If you can’t afford to go to him, the world’s No. 1 in luxury will come to you. On the strength of its record figures in 2022, LVMH is once again setting off on the roads of France (Paris, Reims, Orléans, Clichy-sous-Bois and Lyon) from February 15 to meet young and old at the You and ME operation, an orientation and recruitment fair aimed at promoting jobs of excellence. With, for the second consecutive year, an ambassador who will not fail to seduce potential candidates: basketball player Tony Parker. And above all 3,500 contracts (from internship to CDI) to be filled. From craftsmanship to creation via customer experience, the LVMH group, which recruited more than 15,000 people in France last year, intends to encourage vocations and make young people realize that the 280 professions he proposes are professions in which one can make a career. L’Express met Chantal Gaemperle, director of human resources and synergies of the LVMH group for sixteen years. Very rare in the media, she tells us more about this recruitment campaign and above all, gives us her expert view of human resources on the major challenges of the world of work today. A masterclass for all management lovers.
L’Express: The LVMH group is doing extremely well and obviously has no trouble recruiting. Why organize this job dating again?
Chantal Gaemperle: Talents are a rare commodity to cultivate. From manufacturing our products to welcoming our customers, a group like ours depends on the women and men who make it up, so we have to find them, keep them and make them grow. The idea of the You and ME initiative is also to organize the transmission of this know-how. There are many things that happen in an intergenerational dialogue. We are lucky to be able to count on people who have been practicing these professions for sometimes forty years, we need to rely on their art and their experience to organize the transmission to the new generation. This is also how we perpetuate the sectors, otherwise we would have professions that would disappear.
Is it more complicated these days to recruit these young talents?
There is a lack of knowledge of these trades which have not been valued enough, which are deserted and on which we wish to give a spotlight. We are lucky to be a leading group, made up of houses that make you dream and in which you can easily project yourself, but luxury can also be scary and be associated with certain barriers to entry. While there is no question of lowering our level of standards and excellence, we are committed to promoting an inclusive policy, to seeking out atypical profiles with the following message: not all jobs require to have diplomas, if you are ready to devote time and energy, we can train you.
Apprenticeship has not always had a very good image in France…
In France, there are a series of training courses and schools on which we have been able to rely, it is really an asset. We have created our own schools but we have also relied on an existing system. It is a strength of France. We have contributed to promoting these sectors by making them better known to the general public.
Recruiting talent is good, keeping it is better: how does LVMH go about it?
We are lucky to be in a group that is doing well, building and developing. We have recruitment issues but our human resources policy aims to invest in our talents, it is not just a response to a possible shortage in these sectors. We have more than 36 in-house training schools to ensure that the know-how of our employees is constantly renewed and brought up to date. We also try to offer career development within our group, offering our employees trips within the LVMH ecosystem. Last year more than 5,000 people changed homes.
Is the new generation, as we often hear, more difficult to manage?
It is difficult to generalize. Young people have been very affected by the pandemic. There is an exacerbated search for meaning and a need to be in line with the values defended by the company. They are guided by values and what the company stands for. There is also a certain impatience, a desire to move faster. This can be a challenge for us because at LVMH we design things for the long term.
A survey by the Institut Montaigne published on February 2 twists the neck of preconceived ideas about the relationship of the French to work : they are 77% to declare themselves satisfied. Among the main grievances however, the company’s lack of recognition…
This does not surprise me. The role of the direct manager is very important here. Being guided, coached, developed, giving feedback is essential. Sometimes it’s easier to give a raise and say nothing than to sit down with someone and explain how a particular action will help them perform even better. It’s attention, listening, a desire to help.
Speaking of which, what is good feedback?
Feedback must be authentic and based on examples. It is more effective when the relationship of trust exists. If you give a bad review, you have to take the time to do so and explain why. Respect is fundamental.
The pension reform bill currently being debated in Parliament put the question of the employment of seniors back at the center of the debate. How does LVMH manage this issue?
Luxury is a sector that greatly values experience, especially since seniors play an essential role in transmission. Admittedly, you have to know how to move, work with new technologies, create tomorrow’s trends, but change also means knowing what you are and knowing what you want to keep. And there, it leaves an important place to the oldest. Personally, I am doing my job better today than five years ago.
You have a long experience in human resources. Management, you know: what, in today’s world, makes a good manager?
What strikes me is that we often deprive ourselves in companies of even better results, with happier people, because a certain number of things such as respect and listening are not put in place. This already presupposes that the manager himself feels legitimate. A good manager is indeed someone who knows himself, it helps him to surround himself and to leave room for the people around him. He is someone who is able to inspire his team and who knows how to listen to a different opinion. It is very important to trust people and to mobilize the best in each of them. There is sometimes a tendency in France to focus only on what is wrong when it should be more valued what people do well. Leadership is not just a title at the top of an organizational chart. Leadership is not decreed, it is earned. People want to follow you or not.