Un Parcours Engagé, Pierre-Olivier Navarro (MBS 2010) appointed Director of Mission Locale des Jeunes Montpellier 3M

Congratulations to Pierre-Olivier Navarro on his appointment as head of Mission Locale in Montpellier.

Discover Pierre-Olivier Navarro's inspiring career path, marked by his commitment to human and social issues, and influenced by his experience at Montpellier Business School (MBS). From his role at CRGE Occitanie to his new mission at Mission Locale des Jeunes Montpellier 3M, Pierre-Olivier embodies a professional approach imbued with values and concrete action to promote employment and social integration.

How has your atypical background, with its focus on human and social issues, been influenced by your experience at MBS? How did the school prepare or inspire you to embrace initiatives focused on job creation and social development, such as your work at CRGE Occitanie?

I remember my first lecture hall on the first day of classes at MBS, when Didier Jourdan, the Managing Director at the time, stressed in his welcome speech the paramount importance of the human and social aspects for a better understanding of the economy. MBS has always been committed to training managers capable of understanding, sharing and opening up to others before taking action.

I'm thinking of my Erasmus year, of course, and my return as an apprentice in HR development at Groupe La Poste, as well as courses in the history of religion, management and the dynamic fabric of its associations.

The diversity of all these encounters and possible career paths inspired me and set me on the path of exploiting human capital to better envisage economic action, to the point of choosing to specialize in HR.

As you move from CRGE Occitanie to Mission Locale des Jeunes Montpellier 3M, what meaning and values developed throughout your career would you like to bring to this new environment?

There is a certain consistency in this choice, as employment, integration and economic development on a regional or metropolitan scale are intimately linked. Access to employment and equal opportunities are everybody's business, a common good that must unite. I was keen to put the experience I'd gained at CRGE Occitanie to good use in regional employment and training policies at a local level, with more immediate action. Creating a society with our young people is a major challenge for me, and I've put together enough ingredients and experience for the recipe to work!

What lessons did you learn from your experience at CRGE Occitanie in terms of team mobilization, collaboration with social partners, and confidence of funders, and how do you plan to apply them in your new role at Mission Locale des Jeunes Montpellier 3M?

CRGE helped me to grow along with it. I was supported in structuring and professionalizing my management and HR as we grew.

Questioning and listening have enabled me to adjust my management style. I have always been as transparent as possible with my teams, so as to involve and align all stakeholders: directors, funders, employees and partners. We have gradually improved working conditions to support the work of our employees.

I've learned from this that when you move forward with conviction and militancy, when you believe in your mission and respect the authorities, you can move crowds.

I've always been careful to adapt our action plans to the aspirations and requirements of our ecosystem, and with an eye to results: Creating jobs throughout the Region! Tomorrow, at the local mission, I'll be moving forward with the same determination: to leave no young person by the wayside, and to give my colleagues the means to do their job properly, by mobilizing all the forces at work.

Taking into account your commitment to the integration of young people in Montpellier and your new role at the Mission Locale des Jeunes Montpellier 3M, what human and social challenges do you see and what strategies do you plan to put in place to meet them, while respecting the fundamental values of equal opportunity and social inclusion?

That's a good question, but it's a bit early to answer it. First of all, I'll need to do a lot of listening and analysis to define a coherent, aligned strategy. The human challenge is considerable: the young people supported by MLJs are becoming increasingly precarious, and there are many sources of demotivation for our young people. Yet they are the ones who will hold this world together tomorrow. In any case, I'll be putting all my energy into it and involving my entire network, including MBS Alumni 😉 , in a logic of decompartmentalization and specialization.

You have managed a network of employers in the Occitanie region, promoting recruitment for all. How do you link this to your involvement in the MBS ALUMNI network?

It's the same kind of commitment: fostering employability, but with an incomparable emotional dimension, since alumni share a common history and values. So it's combining the useful with the pleasurable. I want to inspire myself and my alumni peers in their career choices, and mobilize alumni through the Fellowship in particular or mentoring to help our young students, who are also going through difficult times, and promote equal opportunities.

Do you have any advice to share with other graduates or students wishing to follow this path after a Grande Ecole like MBS?

Be yourself. The most important thing is to find your alignment. There are no right or wrong paths. The most important thing, however, is to choose your own. I started out on a subsidized integration contract after school, but I've always felt aligned. That's the most important thing.

We wish Pierre-Olivier every success in his new role.