The Directorate of Relations of Local Communities of the Orange Group (DRCLG) has the mission to build and maintain relationships of influence with elected officials and local decision-makers. This territorial presence and these close relationships are a key pillar of Orange’s strategy.
That is why Orange wanted to support its employees in their Development of collaborative practices in the service of territorial influence.
Jean-Louis Batany, As Director of the Delegation Management Department within the Group’s Directorate of Community Relations, he provides us with his testimony on the training program implemented by talenco for deploy collaborative work and new agile working methods within the Directorate.
«This training had the primary impact of releasing energy and a certain fluidity. It allowed everyone to (…) envision solutions for working differently using other methods.»
Jean-Louis Batany
Director of the Department of Management of the Regional Delegations
Orange (Local Communities Relations Group)
How did you identify the need to develop collaborative work?
Jean-Louis Batany: We wish to build a partnership relationship, be close to the communities and support all the communities in using the very high-speed fixed and mobile internet connections; we also want to help them work on their transformation and support them so that citizens can use all the tools related to digital technology.
In this context, we started from the observation that it was necessary accelerate our transformation and our way of working internally as well as externally and develop more fluid relationships vis-à-vis of our interlocutors.
How to nurture its transformation and develop new collaborative practices?
J.-L. B.: The development of collaborative practices requires new behaviors, a new way to exchange and work in a network. This also involves a new posture, Specific elements to be observed on the ground and integrated into daily activities in order to streamline work, facilitate exchanges, and promote the effectiveness of the employee and of Orange towards the territorial communities.
When trying to provide a response to a territory, a community or a company, there are always special cases: the teams must be attentive, analyze the requests, and decipher them internally… The Collaborative work allows internal teams (services, technicians, partners) to capture information and organize it so that the community's request is met in a timely manner.
This mode of operation is systemic. It is enhanced by technologies and tools, but The development of the relationship, the closeness, the way we address our customers, partners and colleagues requires daily work. and to adjust our way of working regularly.
What training program did you set up with talenco?
J.-L. B.: talenco has been a loyal partner of Orange since 2014! After supporting us in the use of social networks, today talenco supports us in the Development of cooperative work in the service of territorial influence.
Jean-Louis Batany (Orange)
We decided to develop the training course «Collaborative practices at the service of positive influence»* after extensive discussions with talenco about our working methods, after carefully analyzing our needs and identifying what would best suit us to be effective with the communities. Given the health situation, we decided to adapt the implementation process flexibly.
*2-day tailor-made course designed and deployed by talenco in spring 2021 for the 120 employees of the DRCLG
What were the feedback from your employees?
J.-L. B.: The returns were very good at a time when the health situation was critical, especially in professions based on interpersonal relationships.
This training had the first impact of release energy and a certain fluidity. This allowed everyone to pause, analyze their activity, and glimpse possible solutions. working differently with other methods and tools. It was extremely well received.
Collaborative work helps us to see our priorities, To prioritize them, to correct our failures, mistakes, and false paths…
What are the benefits for your management and for Orange?
J.-L. B.: Internally, there is a very strong commitment to the brand. These collaborative practices contribute to the value I want to bring to the territories.
This involves: self-improvement work for the employee who must become aware of their place within the company and embody the Orange Group’s values towards the territorial communities through collaborative work. talenco has managed to crystallize these strengths, bring them together, and give meaning and value to our actions.
I can be a very good advocate for talenco’s actions because, in order to implement new work methods, it is important to have support. This allows for realizing our own ways of functioning, to bring an analytical perspective to bear, to bring it to a provider who can synthesize it, to guide us, to advise us, We recommend easy-to-adopt methodologies.
More broadly, what is your vision of the future of work?
J.-L. B.: This will be embedded in a closeness that will develop, in the ability to better qualify information to bring it to the right level.
I realized it, Networked work is key, powerful and effective. It involves an ideal personal organization and behaviors that allow for strong efficiency in developing our business.
In the era of 5G, working in a relational mode allows us to multiply our strength of action and our effectiveness towards the territorial communities.
A big thank you to Jean-Louis Batany for his inspiring testimony about collaborative work!
