At ISCOM Paris, students from the International Communication specialisation who are taking the CSR major, recently worked on a mission on Employer Branding for Norwegian power company Statkraft, Europe's largest renewable energy producer.
Founded in 1895, Statkraft develops, builds and operates hydro, wind, solar, gas and biomass assets globally and trades in energy in more than 20 countries and 13 Energy Exchanges. They also develop green hydrogen, green data centres and electric vehicle charging stations amongst other initiatives. They employ over 5000 people across 21 countries.
Over a period of 5 days from Monday to Friday, our students had to carry out a benchmark, develop an approach to gather employee insights and conceive an employee engagement communications plan to attract, federate and retain talent for the company, deciding whether to use the company's Norwegian heritage and DNA as a strategic lever.
The student teams presented their final recommendations to Head of Communications, Public Affairs and Marketing France Glaïeul Mamaghani and Hilde Jensen, Head of HR, France & Southern Europe.
Glaïeul Mamaghani: “We were delighted to participate in this ISCOM challenge on Employer Branding! Decarbonizing our future also involves the transmission of knowledge to all professions and ISCOM students demonstrated commitment, creativity, and motivation on our topics.”
This experience allowed our students to learn more about the renewable energy sector and enabled them to apply their knowledge of internal and external communication strategies to imagine this Employer Branding campaign, an essential element to any company's global communication strategy in 2024 and beyond.
CSR expertise is more and more in demand in the Communication and Marketing sector and this major in the International program was especially created to align with the needs of the job market, preparing our students to be fully operational specialists in CSR.
Over the course of their 5th and final year, on top of their lessons on International Communication and Management, they study CSR & Ethics, Internal Communication Strategies, Employee Engagement, CSR case studies, CSR as a marketing tool as well as Reimagining business: Degrowth strategies, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: from supply chain to end consumer. They also have 2 dedicated seminars on CSR topics.
Many recent studies have shown just how essential it is for companies to implement concrete CSR actions.
In the B2C sector, consumers are more likely to remain loyal to a Brand that is socially responsible, and these actions can have many positive effects on Brand image and reputation as well as attracting investors.
According to the PDI Business of Sustainability Index, “Gen Z is more concerned about the environmental impact of their purchases than any other generation. According to the report, 91% of Gen Z say they want to buy from sustainable companies. In fact, 77% of Gen Z is willing to pay more for sustainable products and services”.
But it’s not only Gen Z who wants to see Brands engage in responsible practices but consumers in general with a “Gen-Z mindset”, i.e., those who are savvy to greenwashing and are ready to vote with their wallet when it comes to choosing sustainable Brands to purchase and remain loyal to.
Consumers want transparency and authenticity from the production line, to the way Brands present themselves online, and all the way to the shop floor.
Having CSR policies is no longer an option for companies, it must be part of their core business strategy, if not, they are going to lose out, and lose out big in the long term. By educating our students on these most essential issues, ISCOM hopes to train communication professionals who will be leading the charge on these highly strategic questions in the future, both changing mindsets and driving change.