We are not certified FCE experts. These company analyses are based on our current knowledge of the subject.

His Background

Co-founder of Gesnord and Section Chairman of the Centre des Jeunes Dirigeants (CJD) de l'Artois, he joined the FCE coaching program in 2012, run jointly by the Alliances network, the CJD Nord Pas de Calais and the Atemis laboratory. 

In 2014, he became an active member of the board at the creation of Club Noé (a regional association dedicated to new business models) and the regional head of Functional Economy at the CJD Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Through collaboration with other organizations such as Club Noé, he helps companies develop along new, more desirable trajectories for the future.

His work at Gesnord

Mohamed co-manages Gesnord with his wife Magali. In addition to his management responsibilities, his role is to create new forms of cooperation with clients and stakeholders, to meet real client needs.

In Gesnord's case, we can distinguish the performance to be achieved on two complementary scales corresponding to their 2 main activities: 

• Company-wide performance. Indeed, one of Gesnord's roles is to facilitate the work of those involved in the health sector, so that they can carry out their work in the best possible conditions. To achieve this performance and maintain it over time, the key word is "adaptability". There are no ready-made solutions, and each client has different issues that need to be analyzed together. This reflexive approach to finding the most appropriate solution with the client has enabled Gesnord to emerge from a price war in which the main objective is to have the lowest possible service price.  As we shall see later, the development of intangible resources and this cooperative approach with the client are the keys to maintain this performance over time. 

• Performance on a territorial scale. Gesnord is becoming increasingly involved in its local area, in particular by tackling the problems of medical desertification and facilitating the discharge of patients from hospital. To achieve this performance, Gesnord cannot act alone, and must therefore facilitate cooperation between different players in the area (as we shall see in the cooperation section). 

The information gathered by the company from its clients and patients (information on doctors retiring in a given area, doctors' workloads, pressure on doctors' surgeries due to difficulties in accessing care, etc.) enables Gesnord to take steps to achieve the desired performance.

As far as contractualization is concerned, Gesnord uses open-ended contracts. These contracts can therefore be cancelled at any time by the client. According to Mohamed, this allows him to energize his company, so that it can always aim for a high level of service and innovation.

The development of intangible resources at Gesnord is a key factor in the company's ability to provide quality service and thus ensure its long-term viability. We were able to detect several of these: 

• Developing in-house skills. This involves a new organization of work for Gesnord employees. Secretaries are trained to detect weak signals. This involves listening much more carefully and building solutions adapted to the problems detected.  They call this a "regenerative" model. All employees have this posture. There is no longer hierarchy in the team, as managers choose to give greater autonomy, encourage initiative-taking, accept the right to make mistakes and give meaning to the work carried out. This change in the team's attitude was decisive in transforming Gesnord's business model.

• Particular attention to employee well-being. Reflexivity sessions are organized internally to identify employees' needs and put them in the best possible working conditions. A management style has been put in place to ensure that everyone feels at ease in the company. This approach is based on communication, transparency, moral rectitude, continuous employee learning and consideration for the meaning of each person's work. 

• The importance of trust and transparency in client relations. Trust is a precious resource that takes time to acquire. As Gesnord's competitive advantage is no longer based on price but on the quality of its offer, the price can be more expensive than its competitors. So it's hard to convince someone who doesn't know you. That's why Gesnord has set up a one-year support program with new clients, during which there will be plenty of time for reflexivity, to demonstrate the company's ability to do its job and respond appropriately to the client's needs. This enables us to move away from a client-supplier relationship and establish the beginnings of a trust that can develop over time. As Mohamed says, "Trust is built, not decreed". Gesnord therefore works with clients whose values match its own.

Gesnord and its innovative business model generate numerous positive externalities for the territory:

• Gesnord's mode of operation puts people back at the center. It's not a question of discussing price first and foremost, but of the doctor's real needs. What kind of relationship do they want with their patients? How do they wish to balance their professional and personal lives? Add to this the weak-signal detection system, and the doctor feels recognized in his work and more fulfilled. Having achieved personal balance, he avoids burnout and offers better quality consultations.

• Gesnord's support for new doctors in setting up their practice helps to combat medical deserts. The relocation of doctors out of town will ultimately relieve congestion in big-city hospitals.

• Gesnord's direct work with hospitals makes access to care more fluid, and thus indirectly reduces pressure on hospitals. This optimization/fluidification of the patient pathway also generates financial savings for the French government, a country in which access to healthcare is free for all citizens.

"Cooperation is the ability to take into account the constraints of others".

The main cooperative relationship is that between Gesnord and its private practitioner clients, who represent the majority of its clientele. Initially, Gesnord acts as a receiver of information. The client explains his problems, and Gesnord tries to find out what he really needs: "Why do you want this?" When Gesnord and the client agree on a performance target, the solution creation process is launched. Gesnord and its client agree on a contract, often at market price to start with. They also agree that it will take a few weeks/months for the solution (software, for example) to be optimal and sustainable. During this period, time is needed to work with the client to rework the solution. After all, it's possible to make mistakes! It's only when the solution has been definitively installed and is bearing fruit (improved well-being of doctors, fluidity of work, etc.) that Gesnord allows itself to raise prices. The high level of service offered by the company is recognized by its clients, and price increases are generally accepted.

