In the Châteauroux exhibition hall, the new prefect of Indre is at ease talking about strategy, training or recruitment tensions with business leaders gathered for a job fair. Until his appointment at the beginning of the summer, Thibault Lanxade was still CEO of a tech company, head of Medef and president of Urssaf.
In his new clothes as prefect, he embodies Emmanuel Macron’s desire to renew and diversify the senior civil service. “At the Élysée, a working group is looking for new profiles, he says. I was identified as an ambassador for profit-sharing and participation. »
This entrepreneur, who has never hidden his social commitment, then thought “integrate a breeding ground” to, one day, be offered a job. In reality, everything happened very quickly: three weeks after a jury assessed his skills, a call from the Ministry of the Interior informed him of his appointment, the next day, to the Council of Ministers. A challenge that he is still a little surprised to have accepted after more than twenty-five years in business.
“The best informed man in the department”
“It’s very different: a company lives to the rhythm of its boss. Here you don’t choose those you work with and have very little disciplinary power over them, he recognizes. You don’t have the same capacity for action either and for the smallest purchase it’s quite a procedure. I wanted to equip an employee with project management software, it took three weeks, whereas in business, it only takes a few minutes! »
In the first weeks, he met elected officials and managers of the department’s main administrations. And focused on “the regalian”patrolling one night with the BAC in Croix-Blanche, a difficult area of Déols, in the suburbs of Châteauroux. “It’s not the most complicated thing”he assures, more impressed by “the flow of documents to manage”.
On his computer screen, he shows the long list of unread emails sent by the Ministry of the Interior. “That’s for after dinner.”he smiled before focusing on the notes from the security services summarizing all the incidents of the night. “The prefect is the best informed man in the departmenthe insists. If Beauvau calls me, I must be able to explain everything. »
Châteauroux, Olympic city
“It’s also a TGV that never stops”, he adds in his company car where he has just hung up with the prosecutor and before heading to the police station for a meeting with the local police officers. On the program: an update on the organization of the Olympic Games, where Châteauroux will host the shooting events and where the public and dozens of official delegations will have to be managed. All this while juggling difficulties in finding staff. “Even if Châteauroux is a quiet town, we have a problem with attractiveness”recognizes Commissioner Édouard Malis, director of public security.
The new prefect listens attentively, taking notes. “The State has the same difficulties as businesses in recruiting and providing citizens with the service they have the right to expect, he confides, passionate about his new task. However, the more I visit this department, the more I realize that it is a good place and that we can attract talent there. »
“Running a prefecture like a business would be doomed to failure”
Back at the prefecture, it is a meeting that must be chaired on the relay antennas. There are thirteen white zones in Indre, but the budget for the year will only allow four to be installed. Everything is therefore reviewed: the population of poorly equipped areas, their economic activity, the relief… A mayor warns against the risk of disappearance of an event of the French rally championship, due to lack of reliable communications.
For three quarters of an hour, the senior official listens to everyone before deciding in a few minutes. “What is good about a prefect coming from the company is that there is no fat and we go to the essentials, welcomes the president of the departmental council Marc Fleuret (UDI). Last year, the same meeting lasted two hours. »
“My entrepreneurial DNA is that I come with an attentive ear”says Thibault Lanxade, who had to learn to operate differently. “Running a prefecture like a business would be doomed to failure, he assures. Here, I am not asked to be a leader, to carry a vision: that is the role of elected officials. Rather, I am asked to be a manager who gets everyone on board. This requires relying on employees and services, particularly on the hyper-technical subjects that I am discovering, such as water or biodiversity. »
“Embody the Republic”
Must also “embody the Republic”. Thibault Lanxade may well be the son of an admiral, chief of staff of François Mitterrand’s armies, but the protocol and uniform never fail to impress him. “This sanctifies the role of the prefect”he confides, recognizing having to maintain “controlled relationships” with everyone.
“When you are a prefect, it is rare to speak familiarly to someone”he admits with a touch of regret for Parisian life, when he could anonymously go get his baguette or wait at the cinema. “In a small town, when you are prefect, everyone watches you. »
But it was the constraints inherent to the role that surprised him the most. “To leave Indre, I must request authorization from the regional prefect and ensure that my general secretary can replace me”, he describes. Only the prefect can in fact commit exceptional resources to the department.
A salary divided by seven
A few days ago, he came to Paris for a meeting at the ministry. “I had arrived the day before to have dinner with my daughter, he says. But a 10-year-old child has disappeared in Issoudun. I had to rush back to deal with the situation. » Impossible remotely. This evening again, after dinner, Thibault Lanxade will stop by again “one thirty to two hours” on his files. This hard worker, who alternated weeks in Paris and the United States for his company, had to significantly reduce his salary. “My remuneration has been divided by seven, he admits. My children didn’t really understand. »
No more than his new colleagues who had to validate his entry into the civil service. “When I went before the commission responsible for assessing whether I had the abilities to be prefect, I felt that I was making a mistake by sacrificing my salary, he confesses: those who examined me would have preferred that I asked a little more to help upgrade the function. »
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The prefects
Created in 1800 by Napoleon Bonaparte, the prefects embody the permanence of the State in the departments where they have “the burden of national interests, administrative control and respect for the laws” (art. 72 of the Constitution).
In 2021, the prefectural body was abolished and the prefects were integrated into the new body of state administrators.
The new prefects must today appear before an advisory committee responsible for assessing their professional aptitude.
The government can freely appoint, without consideration of their previous status, up to a third of the prefects.
2023-11-12 15:15:48
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