Marc Ernst, the founder and director of HRMinfo.eu, talks in French with Maud Larochette, Chief Finance Officer & HR director at N-Side.

Ms Larochette is French and this episode of HR Talks is therefore a French-language edition.

Maud Larochette is one of those HR directors who is also responsible for the financial management of her company. She was also interim CEO of N-Side for a while.

Her unique profile allows her to zoom out, to do HR with a helicopter view. And by extension, to do the same in the field of financial management.

N-SIDE is a deep tech company. Founded more than 20 years ago, it is headquartered in Louvain-la-Neuve and also operates in the US market where it also has an office. 

In life sciences, N-SIDE streamlines the clinical supply chain of pharmaceutical and biotech companies by accelerating clinical plans, reducing risk and eliminating drug waste. Half of the world's major pharmaceutical groups use N-SIDE's technologies and solutions.

The company has over 200 employees (it should double that number by 2027) and employs more than 30 nationalities. It is also a very women-friendly company as it has 40% women in management positions.

N-SIDE was recognised last year as a Trends Gazelle, as a fast-growing company. It was also awarded by Deloitte as Best Managed Company and won both the Great Place to Work and Best Workplace in Belgium certifications.

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Sponsors :  Flowsparks, Cornerstone, GoodHabitz & NXT People
Technical partner : ThePodcastFactoryOrg

Dries Reynders & Arne Knapen, both co-founders of Eqip, a communication agency specialised in recruitment campaigns and employer branding, explain their vision and approach. They do so in Dutch.

This is a sponsored episode of HR Talks. The content of the sponsored podcasts is the responsibility of our partners.

Interested in a sponsored episode (up to 15 minutes long) of HR Talks? Mail to sales@HRMinfo.net (Subject: Sponsored HR Talks)

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Technical partner: ThePodcastFactory.org
Sponsor:  Eqip (Employer branding agency)

Marc Ernst, founder and director of HRMinfo.eu, talks in Dutch & French or about 48 minutes with Guido Perremans the CEO of Armonea. Mrs Perremans  also switches continuously and fluently between the language of Vondel and that of Voltaire.

With over 60 residential care centres, service flats and residences, Armonea is the largest independent provider of senior care in Belgium. It employs over 6000 people. Armonea is part of the international Colisee group which, in addition to Belgium, is also active in France, Spain, Italy and China and employs over 19,000 people worldwide.

Mr Perremans is a former HR director and worked as an HR professional for companies including Alcatel, Attentia and Atalian. At the latter he was European HR director and later became CEO for Belgium and regional manager for the Benelux.

He is one of the few, rather rare HR professionals to have made it to CEO. This phenomenon is not typical for Belgium, by the way, but worldwide. Why this happens and what to do about it: that's one of the many themes that were discussed in this new episode of HR Talks, the podcast for those who really have something to say and to tell in the HR field.

In addition, the following topics were also discussed - amongst others:

• is 'HR = Finance = Business'? - The title of Chris Burggraeve's presentation/webinar (Guido Perremans' answer is a resounding YES: according to him, HR should concern itself more with figures (P&Ls & KPIs) and with the business. More than that: if it doesn't make a demonstrable contribution to the business, HR is implausible and actually superfluous because it has no added value).
• How can HR present itself as an effective business partner and, with good reason, be part of the management committee? (The latter is the exception rather than the rule in smaller and medium-sized companies, and even in 20% of large companies it is not the case)
• What should be the 'output' of HR ? (According to Guido Perremans, this should be, more than is usually the case today, in the area of ESG: Ecology, Social and Governance. All too often HR limits itself to process-oriented output).

This edition of HR Talks is special because it is completely bilingual: Marc Ernst, founder & director of BizInfo/HRMinfo, alternates between Dutch and French with his podcast guest who also switches continuously and fluently between the language of Vondel and that of Voltaire.
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Sponsors:  MobieTrain, SD Worx, Flowsparks
Technical partner: ThePodcastFactory.org