« A company is a true place for living, sharing and fellowship »

Publication: La Croix L’Hebdo·Published: 15 March 2024·Pages: 11 to 16·Journalists: Marie Dancer and Nicolas Senèze·Photos: Bruno Fert for La Croix L’Hebdo·Section: The Conversation

For their president Pierre Guillet, transparency is the key to building trust within a company and weathering difficult times.

At the national conference of Entrepreneurs et dirigeants chrétiens, held from 15 to 17 March 2024 in Bordeaux under the theme « Let’s bring the joy back to work! », Pierre Guillet reflects on his journey and the role of dialogue at Hesion. Here is a selection of excerpts from the interview.

Trust at the heart of Hesion’s beginnings

« I later learned that my financial offer was not the highest, but that he had chosen me because he trusted me. That was quite a lesson in trust in business, one I experienced again later on. A few years later, I acquired another company that had developed licence plate recognition software. Once again, the deal went through thanks to the relationship of trust with the couple selling the business, with whom I later launched other ventures! »

« I brought the two companies together into a single entity, Hesion, based in Achères (Yvelines), with activities split into four almost equal parts: gas leak detection, pollution monitoring, ventilation management and digital access control for car parks. »

Meaningful connections and a close-knit team

« What is truly wonderful about being an entrepreneur is neither the figures nor the business models, but all those encounters, those interwoven stories that allow genuine bonds to form. »

« The same holds true for relationships with employees, which I see as fundamental, even though people often tend to set them against management. An SME is a model of adaptability, but it only works if the team gets along. When difficulties come from outside, it is the response from within that matters. »

Transparency and sharing

« I have always taken an open-book approach. Every month, I share revenue figures, but also profit or loss, because that is the indicator that helps everyone understand, month after month, whether our business is making or losing money. Transparency is the key if we want to avoid breeding mistrust and address gaps in financial understanding. »

The central role of dialogue

« When people do not talk to one another, silos form, when what we need is bridges! In a company, that means making time to get together socially. Our employees’ involvement in the neighbouring urban vegetable garden is part of that. I could also mention our quarterly board game evenings or our weekly running group... In those shared moments, there is no boss or employee. Sometimes, wonderful friendships develop at work: a company is a true place for living, sharing and fellowship – a secular word that is part of the French Republic’s motto, and one I am happy to champion! »

The roles, activities and circumstances described in these excerpts reflect the situation at the time of publication, in March 2024. The full interview also explores prison work, employee share ownership, faith and the meaning of work.