Marc Ernst, the founder and director of HRMinfo.eu, talks in French with Maud Larochette, Chief Finance Officer & HR director at N-Side.

Ms Larochette is French and this episode of HR Talks is therefore a French-language edition.

Maud Larochette is one of those HR directors who is also responsible for the financial management of her company. She was also interim CEO of N-Side for a while.

Her unique profile allows her to zoom out, to do HR with a helicopter view. And by extension, to do the same in the field of financial management.

N-SIDE is a deep tech company. Founded more than 20 years ago, it is headquartered in Louvain-la-Neuve and also operates in the US market where it also has an office. 

In life sciences, N-SIDE streamlines the clinical supply chain of pharmaceutical and biotech companies by accelerating clinical plans, reducing risk and eliminating drug waste. Half of the world's major pharmaceutical groups use N-SIDE's technologies and solutions.

The company has over 200 employees (it should double that number by 2027) and employs more than 30 nationalities. It is also a very women-friendly company as it has 40% women in management positions.

N-SIDE was recognised last year as a Trends Gazelle, as a fast-growing company. It was also awarded by Deloitte as Best Managed Company and won both the Great Place to Work and Best Workplace in Belgium certifications.

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Sponsors :  Flowsparks, Cornerstone, GoodHabitz & NXT People
Technical partner : ThePodcastFactoryOrg

Dries Reynders & Arne Knapen, both co-founders of Eqip, a communication agency specialised in recruitment campaigns and employer branding, explain their vision and approach. They do so in Dutch.

This is a sponsored episode of HR Talks. The content of the sponsored podcasts is the responsibility of our partners.

Interested in a sponsored episode (up to 15 minutes long) of HR Talks? Mail to sales@HRMinfo.net (Subject: Sponsored HR Talks)

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Technical partner: ThePodcastFactory.org
Sponsor:  Eqip (Employer branding agency)

Marc Ernst, founder and director of HRMinfo.eu, talks in Dutch & French or about 48 minutes with Guido Perremans the CEO of Armonea. Mrs Perremans  also switches continuously and fluently between the language of Vondel and that of Voltaire.

With over 60 residential care centres, service flats and residences, Armonea is the largest independent provider of senior care in Belgium. It employs over 6000 people. Armonea is part of the international Colisee group which, in addition to Belgium, is also active in France, Spain, Italy and China and employs over 19,000 people worldwide.

Mr Perremans is a former HR director and worked as an HR professional for companies including Alcatel, Attentia and Atalian. At the latter he was European HR director and later became CEO for Belgium and regional manager for the Benelux.

He is one of the few, rather rare HR professionals to have made it to CEO. This phenomenon is not typical for Belgium, by the way, but worldwide. Why this happens and what to do about it: that's one of the many themes that were discussed in this new episode of HR Talks, the podcast for those who really have something to say and to tell in the HR field.

In addition, the following topics were also discussed - amongst others:

• is 'HR = Finance = Business'? - The title of Chris Burggraeve's presentation/webinar (Guido Perremans' answer is a resounding YES: according to him, HR should concern itself more with figures (P&Ls & KPIs) and with the business. More than that: if it doesn't make a demonstrable contribution to the business, HR is implausible and actually superfluous because it has no added value).
• How can HR present itself as an effective business partner and, with good reason, be part of the management committee? (The latter is the exception rather than the rule in smaller and medium-sized companies, and even in 20% of large companies it is not the case)
• What should be the 'output' of HR ? (According to Guido Perremans, this should be, more than is usually the case today, in the area of ESG: Ecology, Social and Governance. All too often HR limits itself to process-oriented output).

This edition of HR Talks is special because it is completely bilingual: Marc Ernst, founder & director of BizInfo/HRMinfo, alternates between Dutch and French with his podcast guest who also switches continuously and fluently between the language of Vondel and that of Voltaire.
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Sponsors:  MobieTrain, SD Worx, Flowsparks
Technical partner: ThePodcastFactory.org

Marc Ernst, founder and director of HRMinfo.eu, talks in Dutch for about 34 minutes with Marc Noppen CEO at UZ Brussel.

