In a tense geopolitical context, 83% of French people consider the future to be “worrying” (Ifop/Rencontres de l’avenir poll). “Quiet quitting”, “great resignation”, “soft years*”, reactions to crises manifest themselves in companies in the form of disengagement. Nearly half of decision-makers believe that employees are “not really” or “not at all motivated” (The Barometer of Decision Makers).
Managers, under great pressure, should they fight against this withdrawal into themselves? Or do they have to live with it while waiting for better days?
A shift in the world towards more anxiety
Managers today have accepted chronic uncertainty as their new work and decision-making environment. The acronyms qualifying the world themselves evolve. Coming from the 80s, the so-called “VUCA” world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) is becoming insufficient to account for the current environment in which companies operate. Today, the acronym BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Non-Linear, Incomprehensible) takes a closer look at the general climate and the difficulties faced by decision-makers.
The world has become “friable” (Brittle), like an eggshell, since certain fundamentals have been completely disrupted (peace in Europe, security of energy supplies, sustainability of the environment). These changes by their brutality, as much as by the absence of solutions, generate an “anxiogenic” climate (Anxious): the threats multiply and affect the collective but also each one personally. Non-linearity is expressed by events that unfold along an unknown or uncontrollable trajectory, such as epidemic curves, energy prices or inflation. Precise forecasting is prevented, the past is no longer enough to think about the future, which increases the concern of stakeholders. Finally, the world becomes “incomprehensible”, since it carries within it many economic, social and political paradoxes that are difficult to explain.
In this context, managers remain, three years after the start of the health crisis, in high demand in their organizations.
Softness, epidemic of laziness and “cherry picking”
Crises trigger all kinds of reactions. Companies face different forms of desertion, whether in the form of “quiet quitting”, major resignation, strong requests for teleworking, or even multiplications of sick leave and burn-out.
Managers worry about seeing empty offices at 6 p.m. and wonder about their own ability to motivate. Employees no longer hesitate to decline meetings at 4:30 p.m. because they pick up their children from school, which was quite simply unthinkable a few months ago.
Recruitment has also become an area of tension where inventiveness becomes critical. Cultivate the “employer brand”, give meaning, work on the raison d’être, multiply the guarantees of work flexibility, organize face-to-face hiring forums to bring in candidates (the latter no longer respond to advertisements): the wide range of tools to make the company “desirable”.
The balance of power remains for the moment reversed between employers and candidates. Even the CDI, “open sesame” in France for renting accommodation or borrowing, no longer always attracts candidates. The latter do not hesitate to impose fixed-term contracts, which are more suited to their state of mind. In short, the candidates make “cherry picking”, a sort of fine selection, carefully choosing their company, the time they dedicate to their work, the direction, the quality of the managers, or even the balance between professional and private life. . A real challenge, not to say a headache, for companies.
Face 2023 in the best possible conditions
First of all, rest is essential. The end-of-year break is an opportunity to catch your breath, by protecting yourself against possible demands from the office.
Given the increase in social tensions, and the hardening of tone observed in most unions (approach of pension reform, ongoing transport strike, etc.), it seems appropriate to continue to train, whether either in negotiation, crisis management or soft skills. If companies have become resilient by force of circumstances (some have made a ‘Retex’ – feedback – from crisis management), none is immune to the hardening of internal tensions. Managers are the first to be able to negotiate and defuse conflicts. Some studies indicate that regular “one-to-one” meetings with the manager (every week for example) considerably improve the level of commitment and well-being (+50%).
Finally, when the fog thickens, the strategy and its implementation within the company become essential. Managers work on the strategy within their scope. The clearer it is, the more it allows aligned decision-making. The circulation of information, the maintenance of cohesion, including with people who work remotely on a long-term basis, will be the points of attention for managers for 2023.
Managers remain pivots within companies and their commitment does not weaken. Better armed since the health crisis, more agile, they continue tirelessly to adapt to a changing world, showing creativity, also suffering more than others from fatigue or burnout. If no one expects a return to the world before, many hope for some lull for 2023, whether on the employment front, the social climate, or tensions linked to geopolitical crises.
* Marine Balansard is a graduate of Sciences Po Paris, with a master’s degree in Capital Markets and Corporate Finance and works for the Consulting and Training firm ARISEAL as CEO. Marine Balansard is co-author of the book “Décider ça se travail” published by Eyrolles.