Condemned, the trial period?
Within the Saur group, yes, since this water treatment specialist has quite simply decided to abolish it, at the instigation of its HR Director Xavier Savigny.
"We realized that we could not recruit certain profiles already in place, who did not want to embark on a new activity because of the imposed trial period", explains the group's HR Director. French with 12,000 employees worldwide.
In March, the company decided that new hires would no longer be subject to these test periods, which can last for several months.
Not required by the Labor Code
She hesitated at first, thinking that this measure would not be legal.
"If nobody does, it must be compulsory," thought Xavier Savigny.
Quickly settled question: this step is in no way imposed by the Labor Code, which in its article L 122-19 simply stipulates that "the employment contract of indefinite duration may include a trial period".
The green light from lawyers and management obtained, human resources explored the issue before taking the plunge to overcome this recruitment stage which, according to Xavier Savigny, "prevents full commitment because trust does not" is not optimal ”.
Removing it “empowers the hiring manager and the manager, whose role is reinforced,” he continues.
It pushes them to be more sure to make the right choice of candidates ”.
To do this, Saur first carried out an overhaul of its recruitment process.
“We have redefined the needs, with the aim of better formalizing the position, ensuring that everyone understands the desired profile and its scope, all accompanied by regular monitoring.
Saur has also gone through the digitalization box with a more efficient IT tool.
As a result, the group claims to have reduced the length of recruitment by 10% and above all to benefit from “superior selection quality and stronger engagement”.
A "more constructive" relationship
Very quickly satisfied with his innovation, Saur ended the test phase and recruited more than 1,000 candidates in this way since March.
On a permanent contract since April as a sales engineer, Mehmet-Akif Toker should have been on the verge of completing his second three-month trial period.
Instead, he takes his steps in the business "without the stress of that sword of Damocles."
And to estimate "to project myself more on what I can bring, to work on the long term".
Not to mention the manager-managed relationship, "more constructive".
According to Xavier Savigny, the end of this stage is not more risky for the candidate "who, in any case, was considered to have resigned when he unilaterally ended the trial period".