Marc Noppen has been CEO of the UZ Brussel since 2006. The hospital is an organisation with almost 3800 employees, including 400 medical specialists. This year, the UZ Brussel was chosen by ZORG magazine (more specifically by a professional jury composed by that magazine) as 'Healthcare employer of the year 2021'.

Mr Noppen is a lung specialist. He studied medicine at Limburg University, pharmaco-economics at Antwerp University and management at Insead in France. Afterwards, he also obtained a doctorate in health sciences at the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels (Free University of Brussels).  Today, he is also a professor that university. Previously, he lectured in Boston, Canada, France and Australia. Marc Noppen sits as a director on various academic and corporate boards.

Recently, he published the book 'Gewoon anders' (Just different). Its subtitle is: An ardent plea for an unusual way of doing things. In it Marc Noppen shows himself to be a challenger of the status quo, an advocate of change and even of disruption. 

Marc Noppen is also a man with an opinion. In proof of this the interview with him this week in Knack magazine. In it, he argues against the excessive fees for certain specialists and pleads for a capped fixed salary, supplemented by a variable part based on, among other things, the quality and complexity of the care provided, for specialists and, by extension, for all doctors. It is a measure that he sees as part of the necessary radical changes in our healthcare system.

The following topics, among others, are addressed:

• The attitude of the employers' organisations in the Covid pandemic with regard to teleworking
• Whether the government was sufficiently evidence-based and science-based in this crisis
• Teleworking as an opportunity for innovation that, under normal circumstances, would be much more difficult, delayed and slow to take place
• Changing visions and attitudes of employees, in general and more specifically in the health care sector, towards work
• The companies or other organisations that he looks up to, among other things, because of their HR policies
• The books on business, management or HR that he recommends HR professionals to read and why
• The future HR priorities of the UZ Brussel and how they will be achieved
• Why he is a supporter of holacracy and self-directed teams
• His vision on what he considers to be necessary thorough reforms in the field of work organisation in hospitals and in the extension of healthcare

Sponsors:  MobieTrain, SD Worx, Flowsparks
Technical partner: ThePodcastFactory.org

Marc Ernst, founder and director of HRMinfo.eu, talks in Dutch for about 48 minutes with Deb Vansteenwegen (HR director @ de Universiteit van Leuven) & Lisbeth Decneut (Executive Vice president People & Culture, Diversity & Inclusion, Health & Safety @ imec) (NL).

Ms Decneut has been working at imec since 1997, where she started as a recruitment manager. Before that, she was a researcher at the faculty of psychology of the KU Leuven.

Ms. Vansteenwegen joined KU Leuven in 2014, starting as a director in a HR function. Before that, she was director at ISW Limits, a service provider in the field of psychosocial well-being that later merged with Eupora and is now called Pulso. She started her career as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Leuven.

Imec is the world's leading independent research and innovation centre in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. It is a spin-off from the KU Leuven. It employs over 5,000 people, mainly in its headquarters in Leuven but also in its branches in the Netherlands, Taiwan, the US, China, India and Japan. 

KU Leuven, one of the older universities in the world (founded in 1425) and the largest in the Benelux, has more than 21,600 staff members and 60,000 students. 

The following topics, among others, are addressed:

• The policy of imec and KU Leuven on homeworking and, by extension, hybrid working.
• The pension reform of PS Minister Lalieux (PS) and how their two organisations respond to the need and desire of many to work longer but flexibly.
• Two recent studies (one by Steunpunt Werk of the University of Leuven and one by Acerta in cooperation with the KU Leuven) on learning & development in Belgium and how they do L&D in their organisation.
• The innovative and even revolutionary HR policy of Decathlon, winner of the HR innov8 Award (powered by HRMinfo).
• Which company or other organisation they look up to for their HR policy.
• Which book or two books on business, management or HR they recommend HR professionals to read.
• To what extent and in which way HR at imec plays a role in stimulating and supporting the innovation drive of the organisation and its employees.
• The main lines, the underlying vision and the scientific foundation of the welfare policy of KU Leuven.

Sponsors:  MobieTrain, SD Worx, Flowsparks
Technical partner: ThePodcastFactory.org

Marc Ernst, founder and director of HRMinfo.eu, talks in French for about 30 minutes with Jacques Crahay, CEO at COSUCRA Groupe Warcoing & Chairman of UWE.

