PEPS unleashed our employees’ creativity 42 I SOCIETE GENERALE 2013-2014 s part of a Bank 2.0 challenge, teams were asked to identify digital A opportunities within the Group, which resulted in a wealth of ideas being shared across our internal social network. “How can we use digital technology to create new client services and to rethink the way we work?” When the Corporate Resources and Innovation division asked Societe Generale employees this simple question, they flooded the Group’s internal social network, SG Communities, with creative responses. In fact, so many employees were drawn to this discussion that the number of platform users doubled in just six weeks. Taking advantage of our employees’ collective intelligence was the purpose behind a unique project called PEPS (“Collaborative, Inspirational and Experimental project”). At its peak, the initiative generated 30 to 40 ideas per day and was supported by fully viral communication and 40 volunteer moderators/managers. Within a week, some ideas already had more than five co-authors. When the challenge ended a month later, employees in 19 countries had formulated over 1,000 ideas, which were then put to a vote on SG Communities. The 16,000 votes submitted helped shape key proposals for each theme explored (i.e., clients, teamwork and technology). The areas for innovation that received the most votes included paperless communication and online payments, peer production and/or telecommuting and the use of biometrics for reliable, simplified identification. VALÉRIE VERCOUTRE HEAD OF GROUP OBSERVATORY OF INNOVATION 1,000 ideas in one month more than After this successful Groupwide brainstorming session, Societe Generale moved onto the next phase: putting all these ideas into action. In certain areas, such as online payments, several initiatives are already underway. For others, we are in the test stage, as is the case for the first telecommuting pilot project launched in France in 2013. “PEPS unleashed our employees’ creativity, but it’s not enough to simply generate ideas,” said Valérie Vercoutre, Head of Societe Generale’s Group Observatory of Innovation and member of the PEPS team. “Our focus now is on talking about existing projects and establishing links with PEPS ideas. Sharing information is crucial to ensure that a big data project in New York inspires another team in another entity.” A mobile app, iBridge, was launched to serve as a directory for the Group’s digital innovations and their concrete applications. It was developed in a cost-effective manner by a small team of four employees in Montreal, Paris and Bangalore. ■
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