Regulatory News:
Teleperformance (Paris:TEP):
COVID-19 is now hitting hard worldwide and has become an unprecedented global business disrupter, forcing many countries to implement country-wide lockdowns and travel bans. In these extraordinary times, Teleperformance’s priority is to ensure safety for employees, support communities and most vulnerable people. The group continues its efforts to guarantee business continuity in order to provide critical services to many essential clients’ businesses. Teleperformance is today fully engaged to fight against all the consequences of the pandemic.
Teleperformance Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Julien said: “At a time of such great human vulnerability, nothing is more important than the safety of our people. The Group is following guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) and applicable local government agencies. We are implementing internal policies that even go beyond these recommendations in many cases. In this unique context, our group is engaging closely with our clients to ensure they are supported, and we remain committed to keeping our employees, partners, and communities healthy and safe. We recognize and are deeply grateful for the incredible dedication of all our employees worldwide who are performing their jobs with high levels of professionalism during this extraordinary time. Our Group is agile and benefits from a solid financial situation and I am confident about the way-out of this crisis and its future.”
A dedicated and efficient organization
Teleperformance has been proactively preparing for the possible spread beyond China since January, and immediately responded with steps to mitigate the threat posed to its employees, business operations for clients, and the cascading economic impact and implications for the wider society. As a result, the Teleperformance Global Business Continuity Model is now implemented worldwide. A global COVID-19 Crisis Committee has been established to closely monitor pandemic-related developments, inform and support key decision-makers, and coordinate rapid response efforts. The Crisis Committee is supported by daily Crisis Executive team calls and weekly executive virtual committee comprising top 22 leaders of the company.
Strong development of Work At Home
Allowing business continuity for clients and making operational sites compliant with social distancing rules, Teleperformance has implemented many emergency responses such as transitioning interaction experts to work-at-home, applying alternative delivery plans, and leveraging digital solutions. Home-based interaction experts have been notably activated within weeks of enacting initial safety measures, in compliance with security standards and certifications. As of today, Teleperformance has deployed around 120,000 interaction experts on a work-at-home model, which represents nearly 50% of the production force. Efforts to further expand this number will continue and the Group targets to achieve 66% by mid-April.
A key role for economies worldwide in crisis period
Around the world, Teleperformance teams have worked tirelessly to protect the health and well-being of all employees, while ensuring business continuity for clients. Teleperformance employees are on the front lines, providing critical customer-facing and back-office services to many essential businesses in industries such as healthcare, finance and banking, food and beverage, communications, transportation and logistics, information technology, energy, utilities, and governments. During the outbreak, Teleperformance is also responsible for supporting many emergency lines of local government around the world.
Recognition in employee safety
The health and safety of our employees is a top priority for Teleperformance, so the company has mandated a strict Safety and Hygiene Policy worldwide, with daily oversight by a dedicated central team to ensure:
- Adherence to guidelines and recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and close collaboration with local governments and officials.
- Social distancing policies following recommendations from the World Health Organization.
- Frequent and reinforced cleaning of facilities with disinfection products.
- Adequate availability of supplies such as hand sanitizers and, if recommended by the World Health Organization, masks.
- Everyone entering a Teleperformance facility is screened for elevated body temperatures.
- The implementation of a strict “no travel” policy.
The group has already secured the order of 6.3 million of masks to be delivered on all sites across the world; thus one mask per employee per day for one month working in a brick-and-mortar environment.
Frequent employee communications and updates are delivered through several communication channels, including a weekly CEO address to all staff and weekly interaction with top 100 leaders <45 years-old to be an additional force of change on the ground.
Teleperformance practices, ensuring safety in its European campuses, have been recognized by the European Company Works Council (ECWC), who acted as Independent employee representatives to review individual Teleperformance operating company’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stephan Sielemann, Secretary of the European Company Works Council (ECWC) has declared in an official letter: “Teleperformance is, wherever possible, making sure that, our people, our jobs and our entire TP family are protected from the worst effects of this devastating virus. Information gathered by our ECWC members across Europe confirms that Teleperformance management, IT teams, and staff are working together to keep us all safe.”
Strongly recognized for employee engagement and CSR practice
Taking care of our employees has always been a top priority at Teleperformance including offering physical and mental health awareness programs. In 2019 alone, the Group received 22 acknowledgements by Great Place to Work and KINCENTRIC Best Employer, encompassing 70% of our total workforce. Teleperformance is also a long-standing participant in the UN’s Global Compact Initiatives to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies.
In March 2020, Teleperformance was approved at “GC Advanced” level for the quality of its CSR documentation by the UN Global Compact, to which it has been a signatory since 2011. This is the highest level of distinction from the United Nations Global Compact. The group thus enters the closed club “Club GC Advanced”.
In 2019, for the sixth year in a row, Verego awarded Teleperformance the SRS (Social Responsibility Standard) certification for all its sites. This certification provides a comprehensive framework for the effective management of social responsibility initiatives. Verego SRS certification is awarded to companies that stand out through the excellence of their policies and practices in five key areas: leadership, ethics, people, community and the environment. Teleperformance has obtained Group-wide certification in all five of these areas, covering all sites worldwide.
Charity and solidarity achievements: a force of good
As one of the largest employers in most of its operating regions, Teleperformance is committed to creating a positive impact on local economies and more generally on people’s lives. In the current crisis, the group is supporting communities to help the most vulnerable people, making them safer and healthier. As for examples:
– In Tunisia, Teleperformance brought its expertise and resources to help local medical emergency services (SAMU), by implementing a team of interaction experts on site ready to address emergency requests from patients;
– In the US, Teleperformance has been partnering with Feed the Children since 2006 by regular donations and exceptional ones during this crisis. Feed the Children is taking action to ensure neighbors aren’t forgotten, by supplying community partners (like food pantries and soup kitchens) with the bulk items they need to help people. Work is dramatically increasing during this time of crisis.
Reinforced financial liquidity
Teleperformance is in the process of securing additional credit lines for above €700 million, on the top of undrawn facilities for €500 million available right now, to allow the group to cope with crisis contingencies.
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About Teleperformance Group
Teleperformance (TEP – ISIN: FR0000051807 – Reuters: TEPRF.PA – Bloomberg: TEP FP), a leading global group in digitally integrated business services, serves as a strategic partner to the world’s largest companies in many industries. It offers a One Office support services model combining three wide, high-value solution families: customer experience management, back-office services and business process knowledge services. These end-to-end digital solutions guarantee successful customer interaction and optimized business processes, anchored in a unique, comprehensive high tech, high touch approach. The Group’s 331,000 employees, based in 80 countries, support billions of connections every year in over 265 languages and 170 markets, in a shared commitment to excellence as part of the “Simpler, Faster, Safer” process. This mission is supported by the use of reliable, flexible, intelligent technological solutions and compliance with the industry’s highest security and quality standards, based on Corporate Social Responsibility excellence. In 2019, Teleperformance reported consolidated revenue of €5,355 million (US$ 6 billion, based on €1 = $1.12) and net profit of €400 million.
Teleperformance shares are traded on the Euronext Paris market, Compartment A, and are eligible for the deferred settlement service. They are included in the following indices: CAC Large 60, CAC Next 20, CAC Support Services, STOXX 600, SBF 120, S&P Europe 350 and MSCI Global Standard. They have also been included in the Euronext Vigeo Eurozone 120 index since December 2015 and the FTSE4Good Index since June 2018 with regard to the Group’s performance in corporate responsibility.
For more information: www.teleperformance.com
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