Within the framework of the scientific mediation project “What do we know about work?” of the Public Policy Evaluation Laboratory of Sciences Po (Liepp), researchers analyzed the evils of work and their origins in a series of texts published by The world throughout the year. For “work better”These same researchers have proposed some courses of action. In a second series, “What are we doing with work?”, which will unravel over several months what is being done with work, we ask business leaders what they think of the researchers’ proposals and whether they would implement them. This interview opens the first episode of the series.
The first topic addressed is the loss of meaning of work, its links with management, in particular with the lack of participation of employees in decisions that affect their work, analysed by economists Thomas Coutrot and Coralie Perez. Their recommendations? Give employees back the power to act in their work by making their words a lever for transformation.
As Director General of MAIF and Co-President of the France Impact Movement, what is your opinion of Pascal Demurger?
As for meaning at work, I agree 100% with these researchers. Giving employees a voice again as a lever for transformation to give meaning back to work is essential. The topic of work is a blind spot in public debate. We rarely talk about working conditions. However, there is real meaning around the very object of work and it can go further if the company offers a broader mission of a more social nature.
This first theme, the meaning of work, is fundamental to valorisation, including the employee’s own valorisation of the function he performs. This involves understanding his personal contribution to achieving the company’s overall objective, beyond simply generating profits.
The second point is to demonstrate to each employee that the company trusts him in the execution of his work and, therefore, not to lock him into a process established from above, such as a telephone advisor script for example, but to leave him a relatively large margin of maneuver, a capacity for judgment and adaptation depending on the circumstances.
In the consideration of employees, these are the three conditions for the work to be accomplished. Then, employees give their best and we create performance for the company. The employer has a moral obligation beyond his legal responsibility to preserve the physical and mental health of employees. When we are responsible for the well-being of the people around us, we cannot do anything about it.
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