Podcast : Jean-Marc Vandenbergh - L'agilité dans la fonction publique

Your voice message here: https://www.vodio.fr/repondeur/555/ Pyxis Belgium website: https://www.pyxis-belgique.be/ --- Agility, public service and leadership: insights from a director-general Speaking with Norman Deschauwer, Jean-Marc Vandenbergh, Director-General of the ONEM (National Employment Office in Belgium), shares his professional journey and his view on agility when leading a public institution facing a major crisis around unemployment benefits in 2026. “Pyxis – Le Podcast” offers an in-depth conversation on leadership, organisational agility and public service in a context of profound transformation. The episode explores how a large public institution with nearly 3,000 employees operates, structured around a central administration and regional offices, and confronted with successive crises, reforms and budgetary constraints. The discussion highlights a clear conviction: the quality of service delivered to citizens relies as much on performance indicators as on the collective ability to adapt, learn and preserve human connections. Our guest’s career spans several decades of social security, organisational transformation and technological innovation. Topics include automation, modernisation of tools, the management of major crises such as the pandemic, as well as the central role of middle management in a world shaped by remote work and uncertainty. Agility appears here as a practical approach: team empowerment, proximity leadership, collective intelligence and continuous adaptation in an environment described as volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. An episode that provides a clear, grounded perspective on the transformation of public institutions, without theoretical discourse or ideological positioning. 👉 Content for those interested in agility, public management and the human challenges of change. Podcast sequencing: [00:00:19] Introduction of Jean-Marc Vandenbergh [00:01:38] ONEM’s missions and its role in social security [00:03:04] Citizen contact points and service quality [00:04:06] Professional background and path to ONEM [00:05:37] Transformation of the HVW: modernisation and innovation [00:08:05] Managing the Covid crisis and accelerated adaptation [00:10:19] Performance of public administrations: a constant requirement [00:11:53] International comparisons and evolution of public services [00:16:08] Arrival at ONEM: observations and organisational legacy [00:17:16] Agility, management maturity and post-crisis awakening [00:21:03] Remote work, social bonds and the role of the collective [00:24:31] Hierarchical levels and proximity management [00:27:45] Anticipating future crises and budgetary constraints [00:30:06] Agility as a lever for organisational resilience [00:32:28] Gradual implementation and bottom-up dynamics [00:34:26] Opportunities, future vision and conclusion [00:34:41] Contact details and episode closing