We care: will you join?

When I was 16, I spent three years in Turkey and I found that there is one aspect of Turkish culture that is very similar to that of Sicily, where I was born, and to other Mediterranean places: if you are a guest, you are king. Your hosts will do the impossible to make sure you are comfortable and enjoy your stay. This is also reflected in the way they sell: if you walk the shop-lined streets of the old city, the shopkeepers will stand in their doorways and call “Buyrun,” which means you are welcome to come in. If you are not looking to buy anything, you just keep walking, but if you are looking for something, this approach really makes you feel good. Once you are in the shop, you get your ?ay (a glass of tea) while the host explains why his items are the best choice for you. Once you find what you were looking for, bargaining on the price starts. Usually the starting price is way too high, but you know that and this is all part of the ceremony. At the end you’ll find the right price and both sides will be happy. The point is that the whole experience makes you feel good, which is this nice aspect of Mediterranean culture.

I like making people feel good and value their culture and diversity, which brings an incredible richness to all. One of the reasons I spent so many years at Capgemini (in January, it will be 24) is that I found a company culture that fit with these values. And one of the key aspects is that we care about people.

And when you care you get the best, because people feel good and are happy to contribute.

I like thinking that our global SAP practice is a great example of a team that shows this care. You may think I’m a bit biased, but there are a few facts that support my bias:

-?????????In the last four years, we have grown our overall SAP business and practice by about 50% and we now have close to 25,000 individuals in what is one of the largest SAP practices in the world.

-?????????In the same period, our SAP certifications grew by 400% and, and for the past two years, ?we’ve been the global SAP partner with the largest number of certifications (more than 15,000), even if we are not the largest practice. That means we invest in training and certifications more than anyone else.

-?????????SAP has recognized this by granting us the Pinnacle Award for learning excellence.

-?????????Major analysts such as Gartner rank us as the Leaders for SAP services.

And, there is a lot more that explains why we care:

-?????????We value diversity and have a global initiative called Women@SAP (part of a larger initiative called Women@Capgemini) to support the development of talented women, who are still not present enough in our industry.

-?????????We contribute to the commitment of our board to sustainability and to WEF’s Trillion Trees Movement by combining our certification program with a tree plantation initiative: each individual who earns a SAP certification will have a tree planted in India with his/her name.

-?????????Our main clients are large global enterprises, so each member of our SAP practice can work in global programs in teams with people from multiple countries, so to take full advantage of the collective knowledge.

-?????????SAP and Digital Core are strategic priorities for our Group and we keep investing in innovation, building solutions that leverage the best of breed technologies to help our clients excel in the market.

Many colleagues who have left are rejoining and I like to think that one of the reasons is that they miss this care.

We are hiring in all 40 countries of our SAP practice, so I just have a final word for you – “Buyrun!”