Currently, the job market in retail is particularly tight. So, to remain optimistic, some feedback is good to hear when a recruitment is successful. Marc-Antoine Étourneau, director of the E.Leclerc center in Clisson, and Damien Duhamel, BVP manager, agreed to testify about their positive and fruitful collaboration with the Alphéa Conseil de Nantes.
A satisfied recruiter
1. Several vacancies
As store manager, Marc-Antoine Étourneau approached the services of Alphéa Conseil to recruit two employees. One of the positions had meanwhile been filled internally, by Alphéa Nantes, headed by Laurent Escarieux, associate manager Centre Ouest, focused on recruiting a bakery, viennoiserie, patisserie manager, a position that had been vacant for two years.
"The store is located in the "countryside", so to speak, three quarters of an hour south of Nantes. As a result, it's difficult to attract candidates," explains the E.Leclerc center manager. "This situation is compounded by the tightness of the market, particularly for food trades such as caterer, fishmonger, butcher, etc. To recruit our staff, many of whose positions are vacant, we also work with four temporary employment agencies. Fortunately, management positions are fairly stable," adds Marc-Antoine Étourneau.
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The store, which practices a lot of internal promotion, also mobilizes its network and relationships with various partners to recruit for certain positions, via apprenticeships in particular. For the rest, it delegates more difficult recruitments to professionals.
2. Transparent recruitment
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Marc-Antoine Étourneau looks back on his collaboration with Alphéa Conseil : "It went very well. Right from the pre-selection stage and throughout the recruitment process, I was informed when the firm met with a candidate. Everything was always completely transparent."
One of Alphéa Conseil's special features is to send detailed reports on each of the shortlisted candidates. Marc-Antoine Étourneau was able to benefit from these:
"I appreciated receiving a precise description of each profile, with its strengths and areas for improvement. It also helps to get an outside,
very realistic, view of the candidate."
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Laurent Escarieux of Alphéa Conseil provided support upstream, during recruitment and after hiring. "We were in regular contact about the progress of the process. Once hired, the consultant continued to monitorthe integration of the new recruits, usually by e-mail or telephone," comments Marc-Antoine Étourneau.
Today, the centre E.Leclerc de Clisson continues to recruit and seeks cooks, caterers, sales advisors, self-service employees and order pickers.
A well-supported employee
Damien Duhamel has been selected for the position of bakery, viennoiserie, patisserie (BVP) manager.
1. A diverse career
After a brevet de maîtrise en pâtisserie, Damien Duhamel cut his teeth as G.O pâtissier at Club Med, where he learned not only to make pastries from a variety of nationalities, but also to experiment with different types of management. After some self-employed experience, he joined the mass retail, notably as a department manager in an E.Leclerc center, where he stayed for six years, then department manager for a rival chain, which he left after two years, to find a more flexible way of working.
Early in 2020, his current manager approached him, as he was looking for a BVP manager and directed him to the agency in charge of recruitment, Alphéa Conseil Nantes. After an initial telephone interview, Damien Duhamel undergoes two further face-to-face interviews, as well as psycho-technical tests, before meeting his future employer.
Today, the BVP manager really likes his job and the way he can do it at the E.Leclerc center in Clisson:
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"I have more autonomy than before: I make my inventories, my dashboards, I calculate my margins, my profitability and I take part in recruiting my employees. What's more, two days a month, I accompany the buyer to the central purchasing office to carry out negotiations on BVP products, chocolate and packaging."
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2. Regular follow-up
Damien Duhamel looks back on his experience with Alphéa Conseil:
"Laurent Escarieux really took into account my expectations and the company's needs. He's a straightforward person, who knows how to put people at ease and, above all, is a great listener. I still keep in touch with him from time to time."
The BVP manager also remembers the integration stage on his current position and the support he received from Alphéa Conseil:
"Laurent Escarieux followed me on a regular basis; he didn't just drop me!"He visited me several times at the store to check that everything was going well, as my challenge was to get the team back afloat. I benefited from very good support."
3. A new organization
Today, Damien Duhamel manages a team of 16 people in BVP.
To combat recruitment difficulties in his own way, he tries to fidelize his employees, with some success since there is no turnover in his team.
"The team is very close-knit and supportive; I was able to see this during the Covid-19 period when people were filling in for absent colleagues." Damien Duhamel's other recipe? Change the way work is organized. "People want time with their families, a higher salary and more consideration. I took action where I could, particularly on schedules."
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So, the BVP manager has implemented rotations to ensure that everyone has one weekend a month free, as well as one Monday. This is rare enough in the retail sector to merit a mention.
