Géraldine Lemoine, Head of Komeet Impulse, hosted a webinar alongside Françoise Depraz, Benefits Manager at Naval Group (~17,000 employees), and Isabelle Loï, Employee Engagement Manager at Groupe ADP (~6,000 employees). For one hour, they shared their experience with end-of-career skills-based volunteering: the reasons that led them to launch this program, how they built it, the challenges they faced, and the lessons they have learned today.
The webinar focused on three main themes:
- What is end-of-career skills-based volunteering?
- How did ADP and Naval Group structure their program?
- Advice, challenges, and pleasant surprises
The replay is available in video format, right here.
Here is the written transcript:
An initial poll launched at the start of the webinar quickly set the tone: a majority of participants were discovering the topic that day, a small third were in the reflection phase, and barely 15% had already launched a program. "It's a growing phenomenon", as Géraldine summarized while looking at the live results.
1. What is skills-based sponsorship for late-career employees?
Before diving into the details of the two engagement programs, Komeet asked the participants a second poll question: what would be their main motivation for deploying this initiative? The answer was clear: the primary motivation is to leverage the expertise of senior profiles and preserve skills that are sometimes difficult to pass on. Next comes the desire to support the end of careers in a more positive way, by transforming them into a genuine transition. The tax incentive, meanwhile, remains largely secondary.
This result says something important about the maturity of the subject: companies interested in late-career sponsorship are not doing it primarily for the tax break. They are doing it because they are looking for a meaningful initiative, both for the employees involved and for the organization.
A few reminders on the legal framework, provided by Géraldine:
"Late-career sponsorship is skills-based sponsorship, which falls under the exact same framework. It involves making your team's expertise available to a non-profit organization during working hours. The employee remains fully employed by their company. Any such secondment entitles the company to a tax reduction equivalent to 60% of the actual cost of the working time, capped at 0.5% of turnover."
It is not traditional volunteering (it is a long-term mission), it is not a sabbatical (there is no intention to return to the company afterward), and it is not being sidelined: the employee retains all their benefits and social protections. To get started, three documents are sufficient: an amendment to the employment contract, a tripartite agreement (company, employee, association), and a mission description.
2. How did ADP and Naval Group structure their programs?
The triggers: very concrete stories
For both companies, the implementation of the program did not stem from a grand CSR plan. It started with meetings and concrete needs that gradually brought the project to life.
Françoise, Naval Group:
"The trigger was a reflection process as part of our workforce planning agreement on how to support employees at the end of their careers. This was coupled with a meeting with the benefits manager at Nestlé who told me about skills-based sponsorship, and discussions with a friend who runs an association and put me in touch with Komeet. It was truly the trigger: the workforce planning agreement, the meeting with Nestlé, and the discussion with my friend. A perfect alignment of the stars."
Isabelle, Groupe ADP:
"For us, it started with a need from a partner organization, Aviation Sans Frontières. We were in the process of structuring the civic engagement department within the ADP group to see how we could meet this need using the diverse skills of our employees."
Naval Group: the 50/50 split that changes everything
Naval Group built its program within the framework of a workforce planning agreement. Employees can join two years before the legal retirement age, provided they have at least five years of seniority. During this period, the obligation to transfer skills internally is central.
Françoise:
"The skills-based sponsorship takes the form of either a half-time arrangement (50% at the company to transfer knowledge, 50% at a non-profit) or one full-time year at the company followed by a final full-time year at a non-profit. For the past two years, most of our assignments have been on a 50/50 basis. The knowledge transfer is tailored to the individual: it can be done by training an apprentice, recording technical procedures on video, or creating instructional manuals."
Françoise describes Komeet's role as essential for a simple reason:
"We aren't familiar with the non-profit sector, and it is a real skill to support employees who sometimes don't know what expertise they could offer. Komeet also ensures that the organization meets our ethical standards and helps us find another partner if things don't work out."
