Meeting with Pierre Hurstel: towards a "sustainable management" centered on people in the workplace

As part of a series of podcasts dedicated to management and organizational issues, I had the pleasure of chatting with Pierre Hurstel, a leading figure in management consulting and organizational development. Pierre is currently President of Toulouse Business School, having been a student there himself.

An inspiring career, from consulting to human resources

Pierre began his career as an auditor before quickly moving into human resources. He rose through the ranks to become Global HR Director at Ernst & Young (EY), then Director of Communications for EY France. In 2012, building on this experience, he founded his own management consultancy, Matière à Réflexion. For over 12 years, Matière à Réflexion has been helping companies and their managers to resolve organizational issues by placing the human factor at the heart of improvement strategies.e a bilateral agreement.

A human-centered approach to understanding relationships

Pierre Hurstel's work is based on a strong conviction: organizational performance depends above all on an understanding of human strengths and dynamics. What sets him apart is his ability to pinpoint issues that are often invisible or poorly expressed within organizations. He knows how to find the right words to help managers take a step back and initiate lasting transformations.

In this episode, Pierre looks back at the milestones of his career and shares valuable advice on how to think and act to improve organizational effectiveness, with one constant: capitalize on human potential.

References and sources of inspiration mentioned in the episode

• Flow theory
• Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, Hungarian psychologist.
• Work on psychological safety - Amy Edmondson, Harvard professor.
• The Trust Game as told by French economist Daniel Cohen.
• L'entreprise, une affaire de cœur - Hubert Joly, former CEO of Best Buy and Harvard professor.
• Think tank: Jeunes et travail - Étude Terra Nova, February 2024.
• Learned helplessness - Martin Seligman, American psychologist.
• L'entreprise réparatrice ou l'épanouissement au travail - Pierre Hurstel.

If you'd like to find out more about these thoughts and Pierre Hurstel's vision of "sustainable management", listen to the full podcast episode below. And don't hesitate to follow us on LinkedIn to keep up to date with our forthcoming publications. Many thanks to Pierre for his inspiring testimonial!