Blandine Cordier-Palasse set up her recruitment firm fifteen years ago. Initially specialising in legal and compliance issues, BCP Partners is now active in other management functions, as well as providing advice on corporate governance. What are the advantages of recruitment by hunter in the current context? How do you approach compliance and risk management issues? Interview.
What is the scope of your activities?
BCP PARTNERS is a recruitment consultancy specialising in corporate functions such as general management, support departments - finance, HR, general secretariat, risk, with a historic 'niche' in legal and compliance departments, now extended to CSR.
When I set up the firm fifteen years ago, our business was exclusively in the legal sector. Our scope of intervention has broadened in response to the confidence of our clients and their needs. Twelve years ago, I co-founded the Cercle de la compliance, a professional association of compliance officers and advisers. This network has given me a thorough understanding of the market, the organisations and their managers, the compliance officers and the challenges faced by companies depending on their sector, culture, geopolitical exposure, etc. Thanks to this active involvement, we are now a leader in this field.
What is your approach to compliance?
For me, compliance is risk management. In addition to the traditional financial risks, non-financial and legal risks are becoming increasingly critical, particularly those relating to corruption, cartels, export control, sanctions and embargoes, conflicts of interest, human rights, child labour, etc. And in human resources, issues such as harassment, discrimination, parity and diversity are becoming increasingly important.
The company and its directors may be held liable under civil and criminal law. Consequently, the Legal and Compliance Departments have an important role to play in preventing these risks and in ensuring that managers and directors are not held to account. As a result of the growing number of standards and regulations, and the reduced tolerance of certain personal or professional actions, there are more and more cases of civil liability for managers, often leading to their dismissal. Not forgetting that these issues also have financial consequences, through the consequences of fraudulent behaviour, fines, the cost of ousting an executive, and so on. Compliance is therefore first and foremost risk management.
Hence the need to recruit in this area?
Absolutely. These functions are developing within companies, and we can see that the right candidates are increasingly operational, pragmatic and business-oriented. They contribute to risk management, support the business and make it a lever for organisational efficiency.
What do you focus on in terms of recruitment?
Cohesion is absolutely essential between general management and the support functions. That's why we pay a great deal of attention to ensuring that the personalities and skills of our managers are well matched. softskills of the candidate. Depending on the group's exposure, sector of activity, culture, etc., expectations will certainly differ.Do you also support smaller companies?
We work for companies of all sizes, from start-ups to international groups. The directors of a start-up developing a technology quickly understand the need to have a reliable legal director, in the same way as a financial director, to negotiate contracts in order to develop the company while protecting their interests, for example retaining ownership of their patents. Now that the law has become an economic weapon, they need to structure the legal aspects of what they are developing. Lawyers do not have the same role as an in-house legal director. And they are only as good as their in-house management.
Why turn to you in these circumstances?
In all these functions, there is a war for talent. You have to find the candidates who are already in the job and convince them to join the client. To do this, it's important to have a good knowledge of the market, the organisations, the job to be sold and to find the right candidates to make the perfect match! In this highly competitive market, it goes without saying that experience and legitimacy come into play.
My expertise in these fundamental subjects enables me to talk to managers and candidates in an operational way and to ask fairly technical questions, to the extent that clients or candidates are sometimes surprised!
Recruitment therefore requires an in-depth analysis of the situation...
It's an analysis that often involves looking at the company's strategy. When someone leaves, you can't replace them with a clone, because the company and its needs have changed: you need to understand the strategy for recruiting the right profile to help you achieve your objectives.
Does it have ambitions to expand in Asia?
We need to take this into account in the profile of the CEO or financial communications manager we are looking for, for example. In this new compliance business, the managing director or HR director appreciates having a hunter to help them define their needs. I have to say that this is an exciting phase for me, and one that also brings a lot to the client, who has a better understanding of what they can expect from an N-1, based on our discussions, the calibre, the positioning...
If the General Counsel, for example, is a member of the Executive Committee, he or she will be able to interact with his or her peers in real time, and will be familiar with the ins and outs of projects from their inception and strategic thinking. This will enable them to organise workflows more effectively and add value. In the USA, companies have clearly understood this strategic advisory role, and the General Counsel is the CEO's right-hand man. In France, however, much remains to be done to change attitudes.
Finally, we also offer another service: the evaluation of boards of directors and management committees. In addition to the external assessments that listed companies are required to carry out every three years, some executives appreciate the opportunity to review the way their governing bodies operate and are organised, with a view to improving communication and efficiency. We carry out a made-to-measure assessment using the 'forces present' prism. If the right people are in the right jobs with the right posture, if behaviour is aligned with values, if there is real leadership in management, then performance, efficiency and team buy-in will follow, to the benefit of the company's performance.
Interview by Matthieu Binder, for MEDEF Magazine
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