasing awareness levels as widely as possible:

As part of adapting to the specific concerns of Morocco, CAPVEM, the Campus Veolia Environnement Morocco in Rabat, now begins all its training initiatives with a short sequence designed to increase awareness of sustainable development issues as they affect the activities of Veolia Environnement.

This sequence has been developed by training unit managers.

CAPVEM is also offering Veolia employees in Morocco a two-day Campus-based sustainable development course as part of its 2010 training catalog.

Campus Israel welcomes Veolia

Campus VE Israel is the network's youngest Campus. Having opened in the second half of last year, it welcomed around 60 Veolia Israel directors and managers on October 22.

Veolia Environnement in Israel operates through its 4 divisions of Environmental Services, Transport, Water and Dalkia. The Group has secured a number of high-profile contracts here, including the operation of the world's largest seawater desalination plant, a cogeneration plant, public transportation and a very large urban waste storage center at Effeh.

The Veolia Environnement Israel management team holds two general conferences per year, and on this occasion its focus was the local Campus Veolia. Proof if proof were needed that our campuses play a key role in supporting Group culture and business sales development. As a facility unique within the delegation, it brings technique together with the jobs people do: the aim of the conference was to present and share the current year annual performances of all divisions, and discuss targets for 2010.

The day began with a tour of two major plants owned by companies very well respected in Israel in the food manufacturing (Nestlé) and papermaking (AIPM) industries: Veolia has business relationships with both. The aim of the visits was to see a number of operational and managerial best practices in action.

The seminar held at Campus VE Israel opened with presentations from Henri Starkman, Shaul Maoz, Yaki Yerushalmi, Arnon Fishbain and Shaul Maoz, the Veolia Environnement senior executives for the country.

The workshop sessions on the results and achievements of 2009 and on the plans and targets of Veolia Israel for 2010 were all coordinated by Arnon Fishbain. Conversations and in-depth discussions for each business sector were led and coordinated by the divisional directors: Ilan Ben-Simon (Veolia Environmental Services), Ronen Starkman (Veolia Energy), Moshe Lasker (Veolia Transport) and Yaakov Tsemah (Veolia Water).

Moshe Berger also gave an interesting presentation on Quality Department methods and procedures. Training was also high on the agenda. Campus VE Israel Training Coordinator Onit Gadasi spoke about the training outcomes achieved for Veolia Israel employees during the year, followed by a presentation setting out the proposed targets for 2010.

To top