Seven bags for seven Capgemini values!
Blog: Capgemini CTO Blog
On December 6, in families across Poland and much of Western Europe, there’s a tradition that Santa Claus visits children that have been good throughout the year. The tradition goes that he leaves a present under their pillows, while children who have behaved badly may find a twig or a piece of coal under their pillows.
At Capgemini Poland, we also make sure that Saint Nicholas visits our centers every year, bringing a well-thought out, locally made, sustainable gift to say a “responsible thank you” to our employees. From a business perspective, it’s a way for us to engage the local community and give something back.
Bags of value, bags of commitment
On the morning of December 6, 2016, over 6,000 people went to work to find a hand-made, felt Santa Claus sack on his or her desk, produced by over 200 people with learning difficulties who had been working to make them since August – and yes, we start thinking about Christmas in August.
A year later, we took the idea even further. With the involvement of our partner NGOs, we created a limited edition set of seven bags. Each of these seven bags features an artistic interpretation of one of Capgemini’s seven values drawn by children from our NGO partners across Poland, who entered our competition. Again, our people arrived at work on December 6, 2017, to find one of these bags on their desk.
As well as being made with natural fibers, the bags are purposely spacious, making them extremely practical. The printing method we used was durable, which means they can be washed and reused over and over again. However, while the logo of each NGO is printed alongside the Capgemini logo, it’s the actual Capgemini values that stand out the most on the bags!
Summarizing the value the project brings to Capgemini, Ros Haith (European/APAC Sales Leader, Capgemini’s Business Services) said: “Our values are at the very heart of Capgemini – values by which we all live and work each and every day. Our CR&S commitments to the communities we support are also a core part of who we are. This commitment is epitomized by our ‘Seven bags for seven values’ project.”
Local NGOs, local people
Each bag represents a different NGO from each of the various cities in Poland in which Capgemini operates. So not only did we choose the best picture representing each value, but we also had to make sure they were from a different NGO to ensure that every Capgemini location had a drawing created by a child from their local NGO on one of the bags.
The bags are proving to be a hit not only among our own people, but also with our clients, and are often present when our sales teams host clients at our centers. The concept is also being adopted by our teams in Guatemala and India, and we’re looking forward to seeing how the children of our NGO partners in these countries interpret Capgemini’s values in an artistic way!
“This project has resonated so much with prospective clients that we have already started to roll it out to our other Business Services centers across the globe,” said Ros. “It’s a simple game-changing initiative that all our clients can be a part of, and demonstrates our common culture across the globe and just how much we live and breathe our values.”
Now that autumn is truly upon us and thoughts start turning towards Christmas, spend a minute thinking of ways in which how you could say a responsible thank you to your people – whether it be your employees, suppliers, or family.
To learn more about Capgemini Poland’s “seven bags for seven values” project, and our other Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CR&S) projects, contact: karolina.a.dlugosz@capgemini.com
Learn more about Capgemini’s CR&S approach, including how we believe corporate responsibility and sustainability deliver added value to our clients, employees, shareholders, business partners, and the communities in which we live and operate.
Karolina Dlugosz works to bring together business and NGOs. Having gained experience working for in the NGO sector, Karolina moved into business to cooperate with all three sectors – non profits, public, and business institutions. Since 2011, Karolina has led a disability inclusion program “Win with Capgemini” together collaborating with the Managers of The Future Foundation (MOFFIN).
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