CSR

Whenever possible, ALPHABETS endeavours to work with local, Brittany-based suppliers, to develop and support the local economy.
This allows us to apply a responsible, local sourcing policy for our general services and supplies.

To support the economic development of Brittany-based businesses, and more specifically in Ille-et-Vilaine, ALPHABETS has partnerships with several local players.
Since 2012, ALPHABETS has been a member of the Hélys employers’ alliance, helping the development of local businesses and jobs.

ALPHABETS has also partnered with La French Tech Rennes – Saint Malo (le Poool) since 2018, meeting and supporting startups and innovative technological companies in Rennes and Saint Malo.

Finally, since 2010, ALPHABETS has been involved in the World Trade Center (WTC) Rennes Bretagne, a network of local entrepreneurs operating internationally, who meet to discuss best practices. Chantal QUÉNIART, CEO of ALPHABETS, is also the treasurer on a voluntary basis.

ALPHABETS strives relentlessly to deliver high-end services and to foster an upfront relationship with its customers, applying clear, fair and competitive prices.

ALPHABETS’ team members use their complementary skills and extensive expertise in a wide array of customer-specific tools and software to deliver a bespoke service to meet customers’ specifications. Regular training courses set up as part of our company’s skills development and management policy support this objective and help ALPHABETS to guarantee a high-end and consistent quality of service.

ALPHABETS also undertakes to keep your data and documents confidential, via its IT security policy: daily antivirus updates, a firewall and inverter as well as automatic storage over a 5-year period of all the data on ALPHABETS’ servers.

Finally, as one of ALPHABETS’ key principles is on-time delivery: all team members strive to stick to project deadlines.

All these commitments fall within ALPHABETS’ excellence policy.

Each of ALPHABETS’ customers is awarded a dedicated contact person who will be in charge of coordinating all the customer’s projects. This person will become familiar with the customer’s products, projects and strategies and will be best placed to meet their needs. Both parties save time and money while boosting efficiency and ALPHABETS can continue to strengthen its robust customer relationships based on mutual trust.

ALPHABETS also relies on all its team members to carry out its ambitious continuous improvement policy and is ready to take on board their suggestions regarding realistic and relevant actions designed to improve customer satisfaction and build up long-term relationships.

On a daily basis, ALPHABETS strives to create the best possible working environment for the team’s welfare.

In 2006, ALPHABETS set up a secure IT infrastructure, allowing team members to work from home and organise their work according to their own personal constraints. In the wake of the pandemic-induced lockdowns introduced since 2020, ALPHABETS’ management and the team began thinking about setting up a hybrid work organisation, combining work at the office and from home.

Furthermore, whenever possible, ALPHABETS’ team members are allowed more flexible working hours to accommodate their personal life as well as their professional obligations.

As ALPHABETS’ job-specific tasks involve sitting long hours in front of a screen, each workstation has been arranged to accommodate the specific requirements of the Occupational Health authorities, which have appraised the company’s office plans. Moreover, ergonomics have always been at the heart of ALPHABETS’ purchase decisions in terms of furniture and/or IT hardware – including screens and seats – to secure the team’s comfort and well-being.

Finally, every year, ALPHABETS organises a team building session with its teams, with a view to reinforcing the team spirit.

ALPHABETS’ management have always tried to involve staff in the day-to-day running of the company in order to favour employee engagement and independence. Everyone is liable to take on a project management role and follow a project from end-to-end in contact with all the stakeholders involved. Giving staff members this kind of responsibility helps boost their confidence, while developing their potential and leadership qualities.

Chantal QUÉNIART, ALPHABETS’ CEO, has been involved since 2018 in the APM’s management training sessions. The APM (Association for the Advancement of Management Techniques) encourages managers to question their practices and confront their ideas, based on the principle that managerial fulfilment is the key to successful businesses.

Every year, ALPHABETS hosts interns from leading university translation courses and translation schools. The company believes in the importance of the links between education and industry, and several of its senior members have taught or still teach on Rennes 2 University’s Master’s degree in Translation and Interpreting programme. Some of them are also involved in research programmes relevant to ALPHABETS’ core activities. ALPHABETS considers that helping young translators get a foothold in the translation market is one of its key missions. Several former students who worked as interns within the company are now full-time members of the team.

Six women and six men work for ALPHABETS, where gender equality is not just a catchphrase. They are all treated on an equal footing, whether in terms of salary, status or working conditions.

ALPHABETS considers it important to raise the environmental awareness among team members by reminding them of the need to save energy, and in particular electricity and water resources. All electrical appliances (computers, printers, lighting, etc.) are switched off every night to avoid energy wastage.

Another waste-saving initiative, in a traditionally paper-intensive industry, is the drive towards paperless practices. Team members now only print out translated documents at the “final eye” stage (and even then, on both sides of the page), unless printing is required earlier for quality assurance purposes.

A notice board reminds team members of best waste management and recycling practices on ALPHABETS’ premises. A recycling bin has been installed to sort out different types of waste (glass, cardboard, etc.).

Team members are encouraged to adopt a waste-reduction mindset and to share good practices, such as collecting bottle tops to donate to a local charity.

Electronic devices that are broken or no longer in use are also donated to Envie 35, a local sheltered employment association, where they are mended and recycled.

From the onset, ALPHABETS chose premises within easy reach of public transport, on the Parc de Lormandière site, a protected natural area within the Ker Lann business campus in Bruz. They can be reached by train (with an SNCF station on campus) or by bus (bus routes from Rennes to Bruz and Saint-Jacques-de-la-lande, with a stop less than 100 metres from our premises). There is also a sheltered cycle shed at the foot of our building.

Thanks to these facilities, around 40% of ALPHABETS’ staff now cycle to work (25%) or travel by bus (15%).