People & organisational performance

In the quest for performance, what is the role of the HR director alongside the CEO? Does the role involve executing a roadmap, or guiding corporate strategy?

; HR teams, and therefore the HR director, have an essential role to play in the success of the company. However relevant and effective a corporate strategy may be, it can only be implemented if the company has the right people with the right skills, at the right time and in the right place. People are and will remain a key success factor. By attracting and retaining talent, developing a strong corporate culture and building skills, the HR director brings together the ingredients that enable individual and collective performance.

Far from executing a roadmap, the HR director must be a driving force behind proposals to align the company’s current and future ambitions with its human skills and organisation. He or she must anticipate the skills of tomorrow, the human and organisational impacts, deploy solutions to meet them and support employees as the company evolves.

HR directors and CEOs are pursuing the same objectives and must be partners aligned with the same values, while being capable of challenging each other.

How do you combine the quest for performance with ever-higher aspirations in terms of work-life balance?

It is essential to find the right balance between these two elements and to consider that, to be sustainable, the company’s performance must be analysed in the light of the objectives set, but also in the way they are achieved collectively. If a company aims to be a leader in its market, it must also pursue this ambition by enabling its employees to nurture their professional and personal aspirations. When performance is part of a human approach, it’s clear that a good work-life balance is an essential lever for motivating and retaining staff and maintaining their desire and creativity over the long term. In the end, everyone wins and well-being and performance are no longer pitted against each other in an impossible equation.

To achieve this balance, we need to embed it in our corporate culture and implement concrete measures. This is what we are doing at BGL BNP Paribas with the right to disconnect, surveys on quality of life at work, flexible working hours, the continuation of teleworking and the provision of satellite sites on the Belgian and French borders. The aim of these various measures is to enable our employees to adapt their working patterns to suit their needs, while at the same time meeting professional requirements and striving for excellence on behalf of our customers.

Employer branding

Applied to your organisation, what is your definition of ‘employer branding’?

The employer brand reflects the company’s DNA and values, and is expressed in every interaction with its employees, customers and potential candidates. It bridges the gap between the company’s ambitions and the reality experienced by those who bring it to life, like a promise that commits the company to all those who place their trust in it. In this respect, it plays a very important role. It’s what makes teams want to commit to the company project and to give their all every day in their activities. It takes shape in our corporate culture, in the working environment we offer, in our values, in our raison d’être: to become the leader in sustainable finance.

In the light of this definition, how important is HR in promoting this ‘employer brand’?

The HR teams, who are responsible for the employee experience, are an essential lever of the employer brand, and they are its guarantors, both for our potential candidates and for our internal employees. They are both its architects and its ambassadors.

They are the ones who have to set it to music, integrate it into the heart of our HR offering and bring it to life from on-boarding to off-boarding. To do this, they build engaging career paths, look after the well-being and development of our employees and promote regular, participative internal communication.

They also have a role to play externally, highlighting our brand in our advertisements, at job fairs and during the recruitment process. The employer brand is a key argument for inviting candidates to join us and become part of our history. More and more, candidates are looking for a project that has meaning and nurtures strong values for them. My teams and I are actively working on this on a daily basis.

Reskilling and upskilling

In terms of upskilling, what are the priority needs that you have identified within your organisation?

In a fast-moving world, it’s essential to anticipate and prepare for the future. So, for several years now, in order to identify tomorrow’s skills needs and map out the appropriate upskilling and reskilling trajectories, we have been implementing a strategic workforce planning project, in line with our transformation plan and strategy. Through cross-functional studies, discussions and workshops, we have identified the key shared skills that need to be developed as a priority: data, digital, sustainable development and finance. We are also developing the skills of our teams so that we can gradually roll out agility throughout our organisation.

And what tools and systems have been put in place within your departments to support the ongoing training of employees?

To adapt to the hybrid working environment, we have developed training playlists alongside the face-to-face training, which are particularly useful for raising awareness. We have also developed new participative formats in the form of ‘frescoes’ and workshops to build skills in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Some of our employees have even trained to become facilitators in their own right, so that they can pass on their knowledge. Convinced that it is beneficial to combine play and learning, we offered a gamified training course on data in several episodes. Our employees were able to slip into the shoes of adventurers, with the aim of achieving the best final score and the possibility of forming teams to challenge their colleagues. We also have reskilling programmes that run over several months, with dedicated follow-up and mentoring to enable employees to learn new skills.

We are committed to training our employees throughout their careers, so as to enhance their employability and enable them to offer our customers an ever more efficient, high-quality service.

Talent retention

Is the ‘war for talent’ also about talent retention? And if so, what is your conclusion? That today it’s just as complex to attract talent as it is to retain it?

The ‘war for talent’ is as much about attraction as it is about retention. While it’s important to bring new visions and fresh ideas into our teams, it’s just as important to retain expertise and knowhow. In a world where the relationship between work and the company is changing, and where the war for talent is intensifying, it’s a real challenge to build long-term careers. But I’m convinced that by offering career prospects that allow you to reinvent yourself and a company project that makes sense, that allows you to nurture your values and preserve your personal balance, you can write beautiful, long stories.

