E X P R I E N C E B M W | 4 1
Quand les affaires passent par le rire
Laughter through business
a directrice et fondatrice de lcole natio-nale de lhumour ladmet
sans broncher : les dbuts de son institution ont t difficiles. Je
me suis souvent couche en me demandant si on allait traverser la
tempte , raconte la diplme en psychologie avec un enthou-siasme
dsarmant.
Les premires annes de lcole fonde en 1988 constituaient avant
tout une phase exploratoire soutenue par un programme de lemploi
fdral dans lequel les tudiants taient rmunrs. Quatre ans plus tard,
Louise Richer, que lon surnommera plus tard la marraine de lhumour
, dposait en bonne et due forme un programme scolaire au ministre
de lducation. Si lcole nationale de lhumour fut officiellement
reconnue en 1992, elle a d faire la dmonstration de sa lgitimit et
affronter des dfis de financement plus souvent qu son tour.
Heureusement, le soutien des deniers publics est venu consolider
lexistence de la petite institution. Nous avons dornavant notre
place dans le paysage de lducation et de la culture au Qubec ,
affirme firement madame Richer.
La donne la plus loquente de cette russite est assurment le
rayonnement des diplms auteurs et humoristes de lcole nationale de
lhumour, de Jean-Marc Parent Louis-Jos Houde. Mon beau dfi, note
celle qui est aussi comdienne, est de mettre en place un contexte o
les comptences et lappren-tissage vont tre favoriss. Linstitution a
dailleurs grandement contribu structurer le milieu de lhumour au
Qubec, ainsi quaux succs de Juste pour rire Montral et du Grand
Rire Qubec. On reoit lattention de linternational, ajoute-t-elle.
Cest une belle ralisation qubcoise.
Avec un budget de fonctionnement de 1,3 million de dol-lars,
lorganisme but non lucratif emploie cinq personnes temps plein et
une trentaine de professeurs. Un peu plus du tiers des recettes
provient du financement public. Quant au reste, il sagit de revenus
autonomes et de dons. Lcole accueille une trentaine dlves
annuellement et pas plus. Louise Richer insiste : Je pense quon
appauvrirait lvolution des tudiants autrement.
he director and founder of lcole nationale de lhumour admits
without hesitation : the beginnings of her school were difficult. I
often found myself going to bed at night, wondering if we would
make it through the storm, tells this psychology graduate with
disarming enthusiasm.
The first years of the school founded in 1988 con-stituted above
all an exploration phase funded by a federal employment program
where students received financial support. Four years later, Louise
Richer, who was later nicknamed the Godmother of humour , handed in
a proper scholastic program to the Ministre de lducation. If lcole
nationale de lhumour was officially recognized
in 1992, she had to demonstrate its legitimacy and face
financial challenges more often than not. Happily, the public
funding supported and consolidated the existence of this little
school.
We now have our place in the field of education and in the
culture in Quebec, Mrs. Richer proudly states.
The most eloquent part of this achievement is surely the wide
array of graduates authors and comedians of lcole nationale de
lhumour, from Jean-Marc Parent to Louis-Jos Houde. My biggest
challenge, notes this comedian herself, is to put into place a
context where competency and learning are facilitated. The school
also greatly contributed in structuring the humour scene in Quebec,
as well as the success of the Just for Laughs festival of Montreal
and the Grand Rire de Qubec. We are receiving international
attention, she adds, this is a nice Quebec accomplishment.
With a functioning budget of 1.3 million dollars, the non-profit
organisation employs five full-time employees and some thirty
professors. A little more than one-third of the revenues comes from
public funding. As for the rest, it comes from autonomous revenues
and personal dona-tions. The school welcomes about thirty students
annually, no more. Louise Richer insists : I think we would hinder
the evolution of students otherwise.
Louise Richer est lorigine dune invention pas comme les autres :
une cole o lon apprend faire rire. Il y a 27 ans, elle fondait ce
qui est devenu lcole nationale de lhumour. Dune petite institution
en qute de lgitimit un lieu de formation reconnu et applaudi dans
plusieurs pays, lcole en est diversifier ses produits, commencer
par le service aux entreprises.
Louise Richer is the woman behind an invention unlike any other
: a school where we learn to make others laugh. 27 years ago, she
founded what became lcole nationale de lhumour. From a small
institution in search of legitimacy to a training facility
recognized and applauded in many countries, the school is
attempting to diversify its products, starting with training
services to businesses.
L TPar/By
Mathieu Dion
4 2 | E X P R I E N C E B M W
p o r t r a i t _ p r o f i l e LOUISE RICHER
Retour sur les bancs dcoleAinsi, pour diversifier les
possibilits de revenus et prendre
de lexpansion, Louise Richer met de lavant sa fibre
entrepre-neuriale. Une fibre quelle ignorait possder jusqu lanne
dernire, et pourtant. Je ne me suis jamais perue comme une
entrepreneure , admet-elle. Toutefois, lors dun vne-ment sur les
femmes leaders du Qubec en 2014, elle a t invite donner une
prsentation dans laquelle on la qualifiait de femme daffaires. Un
titre qui lavait alors surprise.
