#8 Hugo Faivre : The authentic and engaging company
automatically translated from French
In this episode, Hugo Faivre shares with us Léa Nature's common thread: defending healthy, sustainable lifestyles that respect people and the planet. A common thread that engages the company (from cosmetics to food to health), and all its employees.
Directors, managers, operators... For Hugo, Léa Nature is a good example of this hackneyed but true African proverb: "Alone we go faster, together we go further".
The guest of theCorporate Culture podcast
After a master's degree in business law and a postgraduate degree in social management in Toulouse, Hugo Faivre joined the Savencia group as Director of Human Resources.
In 2015, after 14 years, he left the group for Léa Nature, where he has been Director of Relations and Human Resources for the past 7 years.
At the same time, Hugo Faivre is involved in the Fondation Agir contre l'Exclusion, where he provides voluntary and individual support to people who are far from the workplace.
When it was founded in 1993, Léa Nature specialized in phytotherapy, i.e. the use of medicinal plants for therapeutic purposes. For Charles Kloboukoff, its founder, it is a matter of promoting natural alternatives to agrochemicals, by favoring plants and natural products that are beneficial to health.
Two years later, his wife, Catherine Kloboukoff, gave impetus to the development of organic products. Since then, it has continued to extend to each of the group's activities in the fields of food, health, cosmetics and home care.
In October 2019, the Léa Nature Group goes further and becomes a company with an environmental mission. Protecting the health of women, men and the planet is now at the very heart of the company and is included in its statutes. For Hugo Faivre, Director of Relations and Human Resources, this is proof that these "objectives go further than economic considerations".
Léa Nature is gradually establishing itself in the landscape of organic and natural product manufacturers, and is committed to the environmental cause, alongside the Foundation for Nature and Man and the association Générations Futures. In addition, 18 Léa Nature brands have joined the global 1% for the Planet collective, making the group a true patron of nature and biodiversity. By donating 1% of their sales to environmental protection associations, Compagnie Léa Nature brands have helped support nearly 2,200 environmental projects, representing more than 16.5 million euros since 2007 (by the end of 2021).
For Hugo Faivre, the company is now going further and "is one of the forerunners" in building "the governance of the future". Since 2020, Charles Kloboukoff has been organizing the gradual transfer of his company to the "Fonds de soutien aux initiatives citoyennes utopiques et solidaires", FICUS. This public interest endowment fund will gradually take control of Léa Nature's capital.
"Disinheriting one's estate during one's lifetime is a profound step, initially destabilizing, then exciting," says Charles Kloboukoff. According to Hugo Faivre, Director of Relations and Human Resources, "this system makes it possible to secure the transfer of the company, to protect it from any desire for a takeover or external inquisition. A fierce desire for independence and social and environmental commitment.
The HR director sees this as further proof of Léa Nature's genuine commitment. "There is never an intention that does not start from a deep sincerity, strong environmental convictions and humanistic considerations".
He believes in the "pioneering spirit" of the company, and in its emphasis on "making people aware". From the moment he recruits, Hugo Faivre recruits people who are interested in biodiversity and its preservation, and places communication at the heart of the company: "we have to animate on a daily basis to be credible in our commitments".
In addition to the communication around the actions implemented by and thanks to Léa Nature, the group undertakes a great work of awareness and training. It even invites employees to get involved in their daily lives through the introduction of a solidarity leave. "Since 2019, it is possible to use its acquired projects, with partners. All organizational and logistical costs are covered by Léa Nature". explains Hugo Faivre.
According to him, these vacations are beneficial to both the employee and the company, which in turn benefits from "a refreshing opening to the world, and employees return with an unimaginable dose of energy that radiates throughout the departments".