What have been the main developments, or what are the current ones, in your company’s ‘employee pathway’?

In the same way that we are developing and enriching customer paths, we are working on employee paths based on different themes. We are currently finalising our internal mobility pathway because we want to boost the internal skills market and offer a quality experience to employees who want to take on a new professional challenge. Given the richness of the professions we offer, we are keen to enable them to broaden their horizons and renew themselves throughout their professional experience.

A career is a long journey, during which it is important to enjoy yourself and create value for yourself and others.

New ways of working

Flexibility, teleworking... Since the health crisis, the desire for new ways of working is more pronounced than ever. How can we respond to this paradigm shift without hampering business performance?

Aspirations for new ways of working are undeniable, and we need to support them to encourage individual and collective performance, as well as a sense of belonging and support for the corporate culture. To achieve this, we need to rethink the framework, offering an environment, tools and work organisation that promote collaboration and efficiency, while respecting the needs and comfort of each individual. It’s important to listen to employees, to maintain a regular dialogue and to support the development of our new ways of working. This is what we are doing internally through our smart working project, where we are co-constructing new benchmarks with our employees on a participative basis. We have also set up a team project to enable employees to manage hybrid working in the best possible way, taking into account the constraints and needs of each individual as well as service imperatives.

The major challenge lies in striking the right balance between greater flexibility and freedom in managing work and maintaining a strong bond with the company and colleagues.

At the same time, how can we meet the challenge of employee commitment, which studies show is falling?

This calls for an even more human approach to nurturing the bond between employer and employee and finding our bearings in a post-covid world that has shifted the lines. Several pillars are essential: giving meaning back to work, cultivating regular dialogue, giving feedback and reinforcing recognition, encouraging collaboration and empowerment, particularly through the development of agility, offering development prospects and paying even greater attention to well-being in a hybrid working environment where we are no longer constantly with each other.

Benefits

How important is an attractive salary when it comes to recruiting and retaining talent?

Competitive pay is still a strong argument, but it’s no longer enough to guarantee long-term commitment. Candidates and employees are increasingly looking for meaning, quality of life at work and a balance between their personal and professional spheres. We need to offer an employee experience that meets these aspirations.

In addition to remuneration, what are the elements that can be used to make a company more attractive?

To be attractive, a company needs to be able to offer a high-quality, comprehensive employee experience that can be adapted to the needs of each individual. This is based on a number of elements: quality of life at work and a good work-life balance, the meaning and value given to work, an engaging corporate project and strong values, prospects for development and career advancement, autonomy and responsibility on a daily basis and the working environment... Much more than just a physical setting, a company is truly a place where everyone can flourish.

Mobility & fleet

A fleet of electric vehicles, incentives to use public transport... In your company, what measures have been, are being or will be taken to improve mobility?

We have taken and continue to take action at various levels.

For several years now, we have been contributing to the cost of public transport for employees who choose this mode of travel. Teleworking and the use of satellite sites are also ways of reducing our collective transport footprint. We are currently working on a car-sharing solution to encourage our employees to share their vehicles. Finally, with regard to our leased vehicles, we are moving towards a greener fleet and have limited the engine power.

More generally, what are the points to watch in terms of the green transition?

We are aware of the impact we can have not only through our own activities, but also and above all through the activities we finance and the support we give our customers in their energy transition. We provide ongoing training for our employees in these essential areas, to ensure that they become the partners of choice for our customers.

In addition to these actions, it is also essential to involve all our teams in these issues by raising their awareness, enabling them to question their habits and supporting them in this change. Many of our employees feel very concerned and preoccupied by these issues. Together, we want to and can take action.

To do this, we organise climate ‘frescoes’ and workshops throughout the year, giving practical tips on how to reduce our carbon footprint. We also train our employees to become facilitators of these frescoes and workshops, so that they in turn can raise awareness among their colleagues. We also offer conferences given by external experts on these themes to provide additional insights. In 2024, for example, we were honoured to welcome Professor Jean Tirole, winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize for economics, for a talk on climate change; Dr Heïdi Sevestre, glaciologist and explorer, for a talk on the issues surrounding the disappearance of glaciers; and Team for the Planet for a presentation on concrete decarbonisation solutions for businesses and individuals alike.

We also organised an in-house communication campaign on soft mobility, with testimonials from employees who walk, cycle, carpool or take public transport to work, giving practical advice to their colleagues who would also like to take the plunge. This saga was a great success with our employees and generated a lot of discussion.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR)

What are the biggest challenges for your organisation in terms of the new CSR obligations?

The new CSR obligations require concrete, measurable actions that are aligned with the expectations and needs of all stakeholders. Making commitments is not enough. We need to integrate the CSR dimension at all levels of the company. It must be a component of our corporate strategy and shared by everyone.

We also need to be able to anticipate, assimilate and rapidly transpose legal and regulatory changes into our activities, and be able to report on the actions we take.

