People Review and Managerial Feedback on Elevo: Labeyrie Fine Foods shares its experience

Labeyrie Fine Foods is a French agri-food group that owns renowned brands such as Labeyrie, Blini, Atelier Blini, Delpierre, and Père Olive. The Group currently employs 3,500 employees across 14 production sites in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Within the HR team at Labeyrie Fine Foods, Sophie Bourrut Lacouture serves as Director of People and Organizational Development. Her main responsibilities include:

• Leading People Reviews,

• Overseeing the managerial cycle,

• Ensuring the effective implementation of the Group's managerial program, which involves no fewer than 400 managers. 

In 2020, the Group's HR team decided to adopt Elevo to manage its various review cycles. ”Our previous HRIS was no longer suited to our organization or to the processes we had in place”, explains Sophie Bourrut Lacouture.

The transition was well received by both the HR team and employees alike ”Switching to Elevo was like night and day, a much more intuitive, modern, and flexible tool", says the Director of People and Organizational Development.

People Reviews at Labeyrie Fine Foods

Redesigning the process and adopting Elevo

“We first switched tools for performance reviews, and later for People Reviews once the feature became available on Elevo. For us, there was no value in using multiple HR tools. At that point, our People Review process had become outdated and confusing internally. It wasn't a traditional 9-box grid, it had 20 boxes, which made it hard for employees to understand where they stood. Our priority was to simplify the process first, and then update the tool.”
- Sophie Bourrut Lacouture, Director of People and Organizational Development

This change was very well received by employees across the Group.

“The feedback was very positive, as managers were already familiar with Elevo. They approached the People Review with confidence and ease. Elevo is a user-friendly platform.”
-Sophie Bourrut Lacouture, Director of People and Organizational Development

The People Review Process

At Labeyrie Fine Foods, the People Review takes place once a year, prior to the annual performance review campaign, and covers 600 employees, including managers and sales teams.

This process serves as a strategic cornerstone for both business performance and employee development. It is designed to achieve several key objectives:

1°) Assess employees based on performance and potential, using clearly defined criteria

2°) Discuss career paths and growth opportunities

3°) Inform the creation of skills development plans

4°) Boost employee retention by offering long-term perspectives.

Every year in January, Sophie Bourrut Lacouture initiates the People Review process. It is structured around several key stages, detailed below.

After the People Review: Feedback and personal development planning

At Labeyrie Fine Foods, it is the manager's responsibility to share each employee's positioning during the annual performance review.

To support managers in this task, the HR team has developed a dedicated training module. It provides guidance on how to communicate positioning effectively, offering suggested language tailored to each employee's profile, along with recommended actions to support their development.

In addition, during the professional development review, each employee has the opportunity to discuss their personal development plan with their manager.

“Following the People Review and the positioning work, our ambition is to ensure that every employee has a tailored personal development plan, one that supports continuous growth and development. At Labeyrie Fine Foods, it is important to us that every employee experience a continuous learning journey.”
-Sophie Bourrut Lacouture, Director of People and Organizational Development

These development plans are supported by a 360° Feedback approach.

“360° Feedback is essential for our employees, as it helps them develop greater self-awareness and identify growth opportunities that directly inform their personal development plans. This feedback process is built around our leadership model. ”
- Sophie Bourrut Lacouture, Director of People and Organizational Development

The benefits of Elevo for Labeyrie Fine Foods

For Sophie Bourrut Lacouture, adopting Elevo's People Review product has brought numerous benefits, particularly in data analysis and performance management.

“Elevo has made things much simpler and allows me to synthesize all the data much more quickly. The visual mapping feature is also a real asset: it's even become a guide for us, as we can instantly see how consistent the positioning is across teams. It also enables us to analyze the skills and expertise within a team. Thanks to this, we can quickly manage both underperformance and high performance”
- Sophie Bourrut Lacouture, Director of People and Organizational Development

Two key figures from the 2023 cycle

What's next?

“For our 600 employees and managers, the People Review is now well integrated  and clearly understood. It has become a key, well-established process within Elevo. In 2024, we aim to go further by strengthening our work on succession planning and providing additional support to managers, particularly in debriefing the People Review and building effective support plans for their team members. ”
- Sophie Bourrut Lacouture, Director of People and Organizational Development

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Managerial Feedback

The process on Elevo

Once a year, alongside the annual performance reviews, the HR team launches a Managerial Feedback campaign on Elevo.

This process was introduced in response to employee demand.

“Employees felt that feedback only flowed one way. They often asked us: "When will we be able to evaluate our manager's leadership practices?” , explains Sophie Bourrut Lacouture.

During this campaign, each manager is evaluated by all of their direct reports on their management style, more specifically, on six key competencies that every manager is expected to demonstrate within their team. These six competencies were defined through a collaborative redesign process in 2021, involving volunteer employees and managers.

The evaluated manager does not have direct access to the results. Instead, their own manager (N+1) reviews the feedback in Elevo, and uses it to assess the managerial style of their direct report. Then, during the annual review, the N+1 shares and summarize the feedback with the evaluated manager.

The benefits of managerial feedback

“This managerial feedback exercise is the culmination of the year-round managerial cycle. For several years now, the Group has aimed to evolve our management practices by fostering greater proximity, transparency and dialogue. Employees have multiple opportunities throughout the year to share feedback with their manager. Thanks to this HR process, we've placed the manager - employee relationship back at the heart of the organization. Today, teams are very satisfied to have a voice in assessing their manager's leadership style and providing meaningful feedback.”
- Sophie Bourrut Lacouture, Director of People and Organizational Development

A final word on Elevo?

“Elevo is constantly evolving. You truly listen to your clients, and that's something we really appreciate on our side. It's one of the strengths of our relationship with Elevo. Marion, our Customer Success Manager, is always available and highly responsive. She listens to our suggestions for improvement and follows up with tailored, actionable responses. That's what really sets Elevo apart today: continuous agility, which is at the core of the strength of your solution."
- Sophie Bourrut Lacouture, Director of Human and Organizational Development