why leading a team is no longer a dream – L’Express

Surprising as it may be, the trend is largely explained by the demands placed on the role. First and foremost, the management of individuals within a team: 39% of employees perceive it as “a source of difficulties”; the workload is considered much heavier, and puts off 24% of the executives surveyed.

In addition, nearly two in ten employees believe their company’s expectations of managers are “too high”. In his work Take care of yourself and others at work (Fauves Editions, 2023), author Anne-Véronique Herter recalls that 44% of managers are in psychological distress. And four out of ten are severely burned out.

Enough to discourage more than one from embarking on a path once perceived as “royal”. Especially since 36% of non-managerial employees say they are fully fulfilled in their position, “undoubtedly preferring to implement their technical skills rather than moving away from their core business”, notes Apec.

On the other hand, a third of executives who do not wish to become managers do not completely reject this prospect. 32% consider that they do not have the personality required to carry out the role. This, even though “leadership” would be “less a matter of being than of doing”, as Christophe Genoud asserts in his work Leadership, agility, happiness at work… Bullshit! Put an end to fashionable ideas and (finally) revalorize the art of management (Vuibert, 2023). Furthermore, 10% think they lack experience and believe they do not have perspective. Prorata which rise respectively to 45% and 23% among young executives.

However, the desire to become a manager paradoxically remains stronger among these young employees. More than half of executives under 35 hope to access management responsibilities, compared to only 33% of those aged 35-54 and 28% of those over 55.

A gap which can be explained by several phenomena. First of all, executives over the age of 35 are “proportionally more likely than the youngest to already be managers”. And for those who are not, or have never been, “they may never have wanted it or believe that it is now too late”, deciphers Apec in its study. Furthermore, a quarter of young employees have the desire to see their missions evolve.

And for good reason: behind the desire to occupy a management position lies the desire to evolve professionally. 32% of employees surveyed said they “above all wanted to progress in terms of their career”. A proportion which rises to more than 40% for the youngest among them. “For them, career progression is very clearly the primary reason for attraction to management,” insists Apec, which also notes “the desire to pass on one’s skills and help others progress.”

Thus, 32% would like to take on this role “to pass on their skills” and 24% believe they have the “necessary experience” to achieve this. Didn’t Julien Dreher, co-founder of Ground, write in his book All managers! Renouncing subordination to free cooperation in the company(Editions Eyrolles, 2023) that “managing” essentially consists of “promoting collective work or supporting collaborators”?

But while the purchasing power of the French has continued to decline in recent months, the question of remuneration also retains its place on the podium of motivations which push non-managerial employees to become one.

Thus, a quarter of them aim to climb the ladder with the aim of increasing their salary. A vision shared by nearly three out of ten executives under the age of 35. “The role of manager appears to them to be a more advantageous position in the company, a position coupled with greater remuneration,” continues the association.

However, if those under 35 say they are on average more motivated by the idea of ​​exercising managerial responsibilities, the study highlights a clear decline in the rating of management among young people. If the desire to become a manager was shared by 63% of employees under 35 in 2022, there will only be 56% in 2023. That is a drop of 7 points in one year.

This study was carried out by the Data and Studies Directorate (DDE) of Apec. The analyzes presented are based on the results of the following surveys: the Apec barometer, carried out each month among 1,000 or 2,000 executives working in the private sector (June 2022, September 2022, May 2023) And 24 interviews carried out with managerial and non-managerial executives (March and April 2023)