Assignments carried out so far include: supporting Apprentis d'Auteuil, working with the LPO (bird protection), and creating a community grocery store. Many focus on helping young people enter the workforce.
Groupe ADP: 3 years, a hub-and-spoke governance model, and a validation committee
ADP launched its program in 2019, before relaunching it in 2024 with a strengthened framework. Since the new national agreement allowed for up to 3 years of secondment, interest has grown.
Isabelle:
"Our employees can leave with a secondment rate of 50% or 75% of their time. Essentially, the employee enters a part-time or phased retirement arrangement and dedicates that work time 100% to a non-profit mission. We are very careful about the type of missions, as they must remain engaging throughout the entire 3-year period."
Governance is what truly sets the ADP program apart. Isabelle implemented a hub-and-spoke coordination model between HR, managers, and the civic engagement department, with one non-negotiable key point:
"The employee who goes on a skills-based sponsorship is completely detached from their original team. They are moved to a special account to truly free up their position. Otherwise, no manager would accept the double burden of carrying the salary cost without having the employee."
A validation committee composed of HR, the director of civic engagement, and internal representatives reviews every request, with an explicit equity criterion: ensuring that the program does not only benefit senior executives, but also operational staff.
3. Advice, challenges, and pleasant surprises
What you absolutely must anticipate
Both speakers agree on one point: the budget is the cornerstoneIf the employee's salary remains on their original team's budget, the initiative is blocked before it even begins.
Françoise:
"You really need to plan the budget aspect carefully and shift the salary costs to a specific budget (CSR or HR) so that managers feel comfortable."
Isabelle:
"It's essential. You have to remove the employee from their team's budget to give the company the freedom to hire a replacement or reorganize the department."
What surprised everyone
Françoise:
"What surprised me was the diversity of the profiles: we thought it would be a 'Parisian hipster thing,' but the enthusiasm spans all roles, primarily among technicians and manual workers in the provinces."
Isabelle:
"For me, it was the diversity of the missions assigned and seeing that employees are welcomed with open arms by the non-profits because their skills are truly in demand. A former executive assistant, for example, might take charge of a small truck to reach out to people in remote villages."
Refusals, but for good reasons
Both companies have had to turn down certain requests. Refusals mainly occur when eligibility criteria are not met or when the non-profit does not align with the criteria defined by the company.
Françoise:
"Technical criteria not being met, an organization with strong religious connotations, or an international mission posing insurance issues."
Isabelle:
"I turned one down last week because the mission wasn't well-defined enough to last 3 years without setting the employee up for failure. There was also a case of a mission that was impossible because it was located 120 km from their home."
Promoting the program internally
The program must also be made visible to employees. Both companies rely on regular communication to raise awareness.
Françoise:
"We communicate very regularly, holding an annual meeting at our facilities to detail end-of-career options, and we highlight testimonials from our volunteers in flash communications."
Isabelle:
"We piggyback on HR communications regarding end-of-career planning, and we talk a lot about the positive societal impact this can have on local communities."
And when it lasts beyond the volunteering period
Isabelle's story about an employee who joined a second-hand equipment repair non-profit perhaps captures the spirit of the program better than anything else:
"At the end of her volunteering period, she became the volunteer president of that organization and asked us for another employee to provide digital responsibility awareness training in schools. This helps anchor the commitment over the long term by recruiting future volunteers."
Final thoughts
Françoise:
"My advice would be to get support—in this case, from Komeet—because the non-profit sector cannot be improvised and has different ways of working than a company."
Isabelle:
"Support is important; it is a true project that blends corporate goals with personal ones. It shouldn't be viewed just as a cost: it's a new adventure where the employee puts a lifetime of experience to work for civic engagement. It's a win-win-win program."
The webinar replay is available here. A resource kit (presentation slides, articles, etc.) is also available upon request. And if you would like to explore how to structure a skills-based volunteering program tailored to your organization, the Komeet team is available to discuss it.
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