Montpellier Business School is the first and only Grande Ecole to have its human resources department recognized by the French government for its efforts to promote diversity. Demonstrating its values through its actions, the school initiated policies to promote equal opportunity in employment, in partnership with the group FACE Hérault, which helps businesses with such initiatives.

“Our participation in Equilia puts our belief in diversity and openness into action,” said Geneviève Debas-Lorang, head of the school's human resources department, speaking of a FACE Hérault program that promotes equality between men and women in the workplace. Since 2005, the school has been among the group of organizations participating in FACE Héraultprograms, through Montpellier's Chamber of Commerce.

Promoting Equality

Every month, participants in Equilia visit the premises of one of their fellow participating companies to attend a presentation on a method used to promote equality. Among the themes proposed for the year 2010-2011 were: promoting women's access to positions of responsibility, changing perceptions and stereotypes about occupations in business and developing flexible schedules.

In March, it was Montpellier Business School's turn to welcome about 20 human resources managers and consultants. “The school's presentation generated a lot of interest and helped undo some clichés, notably that Grandes Ecoles recruit only a certain segment of students,” said Debas-Lorang. She also showed the relationship between the values ​​advocated by the school and team management.

Equal Pay

In her presentation, Debas-Lorang explained her skills-centered approach. Tools used for the classification and weighting of posts allow, among other things, objective criteria to be applied to salaries and to avoid the risk of unequal treatment. The job descriptions are written, then analyzed and “weighted” by a joint committee, consisting of HR and union representatives, and run by a consultant who oversees the weighting process. Each job is assigned a number of points using skills criteria; the points are then converted into a salary. Therefore the roles and responsibilities of the posts determine the wages. “They allow us to focus on the skills and not the person,” Debas-Lorang said.

Helping Job Seekers Find Work

The human resources department does not stop there. Over the past year, Debas-Lorang has been mentoring a person who had been looking for work for six months. “We start by identifying the skills and knowledge acquired from previous experiences, then we rewrite the resume by including those skills,” Debas-Lorang said. Then HR and job seekers determine avenues for job research. Mentors also make their entire network of contacts available.

The mentoring process may also include giving advice about dress codes or presentation. “The people we mentor are generally highly motivated, ready to make changes and to progress. Mostly, they need encouragement and professional guidance.” Apparently, this is a formula that works well, as the two job seekers mentored by HR have found jobs.

The Association FACE Hérault

FACE Hérault was created in January 2002 on the initiative of the Fondation Agir Contre l'Exclusion and André Vezinhet, president of the Hérault general council. FACE's mission is to initiate concrete actions to prevent and combat exclusion, promote equality of opportunity and encourage social diversity within companies; to help companies move toward equal treatment, and if they wish, toward diversity; and to facilitate communication between companies, their officers and employees, and local community associations.

FACE by the Numbers:
• 1,200 companies involved in the Hérault department
• 433 active companies, including 143 members
• 6,141 beneficiaries in 2009
• 63% of the beneficiaries in 2009 found employment 
• 242 junior high school students educated about business
• More than 600 companies educated on the issue of discrimination

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