Feedback from CASDEN Banque Populaire

Testimony of Laurent Burguière, Deputy Managing Director of CASDEN Banque Populaire

CASDEN Banque Populaire is the cooperative bank for the civil service, and a member of Groupe BPCE. For over 60 years, it has supported teachers, researchers, hospital staff, local authority employees and, more broadly, all public sector employees in their projects, with a comprehensive range of savings, loans and banking services. Faithful to its cooperative model, it places the collective interest and proximity at the heart of its action.

Why contact Infortive?

It all started with a recommendation. We had worked with a former IT director at Natixis (BPCE group), who went on to join an IT consulting firm. When I told her we were looking for a transitional CIO, after a period when I'd been directly in charge myself, she advised me to contact Infortive. She explained that Infortive was both an interim management firm and a community of interim CIOs who helped each other out.

We had also approached the firm that had already placed two people with us in the IT department, as well as two other firms. But we chose to work with Infortive for several reasons:

• In every exchange, Hajar showed real motivation, took the mission to heart and expressed an energy far superior to that of the competitors. Her personality and commitment were decisive for me.
• The quality of the profiles on offer.
• Clarity and attractiveness of contractual arrangements.
• A real match between profiles, interviews and price.
• And above all, an excellent understanding of our needs, in terms of both technical skills and human qualities. Our cooperative bank has a very specific environment in terms of governance and management. Infortive was able to identify profiles that had already evolved in similar contexts, particularly mutualist ones.

The profiles were of high quality, and Jérôme Marsaud's short-list came out on top, even though he exceeded the budget I'd set myself. His interview with the General Manager and the Human Resources Director - we were very cautious about this recruitment in view of the transformations to be carried out - finally convinced us.

What technical or managerial qualities did you notice in the Transition CIO?

We were already involved in an unprecedented transfer of activities (42 employees transferred to the Group). The social aspects were well organized, but we had to support the move. The first stages went well, and we quickly realized that Jérôme was the right choice. We therefore extended his assignment. The investment is substantial, but its added value fully justifies it.

With Jérôme, particularly because he is a Transition CIO, I appreciated :

• His ability to adapt very quickly to the context and the people he's dealing with. This is essential: we can't wait six months for him to be operational.
• His role as "bad cop" vis-à-vis certain suppliers or the group. As he has no long-term career stakes, he can be demanding, even in form. This is very useful: he can go to the front on sensitive issues, and then we find compromises. He himself says not to hesitate to use him as a battering ram to break down doors.

How did the team react?

There was an observation phase - as there would have been for internal recruitment. Very quickly, they saw that he had the expected technical level, which is essential for IT specialists. Above all, he had the right reflexes when faced with problems and supported them in certain situations, notably when they wanted to impose an additional workload on us.

He has found the right balance between his external posture and his operational involvement. What I like about his style is that it's direct, but always with excellent interpersonal intelligence and pragmatism. He gets straight to the point, and the teams appreciate this clear, simple language.

He is also respected by his peers, the company's other directors, and perfectly integrated into the managerial rituals, right up to the staff committee. In fact, I integrate him as if he were the incumbent CIO.

What next?

We're so pleased that we're now considering Infortive as a headhunter for our future CIO.

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Thanks to Laurent Burguière for sharing his feedback‍