Marine Dunou

It's August 2024 and my Axereal apprenticeship is coming to an end. After two wonderful years in the Legal and Labor Relations Department, I wanted to take advantage of this last blog post to express my sincere thanks to my lovely colleagues and my manager. 

Indeed, as soon as I joined the department, I was welcomed with open arms by the whole team, who immediately demonstrated their friendliness by taking me under their wing. 

This first professional experience enabled me not only to acquire solid skills, but also to forge strong bonds with my work colleagues.

So thank you, thank you for everything you've done for me, thank you to the entire Human Resources Department and, more generally, THANK YOU AXEREAL ! 

Since joining Axéréal in September 2022, I've noticed a significant change in my shyness and self-confidence. 

Indeed, after almost two years in the professional world and constant contact with the Human Resources Department, my shyness, which was once very present in my day-to-day life, has faded and even almost disappeared. 

The company environment was very welcoming, and my colleagues and manager immediately trusted me and gave me responsibilities throughout my apprenticeship, which had a considerable impact on my self-confidence. I felt considered, listened to and an integral part of the team. 

Now, speaking in public, interacting with people I don't know or advocating certain ideas to improve our daily lives are no longer barriers but real strengths. I'm very grateful for this first professional experience, which has given me a lot both personally and professionally.

Each year, staff in legal and employment relations roles are tasked with drafting all the company’s employment reports, including the employment statistics declarations for the Grain Chain and Group Teams, Axereal Elevage and Axiane Meunerie Economic and Social Units (ESUs). The aim is to obtain an overview of the human resources situation across the company for the year that has recently ended, here 2023, and to use this to look for potential avenues for improvement.

In total, we have eight reports to write: job reports, gender equality reports and Health, Safety and Working Conditions Commissions (CSSCT) reports for the three ESUs. This year, I wrote the gender equality report for the Axereal Elevage ESU and the CSSCT report for the Axiane Meunerie ESU.

Between January and April, our team put in a large amount of groundwork by producing the indicators for the employment statistics declaration, analysing them and lastly interpreting them in order to be able to write the reports. The pace of work was high, and weekly updates were held to check where we were up to with our various tasks.

Once the reports had been drafted in full, they were sent through to people at various hierarchical levels to be approved. Lastly, they were laid before the CSE (social and economic committee) for information and consultation.  The elected members of the committee made various comments and we included these in the reports so that they were as comprehensive and accurate as possible.

Last year, I found drafting the employment reports a very daunting and stressful experience, because it was the first time I had worked on a project that stretched over several months and required so much preparation and teamwork. This year, I was much more comfortable with the process and I really enjoyed writing the reports that were allocated to me.

Last month, I had the opportunity to take part in a ‘Continuous Improvement Workshop’. These events, which are specifically for the HR department and functions, take place once a fortnight. One representative attends from each HR division (pay, support, staff relations, training, recruitment and administration). The aim is to bring all the HR divisions together regularly to improve information flows between them and optimise processes.  

 For example, Excel masterclasses are going to be organised to enhance knowledge of the software and help those staff who are interested to become advanced users.

I found the whole experience very useful. It helped me to understand how varied the different divisions’ priorities are, and to find out about the solutions that are planned to make everyone’s work easier, all of which take as a given the need to provide good customer service to the department’s internal users. In my opinion, all companies should set up this type of workshop, because it helps improve current practice and reexamine processes on an ongoing basis. It also helps to strengthen the connections between the different divisions, which improves the performance of the business.

Once I’d completed my bachelor’s degree in law at Orleans University, I had a choice between a number of different master’s degrees. I’d studied employment law as a seminar option, and from very early on I’d found labour law particularly interesting, so I looked for a master’s in that field.

One of the courses offered at Orleans was a dual degree covering both labour law and human resources management. At that stage, human resources management was quite an abstract concept for me, because I didn’t really know what it involved. I did some research and quickly realised that it was an area I might enjoy, and that the two skillsets the course offered would be a real advantage in my future career. Within the first few days of term, I knew I’d made the right decision, and that this was where I wanted my career to take me. The same was true when I joined Axereal Group as employee relations apprentice. I immediately enjoyed managing staff members’ individual files, and I’m particularly interested in the issue of disability.

