France and Belgium

Tatiana Laffargue Pauline Pichon

International Human Ressources

The content:• Introduction• I) Context: economics politic and culture• a) Economics• b) Politics• c) Culture

• II) Labour market trends • a) Generality• b) Different worker categories

• III) Management and organisation• a) Formality and bureaucracy • b) Elitism and intellect• c) C)Strategic awareness and internal partneship and empowerment of line

managers• IV) Managing human ressources• a) Recruitment and selection • b) Training and development • c) Rewards and remuneration • d) Industrial actions and disputes

• Conclusion

Introduction:

• Both countries are part of E.U. • In common: history, culture, institutional infrastructure and

political orientation.• Share same borders• Since 2002, same money device: Euro

• France: spoken language french• Belgium: French is the second spoken language after flemish• Shift in managing employees in Belgium compare to french

Belgium and France: indicator in 2009

Country Belgium FranceArea 30,528 643,427Population 10,414,336 64,420,073GDP growth rate in %

-2.7% -2,5%

Inflation rate 0 0.1

Source: CIA world fact book, 2010.

I) Contexts: economics, politics and cultureA) Economics• Most industrialized and advanced economies of the Western

World.• Belgium:• Main industry: engineering, metal products, motor vehicle

assembly, processed food, vegetable, sugar beets and tobacco• Reputation to transform raw material into finished goods.• Main trade partners are from the EU

• France:• Main industry: steel,machinery, chemicals, automobile, metallurgy,

aircraft, electronics, mining, textiles, food processing and tourism.• Manufacturing is the backbone of the French economic strength• Main export and import: EU, African colonies, Middle East, Asia

• B) Politics

C) Culture

• The southern part of the Belgium is very similar to France.

• Both are high on individualism, uncertainty avoidance, low on masculinity and high on power distance.

• A high concern for employment security and emloyee freedom.

• Both countries have a significant presence of different ethnic groups (North Africans, Indo-Chinese, Africans and East Europeans.

II) Labour market trends

France Belgium

Population 64 million 28 million

Active people 5 million 10 million

Min working age 18 (16 smt) 15≈18

Standard working week 35h 38h

Min annual holiday 25 days 20 days

Sector Belgium France

Agriculture 2 3.8

Industry 25 24.3

Services 73 71.8

A) Generality

• Belgium has a lower unemployment rate than France• Highest rank of unemployment are the less educated and

the unskilled young people (under 25years old.)• France and Belgium governments took initatives to help:• Young people <25 years old• Old people >55 years old• Long-term unemployed

2006 2007 2008 2009

Belgium 8.3 7.5 7.0 7.0

France 9.3 8.3 7.9 7.4

Unemployment rate

B) Unemployment

C) Different worker categories

Part time worker• Most popular form of

flexible working practices in Fr and B:• Part-time work• Annual hours• Temporary work

Female participation• France: rate in

employment above the EU average: 57.6% in 2005• W:Excellent provision of

child care• Belgium: rate in

emplyment: 53.8% in 2005• W More educated than

men, but most are part time workers.

Part time workers 1996 2006

France 16% 17.2% w: 31%Belgium 15.7% 23.2% w: 43%

Migrant labour

• Large pop. of migrant workers in both countries from African colonies, recently from Central and Eastern Europe.• Immigrant policies tightened to control the flow• Issue: illegal migrant who work in agriculture and

construction.• Number of migrant has increased

Older working population (Between 55 and 64 years old

• France and Belgium do not suffer of an ageing population.• Belgium’s employment rate was 31.8% in 2005• France’s one was 37.9% in 2005.• French governments• Mobilizing older people = reduce pensions

III) Management and organisation 

• The practice of management in Belgium and France is influenced by:

- national laws- Regulations - EU directives- Socio-economic and politic changes- Global competitive pressures

• French and Belgium HR managers play a significant role in the process of decision making.

• Approach to management: - Formalized and bureaucratized - Respect for hierarchy and status is very important

• Respect for hierarchy: its unusual to adress one’s superior by the first name or in the informal « you ». We use «sir», «mrs » or « miss » to talk to managers and between the provider and the receiver of a service.

• Communication in French and Belgium organizations is very dependent on the written word on paper.

• In the French-speaking regions (Wallonia and France) communication is often top-down.

• In large power distance countries organizations structures are hierarchical and subordinates rely on their leaders.

• Formalities and bureaucratic procedures are apparent in communication process and also in HRM functions, especially in recruitement and selection procedures

A) Formality and bureaucracy

• The francophone approach to management is very elitist and intellectually driven

• The concept of « cadres » used to describe a manager it implies a form of implicit rigidity in delegating power and making decisions from the top and passing them down the hierarchy.

