2 « Evesian » women in the spotlight : Marie-Agnès Debar and Arielle Genton, founders and directors of Danone’s in-house coaching

One offers something to drink, the other comes in with a bottle of water. One rhapsodizes, the other adds explanations. When one speaks, the other takes notes… Blonde Marie-Agnès Debar and brunette Arielle Genton, founders and directors of Danone’s in-house coaching, complement one another nicely, but still have more in common than one might think. Some of those commonalities – important ones, at that – were the inspiration for their shared vocation: empathy, a passion for their work, and what Kris Geeraert, General Manager of Danone BeNeLux and one of their first “coachees,” neatly describes as “the desire to reinvent the future.”

To reinvent the future, both their own and those of the people whom they coach, through the new unit that they created and now lead, Leaders’ Perspectives. Internal corporate coaching? The idea was an innovative one: in the past, Danone typically called on outside consultants for employees requesting coaching. As a result, coaches would come in, make their assessments, hand over a roadmap, and leave. The concept here is different. It involves instilling the company’s values – values shared by both women, who have been with Danone for more than 20 years – as part of the guidance process known as “coaching.” This coaching is completely unique in yet another way: it is reserved solely for executives. Marie-Agnès Debar and Arielle Genton guide the development of Management Committees and their leaders.

End of 2012: Marie-Agnès Debar, then HR Director at HQ, was perfectly aware of the challenges of the upcoming changes at Danone. She was looking for the best way to support the people affected by the changing context. “Under the adaptation plan, many leaders had to reinvent themselves in order to reinvent their businesses.” It was then that she came up with the idea of launching an in-house team coaching project. “I believed too strongly in the power of relationships to embark on this adventure on my own,” explains Danone’s first Internal Executive Coach. And so she approached Arielle Genton, whose enthusiasm she appreciated, and, as Marie-Agnès Debar loves to tell it, “she said ‘Bingo!’“ The duo plays on their complementary natures, combining “lightheartedness with depth,” “dynamics with thoughtfulness” and “business-orientation with a human approach.”

In 2013, the project saw the light of day, within the context of a savings and adaptation plan. In response to flat growth, Danone had decided to create clusters, a new organizational level that completely redesigned the company in Europe. The project was an ambitious one – shifting from 67 Management Committees in Europe to 33 clusters in order to ramp up competitiveness and focus each level of management on projects that would be able to affect growth – but also led to the elimination of certain positions.

The two coaches wanted to turn this difficult stage into a learning opportunity, for both the people needing to be reassigned and the company itself. The women exercise their talents through their work with Management Committees. Kris Geeraert, then head of the Netherlands Management Committee, remembers the precious support provided by Marie-Agnès and Arielle in that context. “Instead of ‘team-building,’ they were able to do ‘team-dismantling’, which was certainly no easy feat,” commented Kris, excited by his experience with the two coaches.

They helped the team to identify a future for everyone, whether or not they stayed with the company. “Today, I look at each member’s current situation: everyone feels good about that difficult period and is satisfied with the end result. That was more than I had hoped for,” specifies the GM, before adding that the two women “are fascinated by the person behind the manager, are able to reconnect people with their aspirations, and provide great strength during times of change.”

Far from showing the usual resistance, the recomposed teams got back to work. This was because the two women were “empathetic,” because they were able to “show their vulnerability but also their precision in handling challenges,” and because they truly believed in their mission, which they themselves had created. “Placing my passion for coaching in the service of Danone” is how the project originator Marie-Agnès Debar defines her role, which she chose for herself upon graduating from Sciences Po. And as soon as she joined Danone’s Human Resources Department, she began to flourish. “My passion lay in discovering talents and in finding the right person for each job.” Through hiring, career management and training, she discovered “listening skills and discernment” in herself, which allowed her to help “individuals to find their place and to give the best of themselves.”

Making “work a real source of personal fulfillment” would become her specialty. Her passion for coaching only grew over the years. She underwent additional training in 2008 and rose up through the ranks, until she became the head office’s HR Director. When she met Arielle Genton in the early 1990s, she predicted that the latter would also wind up with a career in human resources. “At that time, I was in marketing, enjoying the creativity and fast pace that it demanded. I thought that HR sure seemed like a strange profession! What on earth can they be doing all day long?” smiles Arielle in honor of her colleague’s insight at the time. Although they were far apart, the two women stayed in touch as they pursued their careers at Danone. After marketing, Arielle would go on to spend 10 years in HR (in talent management, business partners, and as R&D Organizational Director), before setting off on the great adventure of social business, with danone.communities.

The coaches would refine their now finely-tuned technique in the space of a few months: one of them goes to a Management Committee meeting with 9 to 15 participating members, accompanied by an external coach selected based on the particulars of each assignment. One of the coaches works with the committee’s leader, in particular, while both of them support the entire team. A Management Committee struggling to reach its cruising speed does not have the same needs as a team that is about to be eliminated: to each its own coaching duo, specially adapted to the situation. Blocks of four to six sessions are organized, in which one coach handles the leader and both of them, the rest of the team. The group is “de-centered,” meaning they are taken out of their usual workplace, going instead to places where the landmarks are different. They are asked to leave their telephones in the cloakroom, to avoid the trap of the multi-tasking executive, and each of them then “gets down to work,” once the group’s objectives have been defined. Trust-building, business prioritization and decision-making are often on the menu when it comes to turning a group of individuals into a productive team.

“Take time to win fast” is the motto of the two women, who sign a code of ethics with their coachees, promising complete confidentiality. Each participant reconnects with him/herself, “head, heart and body,” and with their colleagues, in order to blend situational intelligence with relational intelligence.

The coaching time, when each participant questions him/herself individually and as part of the team, serves a “performance accelerator.” And today, the “lab” has become “land.” Marie-Agnès Debar and Arielle Genton are no longer satisfied with traveling to meet with Management Committees that reach out to them; they also issue accreditations to external coaches working with the group. All of this to ensure that coaching at Danone is in line with the company’s values. “Marc Benoit presented and supported us,” acknowledges Marie-Agnès. Thanks to him, the concept of in-house coaching was made official. “This shows a real commitment,” delights Kris Geeraert.

“They offer guidance that is adapted precisely to suit each need, so that transformation projects can be a success,” recognizes Catherine Lewko, SHAPE Project Director – Finance Business Services, who has enlisted their services on multiple occasions.

The two women, now closer-knit than ever, have drawn tremendous satisfaction and learned a great deal during their two years as coaches: “Collective awareness is higher than before,” stresses Marie-Agnès Debar. “Recognition now tends to be team-wide.” Both of them are thrilled with the experience thus far: “In the complex world of today, this collective intelligence will be a real factor in performance levels,” explains one of them. “When the outside world is spinning at a dizzying speed, with major internal projects like Danone 2020, the business gets stretched tight. This can create uncertainty, and even breed paralysis. We are there to reinject a dose of inspiration and help them to catch their breaths,” concludes Arielle Genton.

Article published courtesy of © MyDanone