Branch Office Manager, Grenoble (Isère)
" I am Manager of the Cegelec Dauphiné branch office, based in Grenoble, that operates in the Isère and Drôme regions. The branch office has 380 employees with a turnover of 36 M Eur. "
My career path :
I followed the “traditional” career path at Cegelec. With an engineering degree from the Ecole Centrale Lyon, I joined the Group as a junior engineer in September 1990, to gain experience as a project manager.
Three years later, I became Head of Activity centre for Puy-en-Velay, then in 1996 Site Office Manager in Châlons-sur-Saône. In 1997, I held the position of Branch Office Manager in Chambéry, until 2001, when I was appointed Manager of the Dauphiné Branch Office.
Why I chose Cegelec :
Cegelec offers project manager positions to junior engineers. The job involves being capable of co-ordinating many disciplines, something which appealed to me right away.
I wanted to enhance my technical expertise whilst developing my skills in other areas particularly sales and management, crucial to career development. I also wanted to quickly get into the swing of things. I knew that Cegelec was a “different” company offering rapid responsibility, resulting in making a P.M fully responsible for his/her customer portfolio only 18 months employment with the group.
My duties as a Branch Office Manager :
The Strategy aspect is essential : a branch office manager devises a project, in keeping with the Group’s policies. The role also requires managerial and sales management skills : Building, leading and motivating the team are necessary to ensure that the objectives set will be met. Finally, establishing and maintaining relations with customers whether industrial clients or administration officers, is also one of main aspect of the job.
Personal qualities and skills needed :
Firstly and most importantly is the ability to anticipate future market needs.
Secondly, courage in the broadest sense, is required : in terms of strategy it means being capable of making decisions and defending one’s position; in the management area this involves advising what works or what does not work… and in the daily routine being capable of devoting all of one’s energy necessary to perform these multiple tasks ! :
In addition, the position requires entrepreneurial qualities including setting objectives, willingness to take action and surpass oneself . No doubt, talents for leadership are the key for success !
What I like most in my job :
Probably the extreme variation in terms of responsibility from strategic, commercial and managerial perspective: diverse relations with customers and employees - technical and commercial engineers, design office managers, site construction workers – all of them being assigned very different duties.
Besides, working autonomously contributes, to a large extent, to keeping the job challenging: The Group’s rules and policies are to be applied, however in such a way that makes the Branch Office manager in control of his/her own decisions. This is the ideal position for those with an entrepreneurial spirit : increasingly expanding customer demands combined with enhanced competition performance, make excellence in the workplace a prerequisite. In brief, a Branch office manager never gets bored.
My advice for a Cegelec new recruit ?
Show a great deal of modesty and the ability to listen, to learn as much as possible when meeting people, especially people with practical experience. A junior engineer should bear in mind that when completing his/her degree, he/she has a significant learning potential, however no practical experience of the job.