Rouages: "Working for strong causes
She is head of the Quality of Life at Work department, and an internal coach within the Campus Life Department. Her day-to-day work involves raising staff and student awareness of all forms of discrimination, and listening to staff in order to provide them with better support. This month, as part of the " Rouages " video series produced by the University, Laure Parmentier tells us about her job.
Laure Parmentier's office is located on the Triolet campus, at the very end of the long corridor running through Building 5. A little out of the way from her colleagues in the Campus Life Department, for reasons of confidentiality, she coordinates the Quality of Life at Work department. A small team of three, including an occupational psychologist who works for the University on a 20% basis. " Our missions revolve around three main areas: combating all forms of discrimination and sexist and sexual violence, providing individual support for staff, particularly through coaching, and promoting the well-being of students and staff.
Combating sexual and gender-based violence is a key part of the fight against all forms of discrimination at the UM. Since December 2020, the UM has had a gender equality plan, which is overseen by the Quality of Life at Work department. The plan includes a number of indicators, as well as the flagship event "Donner des elles à l'UM", organized every year in March to mark Women's Month.
Reporting sexual and gender-based violence
The University has set up privileged contacts to make it easier to report sexual and gender-based violence, whether as a victim or witness. " Along with Agnès Fichard-Caroll, the vice-president in charge of social responsibility, I am one of the gateways for these reports. The awareness-raising work we do helps to show that the UM applies zero tolerance to these issues, and I make a point of reminding students and staff of this every time I am called upon to intervene with them," explains Laure Parmentier.
For a number of years now, female teachers, researchers and supervisors have also been able to benefit from the Oser! program. The aim is to help these women gain greater self-confidence " and break through the glass ceiling that limits their access to positions of responsibility ", as Laure Parmentier points out. This awareness-raising work is applied to all forms of discrimination, notably through the organization of the week devoted to the fight against LGBT+phobia.
Support and coaching
At the heart of the QVT department's mission is individual support, with the possibility of consulting an occupational psychologist, as well as coaching sessions with Laure Parmentier. " Coaching is the accompaniment of a person or a team to achieve their professional objective," she explains. Change management, interpersonal difficulties, preparation for competitive examinations, time management... all issues can be addressed, as long as they fall within the professional sphere. " My role is to help them step back and ask the right questions. I'm not there to give advice, but to help them come up with a solution," she explains.
This approach is in line with the department's overall mission to promote the well-being of students and staff, with workshops on meditation, sophrology, respiratory gymnastics and public speaking; " but also during Quality of Life at Work Week, which tackles themes such as reconciling different lifestyles and developing collective intelligence ", Laure Parmentier points out.
"On equal terms
Trained in psychology and coaching, the new head of department has already worked with a wide range of clients in the course of her career, including young people in difficulty, company directors and police officers. " My motivation is the desire to support people by building a relationship of trust, on an equal footing. I like to analyze and understand their problems. The position she has held at the University since last February is a new challenge that the coach takes up with undisguised satisfaction: " Working at the University means being able to work for strong causes effectively and with a very diverse public. Our actions can reach 55,000 students and staff, and if we can raise their awareness and each of them in turn can plant a small seed, things could progress very quickly!