Euronext is the leading pan-European market infrastructure
Through organic growth and acquisitions in recent years, it has transformed from a group of stock exchanges to a diversified business operating 7 national markets, and additional businesses that cover the entire trading value chain. It achieved its 2022 financial targets two years early and aims to grow further and leverage its scale, targeting revenue growth of 3-4% by 2024.
People are central to Euronext’s success and the executive team invests heavily in innovation, collaboration and knowledge-sharing across the different businesses. Euronext is diverse by nature, with 55 nationalities across 18 countries, and its strategic plan, ‘Growth for Impact 2024’, puts investment, time and considerable
momentum behind the idea of empowering all staff to grow, perform and innovate together. The company aims for a genuinely inclusive culture, embedded in its federal model which brings together financial marketplaces and businesses across Europe.
This ambition came into sharp focus in 2021 when Euronext completed its largest acquisition to date – the €4.4 billion purchase of Borsa Italiana – made up of 5 acquired companies, including employees to be housed in the London representative office.
On top of this, Covid had hit.
Key Numbers
9
Workshops, delivered virtually
4
Week programme
55
Attendees reached in one day
65%
Of attendees attended all three workshops
How would the London HR team inspire new colleagues from Borsa Italiana with the Euronext collaborative spirit, with the added complication of Covid?
When Euronext acquired the Borsa Italiana Group, the number of employees at the Euronext London almost doubled. A larger team meant a new and larger office space just as everyone had spent more than a year working remotely.
More people, more space and a hybrid working environment created a huge challenge and raised the pressure to new levels for the London HR team, led by HR Director Sophie Bishop. Sophie’s team were already recognised for their effectiveness in creating a welcoming culture that brought employees together. But what was the best way to integrate a totally new team and enable existing colleagues to re-connect and forge new relationships in a virtual working environment?
"The workshops created the space for our colleagues to connect and exchange ideas, which led to us implementing tangible collaboration and integration initiatives. The programme was a key success factor to resetting our culture."
SOPHIE BISHOP, HR DIRECTOR, UK & US, Euronext
This is where Bracket came in: relaunching a ‘culture journey’
Our initial research with Sophie and team identified that whilst the management team championed collaboration, there was potential to provide more tangible opportunities and practical know-how to help colleagues to work together effectively.
So we designed a culture programme delivered virtually over a one-month period.
Our series of interactive workshops helped to spark new collaborations with Borsa Italiana colleagues and rekindled the highly productive Euronext collaborative spirit with existing colleagues post-Covid. This provided a forum for them to build excitement and knowledge about the acquisition as well as explore specific ways to share knowledge and best practices across the businesses.
Initiatives that were accelerated by the programme
Bi-monthly schedule of lunch-and-learns
A practical collaboration guide for colleagues
A collaborative email list for shared problem-solving
Launch of culture champions group
New cross-team brainstorming events