Rouen BS, Edhec, Reims MS, EM Lyon and ESCP Alumni HR Clubs Conference: the new training trends…

Rouen Business School and Reims Management School hosted the second HR clubs conference on their Parisian premises, which took a look into the future of training programmes with Laurent Reich, formerly from Cegos, and feedback on the use of a Serious Game launched by Suez Environnement, designed to facilitate incoming staff induction programmes.

The Paris Executive Campus room at the Executive Education Centre for RBS and RMS, was chock-a-block on Tuesday 16 June for our five schools’ HR clubs 2nd conference. Anne Ambrosini, our chair, welcomed this remarkable success by the business schools in question where the HR sector is not generally considered the most prominent discipline! And there’s more good news: HEC Human Resource club will join the EDHEC, Reims, Rouen, Lyon and ESCP BS Club next year.
The focus of the evening was on future training trends in the age of NICT.
Laurent Reich, who used to be in charge of learning programme development at Cegos and has now joined l’Oréal, then gave a multimedia and interactive demonstration. With 10 key words and 10 visuals, Laurent ingeniously invited us to think about the challenges facing training managers in organisations: does multimodal access to information (PC, smartphones, pads) make us more stupid as it does away with the need to learn, or does it give us greater access to knowledge? How much importance is given to supporting trainees to stack the learning bricks offered by organisations? How can we make the most of videoconferences as a training tool? How can NICT improve a training programme’s effectiveness? Why should social networks be included in programmes? How can we square shorter training modules with the time required for learning?
Then it was back to the here and now with the presentation of Ambassador, the Serious Game from Suez Environnement. Eric de la Guéronnière, director of skills development for the group, spoke about the underlying project: rather than showing an ordinary PowerPoint to the group’s new arrivals, they discover the different sectors and values at Suez Environnement through a video game. This game, designed for all new recruits, whatever their job or country, has to meet a number of requirements: it needs to be global, multilingual, attractive and flexible. Ambassador has already won several prizes in its category. The use of the HR premises is a key aspect of its successful implementation according to Eric.
Valérie Boudier, Director of KTM Advance, and author of Ambassador, concluded the meeting. She highlighted the gap between the private sphere, overwhelmed by technology (pads, smartphones, etc.) and the firm, where training tends to remain more traditional. As far as she’s concerned, the debate on face-to-face is irrelevant. At the same time, how can we train staff – especially managers- who hardly have time to breathe? This is the key challenge that needs to be met.
After a few brief questions (the presentations were long), the participants enjoyed a buffet and some lively discussions. There’s still plenty of room for the face to face!