Ideally, by the middle of my career I’d like to be working as a human resources manager.

I was honoured to be invited, alongside another former apprentice, to act as MC at the Discover induction day held at the Château de La Ferté-Saint-Aubin.

Are you wondering what Discover is? It’s a community that brings together all of Axereal’s apprentices, interns, VIE volunteers and Erasmus students, around 120 in all. The community was created two years ago. The integration day is an opportunity for the students to get together and talk to one another, so that they can find out about one another’s roles, in particular between support functions and field staff.

The communications department invited me to act as the host for the day. I was asked to kick off by explaining my role in the Industrial Relations department and talk about a highlight of my apprenticeship with Axereal. I also had to present the day’s activities. It was a great experience for me because I’m actually quite nervous in front of an audience. I managed to step outside my comfort zone, which boosted my self-confidence! 

Various directors also presented some of the Discover community’s highlights from 2023.

 After a morning session shared by the whole community, a food truck pulled up to deliver our lunch, and then we split into teams to tackle a giant escape game set in the chateau. We had to use clues and question suspects to solve a mystery based on a real-life case. It was a fascinating activity. We all got very into it and quickly put on our detectives’ hats!

 The day finished up with refreshments over some little games, and we were given souvenirs to take away with us. 

As part of the gender equality agreement introduced by Axereal, I carried out a number of interviews with degree apprentices to find out whether they had been able to find their place in their respective teams and whether they felt well integrated.

First, I spoke to female apprentices working in a job that people sometimes think of as more “masculine” – technical sales representative. The findings were crystal clear! All of them thought that their profession is equally suited to men and women, and that what counts most is the skills that they bring to the job. They explained that they were very well integrated, which was not always the case in their previous work experiences.

Second, I spoke to male apprentices working in a job that people sometimes think of as more “feminine” – this time, in human resources. They told me that they’d only realised that there were so many women in this field when they joined the company, but that this didn't have any impact on their personal development in the job. Their colleagues were happy to welcome and work with them, whether they were men or women, and that’s what made the difference. They believe that these stereotypes are starting to disappear thanks to a shift in attitudes, which will benefit men who might otherwise be reluctant to seek fulfilment in a HR position.

Finally, I had the opportunity to talk to a female civil engineering apprentice who was given a permanent contract after her apprenticeship. She’s also in a job that is often considered as “masculine”, but she repeatedly insisted on the fact that she felt fulfilled in her work and that she enjoyed very good relations with her colleagues. She explained that she was always treated in the same way as her colleagues and that they never made any difference due to her being a woman.

Given these very positive findings, I realised that both men and women are able to look beyond the preconceptions surrounding their profession and that’s a good thing, because they now find fulfilment in their work. I very much enjoyed conducting these interviews because it helped me explore the diversity issue, to make a clear link with the agreement introduced in the company, and to think about potential measures to guarantee diversity at all times.

As part of my job, I had the opportunity to organise a para-basketball tournament in partnership with the Loiret Handisport organisation. 
Para-basketball is a team sport open to people with or without disabilities. Each player is given a number of points from 1 to 5, depending on their disability. In the national A and B divisions, a team on the court must not exceed a total 14.5 points.

To organise the tournament, the first step was to promote the project. To do that, I gave a presentation to employees at the Axereal head office one lunchtime, published an article on the intranet, and put up posters at head office, working with the Communications department. We needed to raise interest among staff, and it worked because around 15 people signed up.

Next, we arranged a training session with the para-basketball team to get to know them, to learn the rules of para-basketball and get used to the wheelchairs.

The actual tournament took place on 13 June this year, with a few spectators who came along to support us. The event ended with a buffet meal and the handout of some souvenirs. We all had a great time and it was quite an emotional occasion.

The aim of this tournament was to set up a partnership with the Loire Handisport organisation, to raise staff’s awareness of disability issues, as part of our disability policy, and to have some fun together. I really enjoyed taking part in this project, which was an opportunity to gain more independence and develop my interest in the topic. In fact, I have chosen disability as the subject of my dissertation.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who took part in the European Disability Employment Week (EDEW). ( from 20-24 November 2023)