The Longchamp name has long been synonymous with luxury. Founded in 1948, the French leather goods brand, famously known for its La Pliage bags, has branded boutiques along with shelf space in upscale department stores around the globe. Longchamp employs 3,500—220 of whom work in the US and Canada for Longchamp USA.

Even with over 75 years of market success, Longchamp understands that it must continually innovate to remain relevant with its customers—and its workforce. That commitment to innovation led Longchamp USA to partner with Mineral.

Mineral is an ideal HR toolkit.

When Stacie Gibson joined Longchamp USA four years ago as the Vice President of Human Resources, the company did not have a formal human resources department. “There were two hard-working HR generalists, but not a ton of direction,” she recalls. “I was hired to help build the HR department and its team. The company’s benefits broker introduced me to Mineral. I instantly understood the value of the Mineral offering—both in helping us get started and in the ongoing maintenance of a modern, compliant HR department.”

Gibson came from a large enterprise where the HR department had multiple resources providing services such as learning and development curriculum, safety training, and compliance tools. “To simplify things for us, I wanted to bring as much as possible under one umbrella—and that’s precisely what Mineral provides—an umbrella of valuable resources,” she says.

During the pandemic, for example, Gibson had to pull together work-from-home and paid-time-off policies quickly. She tapped into the Mineral Platform and found policy and procedure templates she could quickly take and adapt. “They’ve got a framework for almost any situation,” she notes. “Saves a ton of time.”

Gibson says Mineral provides more than valuable information. For example, her team can download printable posters for display in its retail stores. “Mineral is our first stop, our go-to destination for anything and everything regarding HR,” she adds.

It’s like having an employment attorney on staff.

An in-house HR department must work hard to remain in front of changing workforce rules and regulations—particularly when multiple jurisdictions are involved. “Without Mineral, we’d have to have someone on our staff continually monitoring for changes and using Google to research employment questions—and so much of the information on the internet is incorrect or outdated. More likely, we’d need the help of an employment attorney,” Gibson says. “Mineral Experts is like having an employment attorney on staff. Mineral saves us that cost and gives us much more confidence than Google.”

Longchamp USA receives most of the Mineral services it relies on through its insurance agency at no additional cost. When asked to put a value on what the company gains with Mineral, Gibson is quick to say, “Mineral saves us staff time and resources—and helps Longchamp USA preserve its good reputation. If I didn’t have access to the Mineral Experts, we’d need to run most of our questions through an employment attorney, and they easily charge $300 an hour.”

“No HR professional has all the answers,” Gibson says. “And honestly, our job shouldn’t be to know all the answers. Our role should be developing meaningful policies and procedures that promote employee engagement and help each employee reach their potential. The Mineral Experts offering lets us focus on reaching those goals because we know the answers to our questions are just a phone call or an email away.”

Employee retention rates up by 5%.

Longchamp USA invests in employee professional development initiatives designed to improve retention rates and increase engagement. Mineral plays a vital role in these initiatives. “One goal is to promote from within to grow the next generation of leaders,” explains Gibson. “To help them succeed in their new roles, we give them access to leadership training courses through Learn. We’re also developing comprehensive learning plans for every employee, using Mineral’s employee training content, so they can map their future with Longchamp USA.”

The efforts are already having a significant impact, Gibson says. “Our retention rates are up 5%, increasing from the previous year.”

Folding in multi-state compliance, harassment training, and more.

With operations across nine states, Longchamp USA faces a complex compliance landscape. “We need to be certain we maintain compliance, and that can be challenging when multiple jurisdictions are involved,” Gibson says. “The HR Compliance Library is a tremendous asset for us. I can quickly research each state’s requirements to ensure we’re meeting, or exceeding, those requirements.”

Smart Employee Handbook Plus, a premium solution available through Mineral, allows Longchamp USA to produce handbooks for each state in which it has a presence. “I’ve previously assembled a handbook without a tool like Mineral,” notes Gibson. “It was arduous—and expensive. We had to hire an attorney to help with the process, costing the company tens of thousands of dollars. And that doesn’t even include the cost of keeping it updated. Using Mineral’s tool, handbook development is fast, accurate, and cost-effective.”

Similarly, workplace harassment training requirements vary by state. “With all the variability, it would be too easy to make an error without a resource like Mineral,” adds Gibson. Longchamp takes advantage of the premium Workplace Harassment Prevention offering to gain access to courses, tools, and other resources, ensuring its continuing compliance with harassment prevention mandates across states.

In addition, Longchamp USA leverages Anonymous Reporting by Mineral to help the company manage and take action on reported incidents in a secure and timely manner. Providing employees with an easy, anonymous way to make a report creates more transparency, instills greater confidence in the company, and keeps it ahead of costly legal challenges.

Fashioning the future.

Thanks to its partnership with Mineral, Longchamp USA is well-prepared for the growth and challenges that may lie ahead. Indeed, Gibson says that the most significant benefit Longchamp USA realizes from the Mineral Platform is confidence. “Human resource management is complicated, challenging, and crucial to get right. With Mineral, I feel like we can address any issues that come our way. We are confident in our compliance and proud of the opportunities and protections we provide our workforce.”