Ubisoft 2008 Annual Report Download - page 68

66
UBISOFTANNUAL REPORT 2009
A friendly workplace
Ubisoft is committed to maintaining close-knit teams by favoring structures built to a human scale wherever possible. 85% of
sites have less than 200 employees; managers are available to their teams and HR heads in close contact with daily operations.
Locally, and in particular on sites undergoing rapid expansion, initiatives have been introduced to facilitate contact between team
members. As just one example, staff can attend presentations given by in-house experts or take the opportunity to discuss issues
with their site manager at informal breakfasts.
More broadly, the open nature of the work environment remains a cornerstone of the corporate culture, as expressed by 94% of
employees in the most recent internal survey.
Autonomy and initiative on a personal level
Employees enjoy signicant autonomy in their work, as demonstrated by the results of the most recent internal survey in which
91% reported that they are able to take initiative in their daily work.
The working methods that Ubisoft has implemented strongly encourage employee involvement. Production methods are constantly
evolving and guarantee a work environment that encourages experimentation, innovative ideas, initiative and empowerment of
teams at all levels.
1.1.4.1.2.2 Empowering employees by offering a personal framework
Skill development: a strategic focus
In a sector where innovation is relentless, staying on top of technological advances and developing expertise are key. Naturally,
all forms of training are a top priority.
Video gaming is a relatively new business, and up-to-date and tailored training courses are widespread within the group,
and complement the on-the-job training that all teams receive.
Training programs are mainly organized on a local level, and are occasionally organized internationally for certain areas of
expertise. Excluding on-the-job training, the training programs offered in nancial year 2008-09 can be summarized as follows:
1. The budget allocated to training (excluding salaries) amounted to €2,672 thousand over the period.
2. 10,301 days of training were provided within the Group, representing an annual average of two days per employee.
3. The majority of this training dealt with the technical skills required for production work (52.5%), management training (13.5%)
and English and French language training (17%).
Training also takes place on-the-job through exchanges between teams. The Group is committed to creating an environment that
enables and encourages the sharing of skills:
• Open forums and business-specic databases continue to be developed and structured. Their goal is to facilitate collaboration,
organization and the sharing of key information related to teams, projects, business lines and sites, etc. The Group Portal is a
gateway to business resources and a platform for the exchange of information and best practices with peers.
• A Group training portal with access to e-learning tools allows people to develop their skills and knowledge. On this site, employees
are invited to share documents and videos they feel may be of interest to other employees.
• The use of technologies or applications that facilitate exchanges is promoted, such as instant messaging, web conferencing and
the use of video as a communication medium.
• Integration and sponsorship programs for new employees are available in most subsidiaries. These allow new recruits to learn
about the Group’s fundamental business methods in real time.