33. Human resources

It was a beautiful Spring morning. The mistral blew freshly, and the slightly cruel morning light threw into relief the Alpilles of Provence. Seventy persons whose average age was about thirty, had come from all over France. All were members of a consultancy firm.. They were staying in a hotel in Saint Remi. The guest speaker was an outsider. He spoke about his own particular organisation, a service enterprise, which had an outlet in Montpellier.

The listeners were very attentive. The idea was - in the guise of a game - to try and guess the name of this mysterious enterprise. There was a token prize for the winner, so everybody was stimulated to shine and be first. Now the audience could not believe their ears. What they were hearing was too good to be true. Here's an idea of some of it.

In the labour market at the beginning of the third millenium - which we have to admit has not yet shed its feudal status, even if it is not exactly patriarcal - the speaker claimed that his enterprise was run as a true democracy, yes, a democracy with elections and even checks and balances, and this at every level: local, regional and international

When it was discovered that it was a multinational, with an agency in Montpellier, and on seeing the expression on the speaker's face, someone cried out: "It's I.B.M.!" Silence followed. But all the participants remarked that to qualify as a democracy, it was necessary to investigate further. Then the speaker explained how his business project was structured, mentioning laws with regard to work....someone interrupted: "What is the percentage of women in the workforce?" He paused for a few moments and then replied: "About three women to every man, which means that in the whole of France, we have between three and four thousand employees." He continued his discourse on the manner in which human resources are deployed.

"The workers identify with the group to such an extent, that 90% of the former remain attached to the enterprise, which manifests agreement, not only with the business itself, but with its methods of functioning. Investment in formation is therefore all-important, and for the period of activity one could count ten years. Recruitment is on all levels, from those with no diplomas at all, up to third level or doctorate... everyone is encouraged to develop his or her talents as far as possible. The person who interviews candidates at present has graduated in business administration." The speaker then revealed that he himself was a specialist in rural development. A voice echoed: "So am I!" The atmosphere of the room became electric. Endless questions were asked, but no one could guess.

The speaker launched an appeal: "Without wishing to lure you away from your present activities, let me say that it is people like you that we are looking for: dynamic, in touch with past and present realities, good communicators and not afraid of confrontation." The manager began to regret his choice of speaker. Someone asked: "Do you pay well?" He answered: "Well I cannot guarantee a fortune, but you will not be disappointed." After half an hour, the speaker began to bend a little. "I think that you will be able to guess, he said, I must speak to you now about our relationship with clients. It is quite unique. We are in an extremely competitive situation, in the sense that we cannot survive unless we have a particular empathy with our clientele, by offering an advantage that can be found nowhere else.

Note that we take risks to the point of deliberately placing ourselves in a precarious situation, so as to be stimulated and constrained by difficulties. Now we have proof of the paradox that it is not those who benefit from our services who contribute most to the finances, but those who no longer have need of us. Having discovered the vital help afforded to them in the beginning, they provide us with the means to live and to work. Thus we can set our sights on the future, and we are so confident of the quality of what we produce, that to enjoy full liberty, not only is the work done not taxed, but better still, we give the clientele ownership of the capital, that is to say, the buildings and the infrastructure."

At that, someone bounced up from his chair: "It's a Religious Congregation!" Another added: "It's the Dominican Order!" And for the next two and a half hours, we launched into debates on fundamental questions such as: "How would you define faith?" "What makes you live?" "What is your opinion of the afterlife?" "What were your motives in coming here?"

My motives were to obtain a free consultation on how better to organise our communities, but naturally our listeners were not preoccupied with our domestic living! They had, in fact, found someone to whom they could speak, and they were not going to let the chance slip. My disappointment was only very slight.