Cosucra is a global family business with around 280 employees that produces and markets ingredients for the food industry based on chicory and peas. These substances are used in many food products, such as bread, biscuits, ice cream, yoghurt, cheese, but also in drinks such as fruit juices and lemonades and in savoury products such as meat substitutes. Mr Crahay has been managing Cosucra since 2001. He has also been President of the Union Wallonne des Entreprises (UWE), the Walloon Union of Enterprises, since September 2018.

The following topics, among others, are addressed:

• The Get Up Wallonia plan, hat was drawn up after consultation of many socio-economic stakeholders in Wallonia and more specifically the education and training part of that plan.The proposals from that plan have now to be translated into priorities and budgets by the Walloon government.
• The management and HR principles of COSUCRA, including the sociocracy model used to make the output of the meetings more qualitative and more supported.
• The companies or other kind of organisations and also the books on management or human resources that inspires my guest.
• Why, according to Mr Crahay, consultants miss opportunities by not working together more. They should more apply the ideas of co-creation and cooperation that they claim to espouse and even prescribe to companies, he says. For example, by putting less emphasis on mutual competition and more on mutual complementarity.

HR Talks alternates between Dutch and French. The interviews are invariably about recent developments in HR and current socio-economic topics relevant to HR. The guests are HR professionals (CHRO, HR director/manager, L&D manager, recruitment manager, eHR system/tools manager, HRIS manager...), working in a company, government organisation or non-profit organisation. Sometimes the guest is a CEO / general manager, board member or line manager with an interesting vision on HR and not working for an HR service provider. The podcasts are monthly and last 20 to 25 minutes.

Sponsors: Bright Plus, SD Worx, Quintessence & GoodHabitz
Technical partner: ThePodcastFactory.org

Suyin Aerts (a freelance event host & TV presenter, including for Kanaal Z) talks in Dutch an French for 45 minutes with Bruce Fecheyr-Lippens (Co-Founder & Chairman Huapii, former Chief Talent Officer @ Euroclear), Virginie Verschooris (Former Managing Consultant @ Korn Ferry)& Prof. Dr. Lou Van Beirendonck (Founder-Director Quintessence & dONUS - Professor HRM Antwerp Management School)

Topic of the discussion: What is the profile and what are the competences of the 'future proof' HR professional? And: Does HR need fewer specialists and more generalists, but mainly managers from the business?

The following questions were raised:

• What should be the core competencies of the future-proof HR manager
• How to 'transform' the current HR professional into a future-proof version? By what means, steps, action plans (structural, training, awareness-raising)?
• Can HR transform itself sufficiently and quickly?
• Shouldn't totally different profiles (and so: which ones) be attracted and given the lead in HR?

This episode of HR Talks is a recording of a panel discussion that took place during the recent Virtual HR innov & tech Day(powered by HRMinfo). 

Sponsors: Bright Plus, SD Worx, Quintessence & GoodHabitz
Technical partner: ThePodcastFactory.org

Suyin Aerts (a freelance event host & TV presenter, including for Kanaal Z) talks in Dutch an French for 40 minutes with Raf Seymus (Founder & CEO @ Stellar Labs), Koen De Waele (Venture Partner @ Volta Ventures & mentor @ The Birdhouse) & Frederik Tibau (Expert Digital Innovation & Growth @ Agoria - conducted a study last year on the Belgian HR Tech landscape).

Topic of the discussion: Why are investors in Belgium so reluctant to put money into HR Tech companies? And why and how did some manage to get substantial funding?

The following questions were raised:

• What are the characteristics, especially the strengths and weaknesses, of the Belgian landscape of technology investors in general and HR Tech investors in particular, both private and public (LRM, Vlaio, W.I.N. etc.)?
• What would need to change, among HR Tech companies and among technology investors, to achieve a better fit between the two (structurally, in terms of method, mentality, ...)?
• What should be the specific role of accelerators, incubators, banks, VCs in that story?
• Why does the Belgian Bio Tech, Health Tech and Fin Tech flourish so much, especially compared to HR Tech ?
• What does the Belgian HR Tech sector have to do to really break through, internationally as well? Because deep pockets, scale and speed are key in the tech business.

