“There is a public and politician on work. Employees are the best experts at work and very often we do not listen to them. If we improve life at work of citizens, we improve democracy,” launched Laurent Berger, former secretary general of the CFDT, on the set of C to you On May 15, 2023. A bottle at sea. Because in management, the French remain “refractory Gauls”, according to the expression dear to Emmanuel Macron. A president whose style of governance was in turn qualified as “narcissistic” or “management by fear”. To those who still doubted it, an Igas report published on March 28, 2025 confirms that French management is far from being a model, at least when compared to that of countries like Germany, Sweden, Italy or Ireland. Countries, underlines the report, “confronted with close managerial challenges, whether it is the crisis of meaning at work, the supervision of teams in hybrid mode, taking into account major demographic, technological and ecological transitions”. So what’s wrong in the French approach, and how to remedy it?
First major teaching of this comparative study: French management still remains too “vertical” and “hierarchical”. In question, according to the IGAS, which is based on the work of Philippe d’Iribarne, director of research at the CNRS: a cultural logic, that of honor, “as demanding in the duties that it prescribes as in the privileges it allows to defend”. Added to this is a form of “aristocratic pride” where “hierarchical relationships should be respected in a scrupulous manner, and thus offer little room for the logics of collective deliberation”. Conversely, in the Netherlands for example, prevails a culture of consensus.
This vertical organization in France has a direct effect on the autonomy of employees: according to the report, the share of organizations offering a low autonomy is 6.5 points higher than the European average, and the gap increases to 16 points when compared to France to Germany, cited as a model in terms of autonomy at work. Only consolation: Ireland is slightly less well than France. However, for the American professor Dan Heath, author of Reset (2025, not translated), “autonomy works because it is motivated, it strengthens the feeling of responsibility, it mobilizes more advanced skills, and it reduces the waste linked to the micro -function”. “In uncertain or stressful situations, add the author, We are often tempted to regain control. But it is The bad reflex : it’s necessary Let the others take the wheel “. The training counselor at Duke University illustrates her remarks by the testimony of a disillusioned employee:” I had the impression of wasting my time and my energy … I started to do less, because it was easier for my ego than to produce a job that was going to be crushed … I learned to do exactly what [le patron] asked, and nothing more; Basically, I was an extension of his work, which did not make me feel valued at all. “Dan Heath, however, insists on the need to supervise this autonomy:” People want to have control. But they also want safeguards and a safety net in the event of a problem. “
A confidence of trust
Another fragility point noted by IGAS: the low level of confidence in France, compared to the European average. “French workers believe that their manager’s support is less systematic than in other EU countries and in the countries of comparison,” notes the report. Notable and specific to France: “The quality of relationships deteriorates with hierarchical distance”. The confidence of employees towards their management is marked by an even more significant gap: 63 % of French employees trust their management, against 73 % in the European Union. The report also highlights a relatively low level of cooperation between management and staff representatives but in this area, no French specificity.
To this confidence of confidence is added the feeling that work is not recognized as it should be. According to IFOP data analyzed by IGAS, only 56 % of French employees estimate that their work is recognized at its fair value, against 72 % in the United Kingdom and 75 % in Germany. This feeling does not relate to remuneration, but to points such as “the right to make mistakes, encouragement to take individual initiatives or feedback to enhance and advance employees.”
As Pilita Clark recalls, columnist at Financial Times, “For employees whose work goes unnoticed, except when they make an error, this recognition can be extremely significant”. And a way of retaining: “Replacing an employee can cost up to twice his annual salary, not to mention the additional work and the drop in morale for those who stay. All this speaks volumes on the power of five words: Thank you for this great job“But this recognition does not have the same weight according to its transmitter. A Gallup survey of 2016 reveals that the most striking recognition comes at 28 % of the direct manager, at 24 % from a high -level leader or the CEO, at 12 % of the manager’s superior, 10 % of a customer and 9 % of colleagues. And the need for recognition applies to everyone, including the most efficient. Ruth Gotian, management expert and management expert. Contributor to Harvard Business Reviewwarns: “Managers often make a heavy error by leaving the employees their best elements work on their maximum capacity without support, preferring to devote their time and their attention to the least efficient. In doing so, these very efficient employees often have the feeling of being neglected and ignored.”
In addition, IGAS highlights a French paradox, namely a dense, but ineffective regulatory arsenal in the field. “The supervision of managerial relations by some general principles and a high number of sectoral laws is a French particularity that is not found in countries with a strong tradition of social dialogue (Sweden, Germany and a lesser degree in Italy) or in a liberal country like Ireland”, underlines the report. These countries favor specific approaches: the legal and regulatory systems are much less numerous there and are mainly focused on priority issues related to management such as psycho-social risks in Sweden or the integration of the digital revolution in managerial practices in Germany. In a France where we have got into the habit of focusing on access to employment, to the detriment of the quality of life at work for those who are already in post, IGAS makes several recommendations in favor of a A real managerial policy in business, such as: the possibility of registering managerial practices in the themes of compulsory social dialogue on QVCT or the implementation of a national program to support managerial innovation and the quality of life at work on the model of the German “future of work” (this program launched in 2015 focuses on the adaptation of the organization of work to technological changes and the quality of life at work).
For a real managerial policy
The report finally insists on the need to strengthen the support of managers, a population “today largely under pressure in a context of individualization of labor relations and demand for employee participation on the one hand, and on the other, pressure from the result of management, all against the background of development of an increasingly time -consuming reporting.” Faced with this observation, IGAS experts recommend “extending APEC missions to executives council in their managerial practices” and “develop the support systems for new managers as part of the vocational training policy driven by the branches”. Last suggestion, inspired by the Swedish model: “Unpleasant approaches to integrate managerial practices into labor policies.” This could in particular go through The registration of managerial practices in occupational health prevention tools.
Will the Igas report be followed by effect or simply forgotten in a drawer? Only certainty: if the management “French” is dysfunctional, the attachment of the French to work, it is real. This is evidenced by the results of the European survey on the values of 2022 cited by IGAS: “The French are among the Europeans who attach the most importance to work”. So, what are we waiting for (finally) happy manager?