Review of the “Quality of Life at Work and Innovation” Morning Session

This morning, we visited Bouygues’ offices to attend a conference on the theme: “Quality of life at work and innovation: how to attract the right talent and boost employee satisfaction?”. Here’s a recap of a busy morning.

In France, quality of life at work is a real issue. Indeed, French executives only take 3.5% of their entitled vacation days. There were 215,000 recruitments in 2017, and 83% of mid-market companies struggle to find talent.

Faced with this observation, Indeed conducted research on the matter. The findings reveal a scarcity of talent and executives. In fact, 5% of the workforce contributes 26% of value creation. Quite logically, everyone is competing for these 5%, who can be described as “transformational talents”: they understand AI challenges and digital transformation. The question for companies is how to identify and attract them.

These are people capable of solving problems. They possess intellectual agility that allows them to understand the “big picture”. Today, you can no longer be effective in a company by focusing solely on one process. This ability to take action is determined by three key points:

However, what surprisingly does not characterize them is discipline. Another question arises: how do they search for work? There’s a common misconception that they are passive. Yet nowadays, everyone stays alert. They all want to form their own opinion about their potential employer. They only trust direct sources, and statistics prove they can be volatile.

According to Indeed’s study, 65% of employees who just started a new position are still looking elsewhere, which can be explained by FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).

To attract more talent, Germany has found a solution: ratings. On average, two out of three employees rate their company. They therefore operate on the premise that every person is now a media outlet, and therefore important even if they don’t stay with the same company for 20 years. This is why you must pay close attention to how things unfold and assume that employees, even after they leave, are ambassadors for your company.

Another important point is values. We are all now seeking meaning, so it will be easier to turn to a company that encourages intrapreneurship or other initiatives that make employees’ lives easier.

Attracting talent is good. Keeping them is better. This is the primary concern of companies today. To start, the idea is not to focus on longevity, but rather to see how things unfold daily. For this, management needs to change. It must embrace digital practices and also adapt the way it manages employees of all ages, which is not straightforward.

The role of human beings in tomorrow’s workplace is a subject that concerns both companies and talent. Companies must therefore prepare and adapt to this imminent change. Future roles will need to complement AI, and we must focus on other types of intelligence we’re not currently leveraging. This represents a massive shift, since today 80% of business tasks are repetitive.

The new manager is an algorithm. All the tasks that once fell to managers will gradually be handled by AI. New expectations for a manager’s role have emerged: coach, mentor, career facilitator, talent enabler, etc. They must help employees find their unique path. Trust must be established beyond the work experience itself. Previously, managers had knowledge of the “how,” but the internet has made that obsolete. Today’s manager must adopt a “why” mindset and not explain the “how.” Management must also be humanized, showing that managers can make mistakes too. It’s crucial to give employees the right to fail so they can progress better.

You must create value for your employees. Whether through health, sports, knowledge, or training, you must give meaning to the “why.” In fact, 47% of employees are willing to leave their company for an inspiring environment. Therefore, you must establish an agile and flexible climate, and adopt the premise that work is not “a place I go to,” but rather “an activity I engage in.” Trust must also be given a priori and no longer needs to be earned.

Speakers: Philippe Cuenot, Central Director of Human Resources, Innovation and Social Development at Bouygues Group, Nicolas Wolikow, co-founder and CEO of Qare, Olivier, co-founder of LOptimisme.com, Arnaud Devigne, Managing Director France at Indeed.