We can mention a few other cooperative relationships that the company has set up to meet the territorial challenges of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region (combating medical deserts, relieving hospital overcrowding):

• Cooperation with the Nord and Pas de Calais medical associations to help doctors working in medical deserts. The creation of a support program for young doctors wishing to set up in business. Gesnord, with its administrative knowledge and close understanding of local issues, helps young doctors to settle in and integrate more easily. The latter potentially become Gesnord clients.

• The example of Gesnord's work with a hospital where the various departments (nurses, secretaries, emergency services, cleaning, etc.) used to work in silos. Gesnord, whose aim was to streamline the patient pathway to reduce tension in the hospital, brought these departments to the table and created the cooperation that enabled the desired performance to be achieved. Each department was able to understand the other's constraints and thus cooperate more easily.

• Difficulty for public structures to see a private company looking after the general interest. In people's minds, a private company is there to make a profit. Mohamed is considering a change of structure in order to adapt a little better to the French system. 

• Difficulties in making healthcare bodies (ARS, CPAM...) aware of the positive externalities created by the activity, in order to finance experimentation with new models.

Talking with Mohamed, we quickly realized that we were speaking the same language. Indeed, many of the concepts of the FCE are reflected in Gesnord's business. 

What struck us was the extent to which Mohamed and his teams try to innovate in their way of working, to meet clients' needs. There are no ready-made solutions: the performance to be achieved is determined with the client, with the aim of coming as close as possible to his expectations. This approach of co-constructing the solution with the client enables Gesnord to move away from a price war (and therefore from a volume-based approach) by offering a quality service throughout the contract. The contracting method (open-ended contract) caught our attention. Indeed, the fact that there is no notion of time in the contract might seem risky. But it's this risk that enables Gesnord to listen to its clients and offer the best possible service. 

To achieve the desired performance, Mohamed has understood the importance of developing intangible resources in his company. The implementation of a work organization and management system adapted to employees has enabled them to give meaning to their activity. Increasing employees' skills through training has also given them greater autonomy in their work. This constant monitoring of intangible resources enables us to maintain, as far as possible, the well-being of our employees at all times. 

We could see Mohamed's interest in trying to become more and more involved in his local area. Indeed, for some years now Gesnord has been trying to respond to issues such as medical desertification, making hospital discharges more fluid for patients... Cooperation is therefore central to being able to deal with these issues. Mohamed seems to have experimented a great deal with cooperation. Taking other people's constraints into account in his work is not an easy thing to do, and he has witnessed this first-hand. Today, the failures of cooperation have given him a better understanding of the issues and mechanisms involved in getting a group of players moving in the same direction. This cooperation is based on many intangible resources, in particular trust, which is fragile and can take a long time to build up. This may well be the key to making progress on local issues: knowing how to take the time to build the trust that will enable us to respond in the most efficient way to long-term challenges.

We would like to make it clear here that there is no question of negative criticism of this project. The aim is to imagine a fictional story about he development of a similar company through the FCE concepts. It is also a way to inspire people in a concrete way.

We are in 2030, Gesnord has continued its efforts. These efforts have become more productive, more relevant and more visible to more and more local actors thanks to the framework provided by the FCE...

Gesnord's work in the Haut-de-France is reconized. A growing number of doctors are testifying to the relevance of Gesnord's model in helping them achieve a better work/life balance. Thanks to Gesnord's support for young doctors, some areas that were once medical deserts are now able to restore access to healthcare for their inhabitants. Gesnord's development model is recognized as a sustainable one in the healthcare sector, and is inspiring more and more players to follow this change.

In 2026, Gesnord decided to become a "company with a mission". The company's mission is : "To ensure quality access to healthcare for all, while maintaining the well-being of practitioners". Gesnord's aim is to demonstrate its determination to make a positive impact on the healthcare sector. Gesnord is working in 2 areas. The first is to take into account the mental and physical health of practitioners, so that they can work in the best possible conditions. The second is to facilitate access to healthcare for all, by facilitating cooperation between the various medical players in a given area. This approach enables Gesnord to stand out from the rest.

Gesnord, by co-constructing solutions adapted to the real needs of practitioners, has been ensuring quality access to healthcare in the region for several years now. To maintain this performance, it is necessary to adapt to the challenges of our time. Gesnord, for example, is aware of the issues associated with an ageing population, and has created cooperative ventures to anticipate these issues. Following the same methodology as with hospitals, Gesnord has brought together retirement homes and homecare assistants. Initially, the aim of this cooperation is to ensure the sustainability and quality of the autonomy of elderly people in their own homes. At the same time, Gesnord's secretaries maintain a relationship with the homecare assistants to ensure that they are working under the best possible conditions. Secondly, the aim is to ensure the availability of staff in retirement homes and EHPAD. To carry out this mission, Gesnord relies on its knowledge of the region and its stakeholders. 

Gesnord, through its experience, wishes to be involved in the dissemination of its model. Having recognized the positive impact of Gesnord's activities in the Hauts-de-France region, the ARS has made a financial contribution to the creation of a training program involving Mohamed El Manani. Mohamed travels to other regions to share his experience in the healthcare field and inspire change. The aim is to provide the tools to develop a solution adapted to one's own territory.