Interview series: They are moving the lines of the CHR
Louis Privat, founder of the Grands Buffets in Narbonne
"The purchasing power and quality of life of our employees have been our priority since 1989"
In a hospitality sector weakened by the labour shortage, Les Grands Buffets (Narbonne) is an exception.
Founded in 1989 by Louis Privat and his wife Jane, the Aude establishment has a unique, avant-garde social policy : generalised permanent contracts, indexation of salaries to inflation, value sharing and continuous improvement of working conditions.
A model designed "like a long-distance race" in the words of its founder. Interview with a CHR manager who is relentlessly innovating to defend strong convictions, based on equity and social justice.
At Les Grands Buffets, people don't just come to enjoy generous cuisine: they also adhere to and support a bold and committed social model .
Your establishment is often taken as an example in terms of social policy in the hospitality sector. What is your guideline?
From the beginning, when Les Grands Buffets was created in 1989, I gave priority to purchasing power. We set up a profit-sharing contract very early on. It's a powerful tool for associating employees with results.
In 1999, we were the first to introduce the 35-hour week, when the profession was at 43 hours. Then I established an absolute principle: the indexation of wages to inflation. It is not up to the employee to be the adjustment variable. It is up to the company to seek out the sources of profitability necessary to provide for wage increases.
After Covid, I also decided to increase the purchasing power of employees by 30% through profit-sharing. Today, no one is recruited by us for less than €2,000 net for an unskilled position. As a result, we have also reviewed the entire scale taking into account the arduousness of certain professions.
To make this possible, we have increased the price of our menus by about 10%. I explained to our customers that this was the only way to maintain these social measures. They supported us massively.
Beyond the salary, how do you work on staff retention?
Money is essential, but it is not enough. We organize schedules in a rational way, taking into account personal constraints as much as possible.
Also, for certain waiters (head waiters and maître d'hôtel), we have moved to a rate of 3.5 days worked and 3.5 days off. They work every other day. This considerably improves the quality of life.
We have also set up a support system for employees in a situation of over-indebtedness: interest-free repayable advances to deal with life's accidents. I have a very particular sensitivity on this subject. The idea is not to leave someone struggling alone with a financial difficulty that can become anxiety-provoking. The company is there to support and help get through these difficult times.
Finally, humanly speaking, we remain extremely vigilant about respect. No one can imagine that inappropriate behavior is tolerated in our company. Employees must never accept the unacceptable.
How do you recruit in a context of tension on the labour market?
The restaurant industry has experienced a haemorrhage after Covid, but the problem already existed. How do you explain to a young person that he or she is going to work in the evenings and on weekends for a salary lower than the classic minimum wage (the hotel minimum wage being slightly lower)? We were already on higher salary scales than the official ones.
We employ 240 people and we will recruit about forty more with future projects. We never poach from our colleagues and do not study applications from neighbouring establishments. On the other hand, we regularly attract profiles in retraining from other sectors. We train them and we are proud to give birth, and sometimes revive, vocations.
Do you think your role model can inspire the profession?
I am often told: "You can afford it." I answer that we are nothing extraordinary: we are applying a social policy that I consider normal. The real issue is the courage to pay the right price.
For a long time, the restaurant industry believed that its main argument was the lowest price. I think this is a mistake. If you are sure of the quality of what you offer, sure of your work and your organization, then you can explain an increase. Customers understand perfectly well that the wage burden is part of the price. You just have to assume it and defend it.
When my wife and I created the establishment 35 years ago, we were self-taught in the restaurant business. Very early on, I understood that a company cannot be managed in the short term. We are running a long-distance race. Today, we serve about 1,000 covers per day, or 400,000 per year, and we are open every day of the year. The stability of our activity, which is not subject to seasonality, allows us to recruit exclusively on permanent contracts. This establishes the teams for the long term and opens up the possibility of taking leave, including in summer.
The last word?
Our ambition is simple: to build a solid and successful company that relies first and foremost on respected and stable teams that share our vision and DNA.