I believe that if we are to meet these challenges, we need to see them not as a constraint but as a means of moving forward together towards a responsible and more sustainable future.

How do these same obligations impact your internal upskilling and external recruitment processes?

The new CSR obligations mean that we have to quickly upskill our teams. All our employees are regularly made aware of and trained in CSR issues. More in-depth training courses are being set up for employees who help our customers comply with these obligations, whether they are private individuals or entrepreneurs.

I take a positive view of this because it encourages companies to align their skills and practices with societal issues.

Gen Z

They are said to be less committed, more demanding, and perhaps even difficult to grasp... Is Gen Z really turning the working environment upside down?

It’s certainly questioning it and offering a fresh perspective. Each generation has brought with it its own take on the world of work, and this one is no exception. It perhaps sees work more as a means to an end and not an end in itself, and makes the question of meaning and the balance between private and personal life a central element. We have to take a positive view of this invitation to question ourselves and evolve.

What advice would you give to newly recruited 25-30 year olds?

Dare, dream big, surround yourself with inspirational people in the company and be yourself a source of inspiration for those around you.

Be curious, stay open to opportunities and have fun! A professional career is a long road along which you need to enjoy yourself and renew yourself to keep your enthusiasm intact at every stage.

Diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI)

As an HR director, how would you define your role and responsibilities in relation to DEI issues?

It’s a subject that particularly resonates with me, and as HR director I feel that I have a responsibility and the power to act to create a fair and respectful working environment where everyone has the opportunity to flourish and express their full potential. My teams and I must embody our bank’s vision and values of diversity, equity and inclusion, and foster a culture in which these principles are firmly rooted and shared by everyone, at every level of the company, without exception. Diversity enriches our exchanges, inclusion strengthens our cohesion and equity gives everyone the place they deserve. So we have to rise to the challenge.

Guaranteeing this framework means taking action on a daily basis and at several levels: ensuring fair and diverse recruitment, raising awareness and training teams, developing career management to ensure equal opportunities, preventing discrimination, having a solid reporting system and setting up indicators to monitor our progress on DEI issues.

Is an ‘exemplary’ company a utopian dream or a feasible goal?

An exemplary company is neither a utopian dream nor a feasible objective, but rather a direction to aim for at all times, which will drive continuous improvement and the quest for excellence. Being exemplary does not mean being perfect, but acting consistently and with conviction, while respecting strong values and commitments.

The exemplary company must be an inspiring world for those who live it on a daily basis and a driving force for change and evolution for society. This means taking responsible decisions, offering the best and being a vector for progress for everyone.

Digitalisation

How are you transforming digitalisation into an ally of the HR function?

First, the digitisation of our collaborative tools has enabled us to develop and enrich the hybrid working mode by offering teams the means to communicate easily, in real time, and to interact with their colleagues, regardless of where they work.

Digital tools are also our daily allies in improving operational efficiency and enhancing the experience of our employees. For example, we have developed our chatbot Charlie, which enables us to respond automatically to our employees on certain subjects, and we develop it regularly. In this way, they gain time and autonomy in their search for information.

Digitalisation also enables us to offer new tools to facilitate the career paths of both our employees in terms of internal mobility and our applicants in terms of recruitment. They can now submit an application in just three minutes.

And finally, digitisation is also helping us to optimise the collection and management of data so that we can offer our teams ever more tailored and personalised experiences and services.

What obstacles do you still face at this stage?

These are not obstacles, but rather situations in which human contact remains essential and which, in fact, limit the use of digital technology. While it’s essential to use digital technology to simplify the experience for our employees and our customers, it’s also important to preserve face-to-face moments of sharing and conviviality, and meetings where the content lends itself better to face-to-face exchanges.

Talent acquisition

The job market is dominated by the ‘war for talent.’ How does this play out in practice in your own recruitment processes? What difficulties do you face?

Because of its size and economic dynamism, Luxembourg has to recruit beyond its borders. We are extremely dependent on neighbouring regions. Today, however, an employee living in Metz, who would previously have naturally turned to Luxembourg, can more easily consider an opportunity in Paris, taking advantage of the possibility of teleworking. Conversely, Paris, which is experiencing the same recruitment problems, will also be interested in the job pool in more distant regions. In other words, the job market is tending to globalise. We need to look further afield and, as such, we need to be able to offer an attractive range of products and services, incorporating interesting development and career opportunities, flexibility, meaning and ethics in the workplace.

What ‘weapons’ does your company use to fight this battle? And what additional ‘weapons’ would you like to have at your disposal if you had the power to change regulations and laws?

To remain attractive on the job market, we have a wide range of assets to offer that everyone can relate to: solid roots and international reach, apprenticeship and training opportunities, real and varied possibilities for mobility and career development given the diversity of our activities and our customer base, strong values, particular attention paid to the well-being of our employees, a deep-rooted commitment to CSR and spaces and moments for conviviality. We are committed to enabling everyone to flourish in our environment and develop their full potential, while always striving for excellence.

This article was originally published in .