Good evening.
“The problem with women is that they get pregnant. “
“We warned you, Robin, women, in our profession,
it’s not possible. “
I piloted a mixed project in a company,
and sentences like that, I’ve heard a lot.
“If you have women among our fellows,
it’ll fuck the brothel. “
The mess ? Men with women?
A bit like in the street, in a house,
as everywhere, by the way?
“The physical trades are not made for women, sir. “
That was an occupational doctor, a woman in this case,
who told me she would not validate the hiring of my new employees.
To which I replied: “Do you do the same thing for men?
For example, do you forbid them to become housekeepers? “
Once, I was picked up,
I was in a meeting, there was an emergency,
and there I was told, I was handed a phone, and there I hear:
“Yes, Robin, you know,
the two women who arrived there, in fact, well, it’s guines,
and they fought. What do I do now ?
– It is very simple. First, we do not say ‘guines’, but ‘dykes’,
and then, we do not say ‘dykes’ at all.
(Laughter)
What are you doing when two people are fighting?
Well, well, here you do the same thing, that’s it. “
So the area I was working in was a bit peculiar,
it was that of construction, which is not known for its diversity.
But yet, I can tell you that things can change,
and more precisely that men can change.
It was in 2005, I initiated this project, and really, I burst myself.
At the time, there was a huge activity,
there were skills needs that were monstrous,
and in fact, we have chosen to recruit both men and women.
The choice was made more specifically, in fact,
on people in precarious situations
to be able to bring them back to work.
And it started like this.
To recruit, I go to Pôle Emploi,
to make women aware of our jobs.
So that women are then quickly operational,
internal trainings have been created,
mixed, of course.
And then, to succeed in their integration,
pairs have been formed with recognized tutors.
And there, in fact, came masons,
formwork-slicers, machine operators,
crane operators.
And these women, who were in a precarious situation,
suddenly, they had a job.
In this company where there were 1300 people,
at startup, no woman on the building sites.
And then, after a few months, they were a hundred.
So,
it was not done the first time, obviously,
there were some difficulties.
At first, when I talked about it,
the teams thought
that the extraterrestrials would land on the sites.
“No, you know, women, you know them; it’s a bit like …
it’s a little like your neighbor, for example, or your sister, or your cousin. “
But from the start,
we felt that there was a lot of resistance internally.
“There is no locker room for women on construction sites.
– Yes, but if you know how to build a 20-story building,
you must be able to make a wall in your locker room.
– Yes, but, women …
the schedules are not adapted because they take care of the children.
– Who tells you they have children? Who tells you that they take care of it?
The day she signed the contract, she knew the schedule.
– Yes, but they can not lift what we can lift.
– So, on that,
you must know that hardness and ergonomics are hyper-framed.
And then, the works of Hercules, it is finished. “
We started, then the women arrived.
And at that time, stereotypes fell.
Finally, most.
One day, a master companion came to see me, he said to me:
“Robin, that’s crazy, because,
these women do not look like men,
but in addition, they work as well as they do. “
It’s caricatural, but me, at that moment, I felt something.
“There is a click. “
And then the reality principle worked.
At the same time,
I am convinced that the great diversity that exists in this sector,
in terms of nationalities, cultures, religions, languages,
it really has forged an integration culture that is exceptional.
We had to experience a lot,
and then on our side, we made a lot of mistakes too.
Like, for example, overemphasizing women,
at the expense of welcoming teams,
or, for example, to make journalists come too
while it generated tensions internally.
It allowed us to learn, and most importantly, it did not stop us from moving forward.
And then, in the end,
this mixed project
did not just meet our recruitment needs,
he brought a lot more.
For women, he brought them a job.
One of them said to me:
“At the age of 35, I’m finally working as a mason I wanted to do. “
For the company,
it also illustrated his ability to reinvent himself, to be innovative,
and then, for the sector, it broke his image,
and finally, for men, it showed them
that they were able to change.
By dint of innovation, and not only in this sector,
it ended up attracting the eye of the investors.
In fact, the company was bought by a group,
it was…
At startup, we were surprised because it was a very traditional group
with an exclusively male management, quite archaic,
and then, at the same time, we were seduced
because they were based on our innovations,
on our commitments.
And then, they signed, they arrived,
and then, one after the other,
they stopped all the projects, starting with the one on the mixing.
I left the company, it was six years ago,
and I was disappointed, I was sad, of course,
and especially I wondered:
“But what good is it to have done all this for five years? “
With hindsight,
I say to myself today that it exists in France,
100 women, 100 women doing this job
of machine-bakers, of female drivers,
in this company elsewhere, or elsewhere,
and each of them tells a story.
These 100 stories, in fact, they testify that it is possible.
From this experience, I learned two lessons:
the first is that nothing is ever acquired,
especially in the social.
So do not shut up your beliefs, in construction or elsewhere,
affirm them,
embody them in your own way, and above all, make them live.
The second lesson is that you have to act, because it has an impact.
Like, for example, those women who can still do this job today.
Action is what allows us to move forward.
So each one of you can, at his level, make things happen.
This diversity in business is our individual responsibility,
as well as a woman, but of course as a man.
Let’s be contagious in our beliefs,
and above all, let’s go from speech to action,
because this mixity, it is together that we will build it.
Thank you.
(Applause)
”
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