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Emile NGOUOLALI
Congolese citizen
Head of the Career Management and Training
Department, Total Congo - based in Pointe
Noire.
Qualified in Commercial and Financial Science
at ICHEC Brussels then at IAG Leuven, Belgium.
Has been with the Group for 24 years, and
served in five positions at the subsidiary
in Congo.
Going to university in Europe gave me a
glimpse of the world. Then I chanced upon
the Group.
I found out about Elf Congo when I was on
holiday in Pointe Noire, back in early 1980.
I was working for the Minister of Industry
at the time. I sent a spontaneous application,
went through the recruitment interviews
and tests, and was hired on November the
3rd, 1980.
A Group-wide career.
I was 28 years old then, and my first job
involved running the Corporate Services
Office in Brazzaville. The team welcomed
me in spite of my age. I was often in touch
with Headquarters, and asked a lot about
the Group’s different lines of business.
In 1986, I replaced a French expatriate
as Plant Manager in Brazzaville. Four years
later I was posted to Pointe Noire as Training
Manager and then moved to Career Management.
I’ve been Head of Department since
2003 (when I replaced another expatriate).
The international
dimension.
I moved from Brazzaville to Pointe Noire,
but never really moved internationally.
However since TotalFina and Elf merged,
international mobility has been a key issue
in our HR policy. We are looking at regional
expatriation (i.e. within Africa) and there
are already some experiences underway. We’re
working with Angola on this regional mobility
project. Expatriation experiences are becoming
more varied. The Group’s international
expansion opens up career prospects and
helps people mingle. It also strengthens
the feeling that we belong to the same group
and share the same culture. The international
breadth is something we see every day, travelling,
training, welcoming expatriates and liaising
with staff around the Group. When you’re
in touch with people from other countries
you can see that this Group is international.
In my case, however, I’m 52 years
old and I don’t think I’ll get
to experience mobility at this point. I
guess the Total/Elf merger involved keeping
a strong HR presence in Congo. We had to
be here to get the new policy on its feet.
We were kept busy and no doubt the subsidiary
didn’t want to let its living forces
go.
No regrets.
But, when I look back on more than 20 years
with the company, I have no regrets. Throughout
my career, I have been liaising with HQ
non-stop over the phone, and been on many
training courses in France.
I would tell newcomers that Total’s
culture is intensely international. That
alone is enriching in itself. It’s
also motivating. Newcomers have to make
an integration effort because this culture
is something you have to embrace and live
with. And the pay and working conditions
at Total Congo are a lot better than in
other companies here.
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