Cyrille Boureau
Former HR Director for 30 years, author and expert on moral harassment in the workplace. A rare double experience: the one who dealt with it, and the one who suffered from it.
Cyrille Boureau spent thirty years as a human resources director in very different companies, industrial, international, undergoing transformation. He dealt with dozens of cases of moral harassment. He trained managers, conducted investigations, supported victims. And then one day, he became a victim himself. This dual journey, that of the professional and that of the victim, is at the heart of all his interventions. It allows him to address the subject without condescension, with the conviction that understanding is better than blaming, and that every leader and manager in the room has something to learn about this phenomenon that remains largely invisible despite its scale: 1 in 4 employees affected, 86% of victims never talk about it to HR. Co-founder of the Managethic Institute, certified mediator and IPRP, he regularly speaks to audiences of leaders and HR directors as part of the ANDRH and APM. His book "Moral Harassment: How to Get Out of It" will be published by GERESO in October 2026, based on twenty testimonies from victims and ten perspectives from experts. His interventions are resolutely interactive: real-time self-diagnosis, role-playing, peer exchanges. Because you don't change a perspective by looking at slides, but by confronting your own practices with what research says.
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- Conference : 3300 €
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My conferences
Managerial Excellence: Reveal Your Best Practices
Description (minimum 200 words) Companies that invest in human and structured management are on average 11% more profitable. Their employees are 9 times more loyal, 6 times less absent, and 55% more creative. These are not intuitions: they are data from internationally recognized social science research. Yet, most organizations do not know where they stand. We manage as we have always managed, we reproduce what we have known, we handle urgency. And in the meantime, the most powerful levers remain untapped. This conference-workshop starts from a rigorous framework, built on 15 major managerial and organizational models, to seek what really works in the room. Recruitment, recognition, governance, working conditions, collective performance: 10 key dimensions of management reviewed, not in theory, but based on the actual practices of the participants. Because the real engine of this session is the collective intelligence of the room. Each participant diagnoses their own practices, confronts them with those of their peers, and identifies their strengths. Then comes the moment everyone is waiting for: a pitch competition where each defends, in a few minutes, their best managerial practice. Energetic, concrete, often surprising. Participants leave with directly applicable ideas that they did not have upon arrival.
"All Harassers?" — What You Need to Know Before It's Too Late
Do you really know how to recognize moral harassment? Do you think that moral harassment consists of insults, humiliations, or deliberately malicious behaviors? What if you were wrong? Today, 1 in 4 employees is affected by moral harassment. However, 86% of victims never talk about it to HR, and 43% of employees acknowledge having almost no knowledge of the phenomenon. The real danger is not bad intention. It is ignorance. In January 2025, the Court of Cassation definitively established the notion of institutional moral harassment by confirming the convictions pronounced in the France Télécom case. A few months later, the Ubisoft case reminded us that organizations can be held accountable for managerial practices that sustainably degrade working conditions. The message is clear: inaction is no longer a protection. After more than thirty years as an HR director, then investigator, mediator, and expert in the prevention of moral harassment, Cyrille Boureau offers a conference that challenges preconceived ideas. Because moral harassment generally does not start with screams or insults. It often settles through ordinary decisions: contradictory objectives, permanent reorganizations, paradoxical injunctions, diffuse pressure, management by instability... Practices sometimes considered "normal" until the day they produce major human, social, and legal consequences. This conference is a true awakening of consciousness. Through an interactive self-diagnosis, lived situations, exchanges with the audience, and examples from real investigations, participants are encouraged to question their own practices, identify weak signals, and spot risk factors present in their organization. They leave with a strong conviction: no one wishes to harass, but everyone can, unknowingly, contribute to a system that allows it. A powerful, documented, and deeply human conference that provides leaders, managers, HR directors, and elected officials with the keys to prevent rather than suffer. Keywords: moral harassment, harassment prevention, psychosocial risks, RPS, well-being at work, benevolent management, labor law, internal investigation.
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Who am I?
What I did before becoming a speaker
HR Director for thirty years in a dozen very different companies, from the automotive industry to publishing, in France and internationally. I have supported mergers, site closures, and social crises. And I have dealt with dozens of cases of moral harassment.
What made me become a speaker
What made you become a speaker? One day, after thirty years of protecting others, I became a victim myself. This experience revealed to me the extent of what I did not know, despite all those years. I wanted to transform this journey into something useful.
A failure or turning point that shaped me
Having been a victim of moral harassment when I thought I had covered it all as an HR Director. It taught me that intellectual knowledge of a phenomenon does not protect one from experiencing it. And that vulnerability is often the best teacher.