This episode of HR Talks is a recording of a panel discussion that took place during the recent Virtual HR innov & tech Day(powered by HRMinfo). 

Sponsors: Bright Plus, SD Worx, Quintessence & GoodHabitz
Technical partner: ThePodcastFactory.org

Marc Ernst, founder and director of HRMinfo.eu, talks in Dutch for about 30 minutes with Nicolas Meire, the CEO of Ubiway - part of bpost Group

Nicolas Meire is one of the rare CEOs with an HR past (in his case as Head of HR at a major bank and as Director Human Capital Consulting at a large HR consultancy). 

Ubiway includes the network of newspapers-shops (with 220 outlets) and the press distribution company that bpost acquired at the end of 2016.

The following topics, among others, are addressed:

- Why HR professionals rarely make it to the top of companies, unlike marketers, finance people or business people

- Which innovative ideas in the field of labour market policy and social legislation he would like to see made possible by the legislator, i.e. political policymakers.

- The transformation of Ubiway into a more customer convenience & experience focused company and the role of HR in that innovation and change process.

- Ubiway's approach to training and the use of digital learning tools and channels in that process.

Sponsors: Bright Plus, SD Worx, Quintessence & GoodHabitz
Technical partner: ThePodcastFactory.org

Marc Ernst, founder and director of HRMinfo.eu, talks in French for more than 20 minutes with Nathalie Ulrich, the HR & Communication Director Benelux @ HeidelbergCement. 

HeidelbergCement is one of the world’s largest building materials companies. The company is the number 1 in aggregates production and ready-mixed concrete and number 2 in cement. The group is present in the Benelux through CBR, Inter-Beton and Sagrex, and in the Dutch market with ENCI, Mebin and Sagrex.

The following topics, among others, are addressed:

- The conduct of social elections in the company, the advantages and disadvantages of electronic voting during it, the characteristics and conditions of a good social dialogue and the German Mittbestimmung model

- The findings of a recent global survey by KPMG of 1300 HR directors: 60% of them recognise the need for HR to reinvent themselves, to rethink their practices, concepts and tools.

- the diversity and more specifically the gender policy at HeidelbegCement, where a remarkable number of women are part of the board of directors and the management of the company

- The digital transformation within the company and in the HR field, driven by the Group CHRO who is also responsible for the global digital transformation - which is quite exceptional.

HR Talks alternates between Dutch and French. The interviews are invariably about recent developments in HR and current socio-economic topics relevant to HR. The guests are HR professionals (CHRO, HR director/manager, L&D manager, recruitment manager, eHR system/tools manager, HRIS manager...), working in a company, government organisation or non-profit organisation. Sometimes the guest is a CEO / general manager, board member or line manager with an interesting vision on HR and not working for an HR service provider. The podcasts are monthly and last 20 to 25 minutes.

Sponsors: Bright Plus, SD Worx, Quintessence & GoodHabitz
Technical partner: ThePodcastFactory.org

Marc Ernst, founder and director of HRMinfo.eu, talks in Dutch for more than 20 minutes with Jan Van Acoleyen, the CHRO of Proximus Group. Proximus is Belgium's largest telecom operator and provider of digital services and communication solutions on the Belgian and international markets.

The following topics, among others, are addressed:

- the elements in the program of the new Belgian government that are relevant for HR (such as increasing the employment rate)

- the Belgian HR Tech providers/market

- the similarity between the blind sailing of virologists and politicians in the corona crisis due to the lack of relevant data and HR professionals who often do the same in their field

HR Talks alternates between Dutch and French. The interviews are invariably about recent developments in HR and current socio-economic topics relevant to HR. The guests are HR professionals (CHRO, HR director/manager, L&D manager, recruitment manager, eHR system/tools manager, HRIS manager...), working in a company, government organisation or non-profit organisation. Sometimes the guest is a CEO / general manager, board member or line manager with an interesting vision on HR and not working for an HR service provider. The podcasts are monthly and last 20 to 25 minutes.

Sponsors: Bright Plus, SD Worx, Quintessence & GoodHabitz
Technical partner: ThePodcastFactory.org