• It’s difficult to find the exact meaning of the concept of « cadre » but it is synonymous with success and elite.

• In Belgium and France lots of words define the act of managing and imply a level of authority and prestige: « gérant », »directeur », « chef », « patron ».

• These words reflet the importance given to the elite in a social system where people operate according to an « honour system »

B) Elitism and intellect

C) Strategic awareness

• In both countries HR managers are very involved in corporate strategy development.

• Management functions in many French and Belgian organizations are a shared reponsibility between all departments.

• Thanks to specific training, line managers have become more expert in human ressource management.

IV) Managing human ressources

A) Recruitment and selection

• Both countries use traditional methods though they differ slightly. • The use of international recruitment agencies is

limited.• More employers use internet to promote while job

seekers use it as well.• To attract diversity, French company use US and

European website translated into English.

The practice of HRM in Fr and B mirrors the characteristics of the Francophone approach to management.

Characteristics France Belgium

Application form More Less

Interviews Less More

Reference More Less

Graphology More than any country in the world

Less

Psycometric tests Very limited Very limited

Assessment centres Very limited Very limited

• Generally, in France and Belgium we commonly find: application forms, interviews and reference.• Internet is widely use for recruitment but less for the purpose of selection

• While Belgians promote internal recruitment in colleges and universities, French recruit graduates for job directly in prestigious school.

B) Training and development• In both countries education is free and obligatory from the age

of 6 to 16 in France and from 6 to 18 in Belgium

• To reduce youth enemployment a number of vocational training schemes have been introduced:

Belgium France

- Vocational education is provided in parallel with a general secondary education.

- Vocational training has been incorporated as part of secondary school education.

Belgium France

- Vocational training through technical and vocational lessons in full time secondary education.

- Vocational education schools provide technical, vocational and art training

- Apprenticeship employment for the 16/25 age group.

- In workplace and in apprentice training centres. (CFA - contrat de qualification)

• Vocational trainings differ from one community to another in Belgium

German-speaking community

Flemish French

Does not provides apprenticeship training outside secondary school

Provides apprenticeship training in industry and in medium size entreprises (part-time study)

Vocational training in schools and in medium size organizations and with self-employed proffesionals

There are laws to reduce inequalities in skills and knowledge created by the education system among the French workforce.

Employees are expected to gain the skills needed through trainings.

Full time employees are entitled to paid educational leave if they or their employers identify the need for training.

Each regions introduced their own rules

C) Reward and remuneration

• Jobs are evaluated on specific criteria:• Level of knowledge• Level of responsibility• Level of complexity

• The salaries are negociated between:• The employer and the trade union• The employer and the employee• The employer by himself

Minimum wage

• SMIC • The rise of the SMIC take in

account:• Inflation and purchasing

power of the average basic hourly pay of manual workers.

Performance-related pay

Countries SMIC

France 1,321€

Belgium 1,336€

• In private sectors, in public sectors since 1980s

• It is based on special criteria

• For ex: if improved performance are seen, gain up to 20% bonus from your salary

Trade Union

• France: not recognized until 1884• Socialist government introduced new reforms to

consolidate the right of workers.• Trade unions are organized at the national level into

confederations.• Belgium: less militant and more restricted in their

activities by binding collective agreements and employment laws.• Trade unions are organized into confederations and

federation at national, regional and local levels.

D) Industrial actions and disputes 

Industrial actions• In Belgium strikes are allowed

but the law is not clear about what does constitute legal strike action. So very often employers protest against workers and win.

• They could have penalties

• Strikes are allowed but they are sometimes violent.

• The right to strike is a right in France since July 16, 1971.

Industrial dispute

• In both countries there are laws about the settlement of industrial disputes where we can find all procedures (conciliation, mediation, arbitration).

France Belgium

First-instance labour / Half of the members are elected by employees and the other half by employers.

The judicial code was introduced in 2005.

Deals with all individual and collective cases.

They can go to the court but they can also consider other dispute settlement procedures such as mediation or conciliation

Conclusion• Management in Belgium and France is mainly characterized by

bureaucracy and formalization moreover there is a high respect for intellect, elitism and strategic awareness.

• There is a high level of unemployment in both countries and there are flexible working practices. These last years we could have seen a growth in female employment and lots of immigrants. Moreover lots of workers are old.

• Concerning selection methods they are relatively the same: interviews, psychometric tests, assessment centres and references it changes according to the level of the offer.

• Despite the move towards more individualized payment systems, collective wage agreements are still favoured by trade unions and by organizations

• Belgians are less militant and they are more controlled by laws.