Case study: Team-building & CSR, a perfect match for today and the future
The sales department at Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer wanted to organise a CSR team-building experience for its members, aligned with the positioning of its group offering, the company’s values and its clients’ expectations. What did it come up with? A low-carbon event held in March 2024. Alexandre Cognet, Sales Director, talks about how he wanted to gather his teams and unite them with a shared purpose, while raising their awareness of Société des Bains de Mer’s ecological approach. The aim was for them to advise better the event organisers on their future programmes.
What drives a team-building event?
Alexandre Cognet: The primary objective is to create ties between team members. With the rise of smart working and the distance between employees, there are fewer opportunities to forge links with colleagues. That’s why we wanted to bring together all of Société des Bains de Mer’s sales teams, to create momentum, strengthen the team spirit and encourage them to work together.
The theme of the team-building day held in March 2024 was corporate social responsibility. How was it designed?
Alexandre Cognet: We had the idea of organising an event in our own geographical area to limit the impact of our employees’ journeys while showcasing Monaco and its surrounding area. The Principality as a destination has been very committed to sustainability and CSR for a very long time, as has Société des Bains de Mer. We therefore chose a certified local event management partner, Raising Stones, to organise the event, with its Act for Heritage project, which represents corporate, environmental, and entrepreneurial CSR commitments.
What did the day include?
Alexandre Cognet: It was a discovery of natural and historical sites with social, environmental, and societal commitments. In an electric Mehari, participants travelled around the Principality with challenges to complete at each stop. These covered topics including protecting the oceans (collecting objects washed up by the sea to guide their fellow team members in a race), plants and flowers (a challenge organised at a natural site surrounded by pine trees to raise awareness of the risks of wildfires and the importance of butterflies), and children (a Lego© speed challenge, with the toys used being donated to children in hospital). Each challenge included concrete actions and at each location, participants completed their itinerary before moving on to the next location. It was a mini-Olympics in the form of an orienteering race!
How did this event promote some of Société des Bains de Mer’s values?
Alexandre Cognet: With our partner, we organised a refreshment break with treats made from locally-sourced ingredients with high environmental and/or social value. Here are a few examples: The cakes were made by an association that helps disabled people back into society. Strawberries were supplied by a local producer in Carros. Locally-made zero-alcohol beers were provided by a company that funds a foundation for disadvantaged children.
At the end of the day, we went to the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort, which is truly iconic at Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer, with its commitment and a Green Globe Platinum status (obtained ten years ago). Michelin-starred chef Marcel Ravin is implementing a number of CSR initiatives at the hotel, which has a solar power plant and its own vegetable garden. It was therefore natural that this exceptional venue should host the final event of this day dedicated to raising employees’ awareness of social, societal and environmental issues.
How is this increased awareness reflected in your team’s work?
Alexandre Cognet: The experience was invaluable. When our clients in the events sector want to organise a team-building session or seminar on these topics, our staff can now provide them with concrete information and enhance their programme. So, this approach makes sense both from an individual point of view, by raising awareness of major socio-environmental issues, and from a professional point of view.
How is CSR currently permeating SBM’s events offering?
Alexandre Cognet: The idea is to go further and further. Like with this team-building event, where we chose to use electric vehicles and offer our employees a refreshment break with local produce and social benefits by serving fair trade coffee and fresh fruit picked in Menton... In all our services, we strive to offer team-building activities that raise awareness of CSR issues but also have a positive impact on our local area. Our aim is to work with local partners, associations and foundations to organise tailor-made events that bring people together to focus on these major social issues. And while Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer has been cultivating its commitment for a long time, we are seeing a positive impact in terms of promoting the message. Since the pandemic, the issues of water, global warming and the ecological crisis have taken on much greater resonance: they concern everyone. For example, considering the impact of a B2B event is much more important than it used to be.
How are Monaco and Société des Bains de Mer responding to the socio-environmental impact of events?
Alexandre Cognet: Because of the importance of tourism in Monaco’s GDP and our own shareholders, we have historically been closely bound to the Principality in terms of preserving the local architectural and cultural heritage, as well as in the construction of new buildings with leading environmental standards and sustainability in mind. In our restaurants, the commitment of our chefs in selecting their produce and involving local producers is unquestionable. Our events offering is an extension of this approach, and we now have a carbon calculator that shows how we can reduce an event’s carbon footprint and how to offset any residual carbon emissions by taking positive, local action.
So, for a company looking to organise a low-impact event, Monaco is the destination of choice...
Alexandre Cognet: All European companies have a clear objective and are audited for their environmental impact. Our offering in Monaco is unique: we are one of the few destinations able to offer corporate events with a minor environmental impact. What’s more, every event organised in Monaco has a positive impact as tourism is essential to our development. CSR is one of the pillars of Société des Bains de Mer, and this is reflected in our services. From choosing to give priority to plant-based proteins for a seminar lunch to organising a team-building activity on a sailing boat rather than a motorboat, and our contacts with local partners who are committed to society, we can help our clients in all these areas and help to legitimise their events in terms of sustainability... and meaning.
