The human touch

Our editorial team went to see Cécile, Corinne, Marilyne and Fabienne.
These four administrators from Factofrance's Legal Department love their job with a passion. Fabienne, 35 years old and with a degree in law, has worked in the department for over ten years. “I've seen many changes within the department over the years,” she explains, “ranging from the introduction of new working techniques to the adoption of IT applications. I have invested time and effort in this department's success, and engaged actively in the training of new recruits to pass on my knowledge of the job.”

After all, the key to appreciating the numerous different aspects of this job lies in experience.

“The role of the legal administrator is to handle cases of guarantee default (leading to a downgrade for the defaulter), returned payments such as bounced cheques or refused transactions, and compulsory liquidation or receivership,” explains Corinne, also a law graduate, who has been with Factofrance for two years. “First of all we check that the debt in question is actually covered, then we issue a payment reminder either by phone or in writing. Then, based on the information available to us, the case will be dealt with through an amicable settlement, legal or collective proceedings, or reinsurance. Each case is analysed on its own merits and the final decision rests with us. It's crucial to have a full understanding of each particular case because we have the interests of the company in our hands.”

A people-based job

The amicable proceedings and case analysis stages are crucial. Before deciding on a particular course of action we always phone the defaulting party to give them a 'last ditch' opportunity to resolve the situation, which is sometimes worth our while. Our task then is to build up a file, collecting all the information and supporting documentation required to launch legal proceedings- should they be resorted to- from Operations, Credit, Settlements, General Admin. and any other departments concerned. “Ours is a job based on human contact,” stresses Cécile, who arrived at Factofrance in May 2001 with a Masters in law and a management degree under her belt. “We are in constant contact with defaulting parties and partners from divisions across the entire Group. It is up to us to make information easily available to all concerned, with the help of our CXAO software.”

The Legal Department is split along geographic lines into the Northern section and the Southern section. Consequently, the secretaries can be required to work on all kinds of cases. “We work as a team,” adds Fabienne. “For certain cases we let everyone express their opinion before a decision is taken, and this makes for an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect in the department.”

Marilyne has been on the Factofrance staff for ten years now. She was a legal assistant for three years before becoming a legal secretary. She has an extremely lucid view of the job and the qualities it requires. “To do this job well, on top of having legal and accounting experience, I believe you need to be good at working with people. You have to be diplomatic, you need to be a good listener, you must be capable of encouraging dialogue and keeping discussions focused without making value judgments or being offensive. The most important thing is to keep the main objective at the back of your mind- obtaining the payment.”