The mission I'm carrying today
Transforming an anxiety-inducing subject into a lever for action. Ensuring that fewer organizations remain blind to what is happening within them, and that fewer people go through alone what I went through.
The belief or message I want to leave for the long term
Moral harassment does not resemble the image we have of it. It is not a problem of bad people. It is a problem of collective ignorance. And ignorance can be treated.
A personal story I often tell
That of a Michelin leader who, instead of fighting against a critical book by an employee about his company, invited him to testify in his factories. "Management is two human beings meeting." This phrase says it all.
The values that guide my life off stage
Authenticity, benevolent demand, and the conviction that organizations can be both human and high-performing. It is not a choice between the two.
The passions and interests that are part of my life
Painting, photography, travel. And an insatiable curiosity about what makes people do what they do, in organizations as well as elsewhere.
What surprises people who only know me on stage
That I am not an activist. I am not here to blame leaders. I am here to open their eyes, with them, to something they often have not chosen to ignore.
What I'm most proud of, beyond my résumé
For having transformed a painful experience into a book, into conferences, and into something that helps other people go through what I went through less alone.
Positioning & expertise
What concrete problem I can help your audience solve
Moral harassment remains invisible in most organizations, even though it affects 1 in 4 employees and now exposes every leader to documented criminal, financial, and reputational risks. I help organizations see what they do not see, and to act before it is too late.
Why book me rather than another speaker?
Because I am one of the few who speaks about moral harassment from both sides: the one who has dealt with it for thirty years as an HR director, and the one who has been a victim. This dual legitimacy radically changes the way the subject is received in the room.
My specialty in one sentence
Moral harassment in the workplace: understanding the real mechanisms, measuring the risks, and building the conditions of an organization that protects as much as it performs.
My unique angle
I start from reality. And I start from the incident that a case of moral harassment represents, not to condemn or repair, but to learn and help individuals and the organization grow. A well-handled case of harassment can become the starting point for a stronger and more humane managerial culture.
The field experience behind my message
Thirty years as an HR Director in very different companies, dozens of harassment situations handled, a personal experience as a victim, and a book published by GERESO in 2026 built on twenty testimonies and ten expert perspectives.
My speaking style in one or two sentences
Interactive and grounded in reality. I do not give lectures: I open spaces where participants examine their own practices, confront their representations, and leave with benchmarks they have built themselves.
Which audiences get the most from my sessions
Leaders, HR directors, and managers who want to understand a topic they think they know, and who generally discover that it holds surprises for them. But also occupational doctors, occupational psychologists, coaches...
Concrete outcomes your audience can expect after I speak
A new reading of the phenomenon. An honest assessment of their exposure. And at least one concrete action decided in the room, applicable the very next day.
The method, framework, or philosophy I stand for
Understanding is better than blaming. And you don't change a perspective by looking at slides: it's by confronting your own practices with those of others and what research says that you truly progress.
Results & credibility
Career highlights I want to emphasize
Thirty years as an HR director in very different companies, from 250 to 4,500 people, in various sectors (automotive industry, publishing, auditing, aerospace). Management of site closures, mergers, social crises. Dozens of cases of moral harassment addressed. And a personal experience as a victim that changed everything in my understanding of the phenomenon.
Clients and sectors that have trusted me
ANDRH (Vendée, Ardennes, Nord Maritime, Drôme-Ardèche, Seine-et-Marne, Poitou-Charentes...), APM clubs Mayenne and Cholet, IMT Partners Nantes, Medef. Sectors: industry, services, professional associations
What organizers and audiences tell me most often
"A workshop that is both structured, concrete, and participatory that opens the debate." "A rare opportunity to compare one's practices with those of other companies and to ask the right questions without pressure." "Great, inspiring." "Top, exciting."
Where I shine most — and when I point you to another option
Management seminars, manager days, HR conventions, leaders' clubs.
What I spotlight beyond my profile (book, certifications, proof, etc.)
My book "Moral Harassment: How to Get Out of It" (GERESO, October 2026), built on 20 testimonies from victims and 10 perspectives from experts: doctors, psychologists, lawyers, coaches. IPRP certification (Intervenant en Prévention des Risques Professionnels), registered with the DREETS Pays de la Loire. Co-founder of the Managethic Institute, a company dedicated to more human and effective management.
Format
On-site, remote, or hybrid: what I accept and prefer
My preference clearly leans towards in-person: my approach is decidedly interactive, with real-time self-diagnostics, peer exchanges, and collective role-playing.