Feedback from Veolia

Stéphanie Quirino, HR Manager at VWIS, the Information Systems Division of Veolia's Water business in France, shares her experience with Infortive. She describes how Infortive was able to respond effectively to Veolia's urgent need for specific IT profiles. Thanks to the Headhunting + Interim Management combo offer, Veolia was able to maintain its operations while finding the ideal candidates for critical positions. Discover the challenges, solutions and results of this successful collaboration.

Why did you call on Infortive? What was at stake for you?

We started working with Infortive as part of a search for two positions, as we needed to merge four managerial positions into two. We needed support to find profiles that we couldn't find internally, due to a lack of candidates. These were two very specific IT manager profiles: expertise in connectivity and networking, and "Workspace" expertise specialized in Google work environments, requiring strong experience with this environment. We had two teams without a manager, which posed serious problems, particularly for their management and day-to-day running. We also had a major strategic challenge to manage over the year with these recruitments.

What did you think of Infortive's Headhunting + Interim Management combo?

Infortive's offer proved to be an ideal solution, as it consisted of providing two interim managers who would be operational immediately to manage two of our teams, while we continued our search for permanent candidates. This solution enabled us to maintain continuity of operations while taking the time to find the perfect candidate, particularly as our internal recruitment processes are fairly lengthy.

Infortive also helped us find profiles that we wouldn't have been able to identify on our own. Connectivity and Workspace are very specific skills, with profiles for which there are many requests. Without Infortive's help, we wouldn't have progressed as quickly as we had hoped.

Did you already know about interim management?

Yes, but we'd never approached it like that. In the past, we'd bring in a service provider for a one-off need, and if the need became more permanent, we'd offer to hire the service provider.

We had never envisaged using an interim manager on a temporary basis in a permanent position, to ensure the day-to-day running of the business while awaiting final recruitment.

How did Infortive support you in your role?

I think Interim Management should be led by HR, whether it's for a departure to be managed quickly, or for a transition with a view to hiring later.

As our HR team is relatively small, the support of a specialized firm is essential, especially for specific, and sometimes tense, positions. Infortive has an extensive network, which is vital in the IT sector for finding quality profiles. Their method of validation by peers and their rigorous follow-up really reassured us throughout the process. This avoids a situation where the person is missing skills that they had put on their CV, and so we don't have to start a new recruitment process. Peer-reviewed profiles are more reliable, so there's a kind of guarantee.

What qualities or skills have you particularly appreciated in Transition Managers?

The two Interim Managers adapted and took up their posts extremely quickly. Within one or two weeks at most, they had already taken up their posts at 100%, they were already operational, the projects were launched, and the teams met, as if they had always been there.

What impact do interim managers have?

When one of the Interim Managers started out, it immediately influenced the manager of the team recruiting the CDI profile, as he realized that the Interim Manager was a "rare pearl", and naturally wanted someone similar for the CDI position.

However, the hiring manager also realized that the expectations of a permanent position are ultimately different from those of an interim manager. This experience helped us to take stock of the profile we really wanted. We're well aware that an interim manager sells his expertise, and that's what quickly becomes apparent. But above all, it's a profile that's difficult to settle down because it likes to change, and in general, its skills are over-dimensioned in relation to the permanent position, and above all, to manage the team over the long term, it's not exactly the same profile that's needed.

The Interim Manager will then set the course, and his successor will simply have to follow in his footsteps.

Would you recommend Infortive's services to other HR managers?

Yes, 100%. Everything is going very well with Infortive. Follow-up is rigorous and the team knows how to adapt to our constraints. Thanks to them, we've been able to secure critical workstations and move ahead with our projects without interruption. I have no hesitation in recommending them to any company with similar needs.

The implementation of the interim managers was extremely well managed, and the managers were always present and involved at every stage. As regards the recruitment of a permanent manager, we have already found a candidate for the two profiles we were looking for: the process began in mid-March and we finalized the recruitment at the end of June.

Infortive adapted perfectly to our constraints, despite our managers' very busy schedules. The Infortive teams were in contact with the operational staff via the Transition Managers integrated into our teams. They were able to mobilize the managers who were recruiting on permanent contracts, so as to keep up the pace of the recruitment process and secure the right profiles.

Caroline and Isabelle, who were in charge of headhunting at Infortive, sent us regular e-mail updates, and we had weekly progress checks: they made sure that candidates had been met, CVs had been reviewed, etc. They really adapted to our needs. They really adapted to our needs.

What's more, having a single firm to support us in the recruitment of both interim managers and permanent staff enables us to be more agile in our transformation.

At the moment, we're keen to keep one of the two interim managers on board as he's carrying out an in-depth transformation, so we've decided to put the search for candidates on hold over the summer, as it's difficult to find candidates during this period. The Transition Manager is doing an outstanding job, enabling us to relaunch the recruitment process in September, with a view to taking up the position in January 2025. The tripartite structure gives the Transition Manager sufficient visibility, enabling us to put the recruitment process on standby without undue pressure from outside firms.

Thanks to Stéphanie Quirino for agreeing to be interviewed.