Station master, one-man band or coordinator, all jobs that involve several functions have already been associated with that of manager, who is hard to imagine alone, in an office, working on a file without being disturbed by legitimate requests (those of his team) or impossible to refuse (those of his hierarchy or a client). However, it turns out that a good team leader must ensure the proper functioning of the group and the delivery of tasks to meet the objectives assigned to him. Here again, having imponderables, cancellations and last-second work overloads are part of the job, as is being “a force for proposals” which is among the qualities required when recruiting a manager, alongside “strong work capacity” and “capable of withstanding pressure”. These already strong requirements are now associated with a growing demand: that of adaptability, which includes having excellent listening skills.
But is the manager equipped to carry out active listening 24/7 in all situations while supervising? “We ask a lot of the manager. We ask him to take it upon himself. It is impossible to do everything and that creates frustration”, answers Ludovic Girodon, consultant, speaker and author of Dream Team. The best secrets of managers to recruit and retain your ideal team (Marabout 2024).
Stuck between management and employees from whom he must bring out the best in order to do optimum work, the manager is an essential part of the functioning of the company but who is overloaded with soft skills or theories that advocate this famous adaptability and surveys that are scary: “today, disengagement at work is very high (53%) and one in two French people do not consider themselves to be in good mental health” (Ipsos/Qualisocial, January 2024). It is up to him to re-enchant work! It does not stop there: record absenteeism due to illness broken with 50% of employees stopped at least once in 2022 and only 48% of employees who consider themselves to have both good mental and physical health (down 6 points compared to the previous year).
What is the responsibility of managers? The verdict is in: “for long absences, psychological disorders come out on top: 32% in 2022 compared to 14% in 2020. According to employees, these absences are primarily work-related, whether it be the work environment or managerial practices” (Absenteeism Barometer 2023, Ifop/Malakoff Humanis, June 20, 2023). Managers are now forced to question themselves, since they are ordered to evolve and do better with their troops while forcing them to respect their objectives, productivity requires. “It’s a fool’s game,” analyzes Ludovic Girodon. “The manager is not a superman and these contradictory injunctions also lead him to question his vocation.” Out of breath, 53% of managers were prescribed sick leave, an increase of 13% compared to 2022 – the highest increase observed according to the same study. Fatigue. It’s fatigue/That makes me dizzy/And I fallsang Barbara.
Empowering employees
This tightrope walker who must spend his time finding balances, “is an easily found culprit”, continues the expert. In “I take it upon myself” mode (55% of managers believe that there is a strong encroachment of their professional life on their personal life according to Ifop/Malakoff-Humanis), “make do/system D”, “coach” or “director”, it is up to the manager to carry organizations in perpetual evolution, with hybrid teams (which breaks the unity) and which must run at all costs. Managers must be made aware of this situation which inevitably leads to human damage.
For Ludovic Girodon, “it is time to empower employees”. According to him, it is necessary to relieve the manager of peripheral tasks that hinder him and to involve employees more, from the moment they are hired. An employee’s job description requires skills: the job is the basis of his relationship with the manager. But then, during the integration phase, it is necessary to be clear about the responsibility that he also has towards his hierarchy. Not to expect everything from them, to know how to take it upon oneself. The active participation of employees and their empowerment is the only answer so that the manager has time and becomes more efficient in order to adapt to constraints. And so that employees find meaning in their work and in the collective.
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