Aujourdhui, avec le recul, la femme de 62 ans assume ce rle tant
et si bien quelle a entam en septembre dernier le EMBA McGill HEC
Montral, un programme universitaire pour les gestionnaires
expriments. Elle le fait, dit-elle, afin dtre stimule pour demeurer
stimulante : Jai une responsabilit de toujours tre lafft et de
mamliorer. Le programme, en plus de lui donner des outils pour
dvelopper les services aux entreprises, la met en contact avec la
communaut daffaires, une communaut avec laquelle elle tait une
outsider , cest--dire celle des avocats, des ingnieurs et des
financiers.
Lhumour chez les cols blancsLe monde des affaires, la
gestionnaire entend le prendre
dassaut au cours des prochaines annes. Lcole nationale de
lhumour offre dsormais diverses formes dateliers pour les
entreprises sur lutilisation de lhumour dans les commu-nications
verbales et crites, en plus de produire du contenu. Lide premire
est de dvelopper cette capacit tourner autour dune problmatique en
incitant au lcher-prise , dit Louise Richer. Dailleurs, la
directrice a dj dans son car-net des clients tel que Siemens et la
Socit de lassurance automobile du Qubec. Nous avons la sant et la
scurit au travail dans notre mire. Le but est dutiliser lhumour et
la crativit comme stratgie miroir. Ce nouveau crneau permet aussi
de faire de la recherche sur lapport du rire dans les
organisations. Le climat de travail est fondamental ; cest la force
dattraction dune entreprise et sa capacit retenir la main-duvre,
surtout auprs des jeunes , explique-t-elle.
Comme femme, Louise Richer a appris faire sa place dans le boys
club qutait le milieu de lhumour lpoque o elle a fond lcole. Dans
le secteur des entreprises, elle entend miser sur le mme mcanisme
pour russir. Il sagit l dune autre belle occasion daffaires son
avis. Parce que les pouvoirs de lhumour sont nombreux, elle
enseigne dif-frentes techniques auprs de femmes souhaitant utiliser
cet outil afin de percer le plafond de verre et accder des postes
de haut niveau.
En parallle, Louise Richer espre pouvoir sensibiliser le monde
des affaires lhumour en tant quart et culture. Il sagit dun enjeu
majeur pour les prochaines annes, admet-elle. On na jamais pris le
temps dadopter une relle offensive, mais on travaille l-dessus. Il
faut soutenir lhumour ! juste titre, le Qubec rit probablement
beaucoup plus aujourdhui, grce elle.
Back to schoolIn order to diversify the possibilities of
revenues and
to create expansion, Louise Richer demonstrates her
entrepreneurial spirit. A spirit she never knew she had until last
year, and yet. I never thought of myself as an entrepreneur, she
admits. Although, during an event for female Quebec leaders in
2014, she was invited to give a presentation in which she was
mentioned as being a businesswoman. A title that somehow surprised
her.
Today, looking back, the 62-year old woman thinks of her-self as
one, so much so that she enrolled, last September, in the EMBA
McGill HEC Montral, a university program for experimented managers.
She did it, she says, to stimulate herself to stay stimulating : I
have a responsibility to always stay sharp and better myself. The
program, even more than just giving her tools to develop services
to businesses, also puts her in contact with the business
community, a community she felt she was an outsider in, meaning a
community of lawyers, engineers and financiers.
Humour with white collar workersThe world of business, this
leader plans on taking it by
storm in the coming years. Lcole nationale de lhumour offers
diverse forms of training classes for businesses by using humour in
verbal and written communications, as well as producing content.
The initial idea is to develop the capacity to contour a problem by
encouraging people to just let go , Louise Richer says. To be
noted, this direc-tor already has in her client list Siemens and
the Socit de lassurance automobile du Qubec. We have Health and
Safety in the workplace in our sights. Our goal is to use humour
and creativity as a reflection strategy. This new approach also
allows research to be made on what laughter brings to an
organisation. Work climate is funda-mental ; it is what draws us to
a business and its capacity to keep employees, especially in
regards to young ones, she explains.
As a woman, Louise Richer learned to make her place in the boys
club which was the comedy scene at the time that she founded the
school. In the business sector, she intends to use the same method
to succeed. It simply is another great opportunity to succeed in
her opinion. Because the power of humour is endless, she teaches
different techniques to women who wish to use this tool to be able
to break through the glass ceiling and access high-level
positions.
In parallel, Louise Richer hopes to be able to sensitize the
world of business to humour as much as an art form and as a
culture. This is a major crossroad for the coming years though, she
admits. We never really had a chance to adapt a real strategic
offensive, but we are working on it. We have to support humour !
Because of her, Quebec probably laughs that much more today.
Je suis l pour servir le rve que les gens ont de pratiquer ce
mtier. Mon
succs passe par celui des autres. - Louise Richer
I am here to help realize the dreams of those who want to work
in this field. My success comes through the successes of others. -
Louise Richer
LOUISE RICHER
