Champittet n°2 of the Best Employers by BILAN Magazine

Champittet n°2 of the Best Employers by BILAN Magazine Competing with EHL is a great challenge that we take up every year with confidence and courage. We are very proud to be getting closer and closer to the undisputed number one!

Competing with EHL is a great challenge that we take up every year with confidence and courage. We are very proud to be getting closer and closer to the undisputed number one!

This year we obtained 668.5 points against 683 for the EHL (24.5 points difference against 65 points last year).

Serge Guertchakoff, editor-in-chief of Bilan magazine, underlined our excellent performance as we also obtained 100 points more than the 3rd-placed school: Le Collège du Léman and Sommet Education.

In the general ranking we are 16th ahead of Philip Morris!

This year our philosophy has been, even more, to be very close to our employees and to focus on small intentions to maintain a good morale within our teams and to reinforce our culture.

The complicated conditions of Covid-19 led us to take many measures directly related to this health crisis.

By mid-March, our school was closed and most of our teachers and non-teaching staff were working from home, which led us to focus on:

BUILDING ICT SKILLS

Our teachers have all been working with MacBook’s since 2012.

They underwent 3 weeks of additional training with our IT team before the closure of our College (including the use of the TEAMS platform) so that they are fully prepared to teach at a distance.

Our traditional pedagogical days in October and August 2020 were also dedicated to strengthening Information & Communication Technologies skills.

WE TAKE GREAT CARE OF OUR EMPLOYEES

We drew up a list of employees at risk and prepared them psychologically to stay at home to work.

We set up a monitoring team for all employees: the HR team and the school nurse called the employees every day and kept a record.

For some who were going through a difficult personal situation we sent flowers or had cakes delivered.

During the lockdown, our cafeteria was closed but a dozen staff continued to come to work at the Collège. Help was organised to order food or take turns cooking for those who were present.

The Nord Anglia Education Group, to which we belong, also provided an international helpline for staff.

Unfortunately, some of our staff lost relatives (some of whom were living abroad).

As soon as the pandemic started, we decided to extend the 'bereavement leave' to 5 days so that everyone could have a decent burial. We also granted long unpaid leave to those who wished to be with their loved ones in their final moments.

For some of our employees, we took up the RHT (furlough) and decided to compensate the 20% that was not financed by the canton.

MAINTAINING A GOOD MOOD

Respecting all the "barrier" gestures, we organised a morning of team building outside with all the employees. Doug Manuel and his djembe players were there to energise us and encourage us to work in the same direction.

As we were unable to organise the traditional Family Day and Christmas Party, the HR department organised a forward calendar which lasted for a month before Christmas.

Videos were made with employees dressed up and asking a Christmas-themed question each day. There were some very nice prizes to be won. Many employees were looking forward to the question of the day!

During the month of December, twice a week, Christmas treats were offered to the employees as well as chocolates from the chocolate maker Tristan on the eve of the holidays.

BEING AT THE HEART OF NATURE

The COVID 19 context also made us realise how lucky we were to have a large park, to be located by the lake and to be able to further develop our and our students' connection to nature.

We launched the Forest School concept and built 3 classrooms in the forest. These new areas with tables, benches and stools are also used by our staff.

Our teachers have been trained to teach outside (Forest School programs offered by the UNIGE and the Salviva organisation).

In parallel to the Forest School, our teachers at the Pully and Nyon campuses, together with their students, have dedicated themselves to developing gardening activities.

With our new School Principal of the Nyon campus, we have initiated individual coaching sessions (Walk & Talk).

The school nurse also proposed to the staff a walking activity by the lake early in the morning before starting work.

FOCUS ON EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION

We have appointed one of our staff members, Mary Mayenfisch Tobin, as our 'Champion' for equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Mary has set up a committee which meets regularly to take these issues forward by raising awareness among teachers, their students, and all staff.

I would like to warmly thank Mr. de Korodi, Director General, who has encouraged us to do even more to improve working conditions within the School, the Human Resources team: Alexandre and Olivia who, despite the difficult circumstances linked to the pandemic, have shown resilience and have been able to stay on course, our Management Committee who have stood by us through good times and bad, the Nord Anglia Education Group who also support our continuous improvement process.

I would also like to extend my warmest thanks to Patrizia who joined our team with ease at the beginning of the year and put her heart and soul into completing the Bilan magazine questionnaire.

Agnès Gabirout 
Human Resources Director