17
Mar, 2018
Together, Let’s Change Management
As outlined by Denis Pennel in his recent book “Work, the Thirst for Freedom: How Startuppers, Slashers, Co-workers Reinvent Work”, the rise in power of freelancing is one of the symptoms of the current evolution of work.
The third and fourth industrial revolutions impact managers, who must put into place an in-depth transformation to mobilise the collective intelligence within their organization.
Rethinking the work
Per Denis Pennel, who denounces the tricks of a “padlocked wage earner”, the mindset needs to evolve so that employees from various backgrounds with different statuses can be integrated within the organization. In this spirit, the notion of subordination must be revised.
In the same way, the definition of work time needs to be revised urgently (calculation of hours, work load, etc.)
“A large part of what we call “management” is making it hard to work”, stated the American business management consultant, Peter Drucker.
Moreover, imposed standards, process-oriented production methods and the development of reporting often make management counterproductive.
While flexibility and autonomy are valued, in reality they have little chance of developing in an environment that has become extremely rigid.
Managers today and those who want to be the leaders of tomorrow need to leave their comfort zone because it is the management of paradoxes that will determine their ability to create value and increase their teams’ performance. Short-term and long-term needs, synchronisation of the push and pull strategies, reduction of the gap between individual and collective interests: such are the three main paradoxes that they must face.
Without forgetting that nowadays if employers are evaluating their employees, these employees are also evaluating them!
Facing a growing “talent war”
Often, the real needs are undervalued, as Elie Cohen, an economist, research director at CNRS and professor at Science Po, outlines: “I fear that there will be a huge lack of engineers in Europe. In all traditional engineering fields as well as in the digital and scientific fields. We did not consider the need.”
Moreover, we are witnessing a decrease in the attractiveness of large firms and of traditional organisations for young graduates, who would now rather focus on start-ups, freelance or start their own company. The desire for freedom has now been replaced by the need for security.
In parallel, the decline of selectivity as a symbol of prestige is notable. Laetitia Vitaud, from Medium Corporation, in her article “Freelancing and management: rethinking the access to talent”, summarizes it as follows: “The greater the selectivity, the more recruitment suffers a costly bottleneck effect. Since it is impossible to devote sufficient time to the thorough examination of each application, the process is necessarily slow and bureaucratic. The “Malthusian” bias of selective recruitment causes a misalignment between the goal of the recruiter (being selective) and that of the organisation (having the necessary profiles for the success of strategic activities).”
Betting on skills
In a business world in constant flux, the new critical strengths are without a doubt innovation, autonomy, team spirit and resilience. This is the reason why currently the best options are in freelancing.
For businesses, they must change the recruitment model by putting skills at its center, because this is the best way to predict performance, rather than the prestige of post-secondary institutions or the type of degree obtained.
However, it is equally important to know how to develop their skills, may they be technical (hard skills) or behavioural (soft skills). “I really believe in the revival of guilds to “sublimate” professional life. If labor laws allowed it, platforms could play this role, train workers to raise their skill level and build loyalty”, states Denis Pennel.
And it’s just as important to have a clear vision of this panel of skills.
Do you want to efficiently recruit talent that your company truly needs?
With Skillspotting, move to recruitement 2.0 with the program “2018: 1 year to reinvent recruitment”: http://6x2htucpe.preview.infomaniak.website/2018-1-annee-pour-reinventer-le-recrutement/.
Whether you need support to build your skills-based management model or you want to optimize an existing one, we are at your side. We can also help you develop your managers’ skills through custom made paths combining individual coaching and training workshops that are action-based.
Sources :
– Laetitia Vitaud, « Freelancing et management » : « Changeons le management plutôt que manager le changement », Medium Corporation, https://medium.com/futur-du-travail/freelancing-et-management-changeons-le-management-plutôt-que-manager-le-changement-9d57f41b97a
– Laetitia Vitaud, « Freelancing et management : repenser l’accès aux talents », Medium Corporation, https://medium.com/futur-du-travail/freelancing-et-management-repenser-laccès-aux-talents-95abb4c01c2a
– Christophe Bys, « « Avec la transformation digitale, tous les repères du management sont chamboulés » expliquent Marguerite Descamps et Frédéric Petitbon », L’Usine Nouvelle, https://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/avec-la-transformation-digitale-tous-les-reperes-du-management-sont-chamboules-expliquent-marguerite-descamps-et-frederic-petitbon.N642383
– Blog de Dennis Pennel, « La Nouvelle réalité du travail », https://lanouvellerealitedutravail.wordpress.com
Crédits photos :
@ gajus.jpj
@ mindscanner.jpg
@ Alta Oosthuizen.jpg
@ rawpixel.jpg
[1]Auteur, conférencier et Directeur général de la Confédération mondiale de l’emploi
[2]Eyrolles, septembre 2017