Our series of interviews with decision-makers on the strategic priorities of companies and their transformation challenges in an uncertain context It continues with Damien Joannes, General Director of Ulys, who testifies ongoing transformations within the industrial group and the importance of collective intelligence.
A subsidiary of VINCI Autoroutes, the company Ulys is one European leader in mobility services. Known for its toll-charging badges, the company connects its customers to mobility infrastructure, primarily highways but also parking lots, electric charging stations, and gas stations in the future… The company relies on the talents of 400 employees serving 6 million users.
How do you identify and assess the major challenges Ulys faces in an uncertain context?
D.J. In a world that is changing, more and more profoundly, more and more rapidly, a company, in order to be sustainable and connected to the markets in which it operates, must incorporate this component of uncertainty into its DNA, its processes, and its way of operating.
For Ulys today, this uncertainty is less linked to major global, climatic, and geopolitical changes («polycrises») than to the evolution of an activity that is essentially French and centered around asset, The highway, whose impacts are permanent by nature.
On the other hand, it is certain that we are affected by a number of external factors. The first of these is a change in the competitive landscape, Changes in the market, new entrants who are entering our main market with different logics regarding services, prices, and how to operate…
So that’s the first thing we look at very carefully through competitive watch processes, strategic analysis processes, and market evolution processes.
What challenges do you identify in your services, and what are the factors of change that are affecting them?
D.J. The difficulty of Ulysses is that we are on broadly defined mobility services that each respond to their own market logic. In a very concrete way, Ulys is about parking, electric vehicles and teleprepayment, but the electric vehicle market has dynamics and logics that are very different from those of teleprepayment.
We see it with only one prism: that of Simplification for the end user. But in practice, the answer will be different depending on the market in which we are positioned!
On the market of telephoning, We must prepare for a competitive opening, following a change of Legislative framework driven by a European directive.
In the market of electric recharge, For electric vehicles, a number of important difficulties must be faced:
- The first difficulty is that it is a A market that is not yet fully developed, Therefore, Ultra changeable, In this environment, it is necessary to invest in order to position oneself coherently and legitimately, while anticipating the unpredictable market developments to ensure the relevance of this long-term positioning.
- The second difficulty is the competitive landscape of this market that is very open, It is therefore difficult to assess its developments due to the diversity of its actors: energy companies such as EDF, groups such as Total Énergie, automobile manufacturers offering charging cards, and industrial companies installing charging points… Each actor has different logics and market dynamics.
How do you ensure that you remain agile and adaptable while preserving your DNA and values?
D.J. It’s complicated.
Change should not be seen as a constraint, but as an opportunity to integrate the fact that the world is constantly changing and that we need a constant capacity for adaptation.
Like a large ship, the more complex and large the organization is, the more complicated it is to turn around and maneuver. The strategy we have adopted is as follows:
⬜ We first defined a vision and a long-term ambition which is clear, well understood and communicated internally and externally. It is our compass : freeing our customers from the constraints of mobility by interconnecting mobility infrastructures and customers.
⬜ Then, to fix and adjust the course, a 3-year plan, and updated every year, which defines as many steps towards our mission. Every year, we adjust the financial trajectory, the levers of growth, and the « enablers » which we need to achieve these levers and our mission.
⬜ We also have annual meetings which take the form of « Budgets » colored with a strategic thinking which are all sub-steps of our grand three-year plan.
⬜ Finally, to ensure the proper implementation of the strategic plan, we have deployed the OKR (Objectives & Key Results) at Ulys. Les Key Results (Key results) are sometimes for the year, sometimes for the quarter to ensure that at all levels of the company and at the level of each employee, we realize that we have an impact and that this impact is consistent with the budget, the 1-year milestone, and the 3-year plan.
In short, our organization, although it seems rigid, is designed to be Flexible and responsive, allowing us to navigate effectively in a constantly changing world.
This structure allows us to:
- Ensure that all our actions have a consistent impact with our mission, vision, and goals.
- Adjust our quarterly approach by changing the KR of a team to meet changing needs.
- Updating our 3-year plan in line with our vision, thus avoiding wasting time and resources.
What strategy have you implemented to nurture this agile mindset and support your teams in the face of constant change?
D.J. You can have the best strategy on PowerPoint and formalize it in the best way possible; it's still PowerPoint. On the other hand, for onboarder all the teams are working towards this mission, However, this vision and then industrializing the actions so that they become an integrated part of the various actions of the employees is much more complicated.
To instigate change, transformation, it is necessary to reach not only the minds but also the hearts of people.
It is very important to giving meaning, to give a direction and this allows all employees, regardless of organization size, complexity, and the type of market in which they operate, to eliminate frustrations, understanding why they work and also assess their impact. That’s the first reason.
The second reason is the definition of the company’s values which will then be translated into a number of proofs and actions and that will gradually become a culture. The definition of values is fundamental. They allow us to strengthen the way and the freedom of action with which we will achieve this mission, this vision of the company.
It is also for this reason that we have put in place the OKR method. This method empowers the employees to set and measure their own goals. Key Results (Key results). This is made possible because we have a clear framework, a well-understood vision, values that are well-identified, and a clear definition of responsibilities within the organization.
Do you have a concrete example of a program put in place to develop the skills of your teams? And how do you recruit your talent?
D.J. We are currently in a period of hyper-growth that requires a significant number of recruitments. We have worked extensively on recruitment criteria in terms of attitude, a coherent attitude in line with the DNA and values of Ulys : Conquering, energetic, not resistant to change, a very collaborative attitude, a highly developed team spirit… It is primordial!
You can train skills, but attitude is innate; it cannot be changed.
For the support of the teams, we are working on training plans that have a dual function. The first is to value the people who make up the organization. It has both a managerial aspect and a very practical aspect of increasing competence in a number of areas. skills necessary for the various employees.
Among these skills Necessary for the Driving change, There is, of course, the fundamental attitude, the level of digitalization, That’s obvious. You also need Good project management skills which are fundamental given that the company must be transformed.
Today, at Ulys, we have good project management capabilities to organize all this change, to keep our resources and optimize the efficiency of our teams in managing the change to keep this ship turning.
In your opinion, what are the main challenges that will have a significant impact on your strategy in the coming months or years?
D.J. The first challenge is The environmental issue, That’s obvious. It will affect everyone. business models, In all industries. Integrating the environmental issue, regardless of the company or the industry in which it operates, will be a factor of very profound and very rapid change, that is undeniable.
Secondly, I think that the employees' view of work, Society as a whole has already changed significantly, and it will change more and more in the future. We are already seeing changes: the increase in the number of freelancers, for example, the relationship with work, the relationship with time (we’re talking about a four-day workweek), the sense that companies are able to give their employees, and the consistency between private and professional life…
Finally, thirdly, we have changes in the competitive landscape and market dynamics which will be hit by external events: geopolitical crises, deregulation, digitalization, which breaks down the barriers to entry into any market…
Interviews collected in April 2024 by Cyrille Chaudoit, Co-founder of talenco, in preparation for our White paper on the levers for transforming companies in uncertainty. A big thank you to Damien for his testimony!
10 testimonies from leaders
