OPINION. Do managers have the blues? Do they sometimes feel that they have a “bullshit job”? These questions, which have been going around the world of work and, by extension the whole of French society, for some years now, probably deserve to be clarified…

By Anne Cudkowicz and Gwënola Dubois-Dorkel, both general managers at Arthur Hunt Transition.

his is precisely what the latest survey carried out by the IFOP on behalf of Arthur Hunt, in partnership with the Bona Fidé agency, invites us to do. Something about the climate surrounding the issue of work has changed, and managers and executives are not immune to the rule.

“I’m doing well, but I’m leaving”…

The survey of 500 senior executives and supervisors revealed a number of surprising results.
This one for a start: 84% believe that the transformation of a company is essential to adapt it to a changing economic, competitive and technological environment. 76% feel that transformation has been conducted well in their company in recent years. A way of defying the conventional wisdom that middle management is a force of resistance to change…
Another telling figure: 84% say they have a good image of the management of their company, and 87% are satisfied with their relationship with their direct superior.
In short, the portrait that the study paints is that of managers who are committed, fulfilled, well integrated into their company and in agreement with the way the company is going. Everything seems to be going well. And yet… 58% confess that they have been tempted to resign! Something’s wrong, but what?

When young graduates lead the way

Managers don’t feel ill at ease in themselves or in their work, yet they want to be somewhere else. It’s not that they don’t like their daily work experience, but rather that they aspire to something else. But what? Regardless of their age and regardless of their level of responsibility, managers and executives are obviously not immune to the debates and cultural changes that are shaking up society.
Thus – and this is another surprising lesson learnt from the survey – the qualities valued in a company executive are now more ethical than technical. Respect for employees (69%) and ethics and honesty (68%) top the list of qualities considered “very important”, well ahead of leadership, strategic vision, skills and capacity for innovation. We certainly would not have had the same answers twenty years ago. Today, there is a genuine moral requirement for companies, not only from consumers, but also from employees called upon to exercise leading responsibilities.

This is because the “big quit” is probably above all a symptom of a new vision of the world of work. The 58% of executives who are thinking of going elsewhere will certainly not jump in feet first.
But they are clearly seized by doubt. The proof? 77% say they understand the graduates of the grandes écoles – Polytechnique, HEC, Sciences Po, etc. – who have expressed loud and clear their refusal to take up a career in companies considered responsible for the current climate crisis. This figure is not insignificant: in normal times, it’s easier to imagine young people who are committed, sometimes even radical, who get back into line as they get older, and are judged as such by their elders. None of this here: it’s young people who redefine work-related representations, and the most experienced who follow… A sign of the times, no doubt.

Yes, but what for?

While the reasons for managers and executives to change course are more or less clear, their destination is less clear. They are unlikely to dream of moving to a medium-sized town to retrain in handicrafts like the first of the disaffected class described by journalist Jean-Laurent Cassely.

They are more astute; they either plan to start a business (40%) or continue working as freelancers (39%). And because the prospect of going it alone when you’ve spent all your career in a large group can be daunting, becoming a transition manager can then become an attractive option. Hence the transformations underway in the transition manager line of business. In the past, transition managers tended to be experienced managers, at the end of their career, who provided their extensive experience to a struggling company.

Today, the job has been modernised, and is no longer seen as an activity linked solely to crisis situations (40% believe that they are “as useful for a company in a time of growth as in a crisis”, compared to 18% who believe that “they are first and foremost useful for a company in a time of crisis”) but as a real lever for development. In a context where the relationship with work is changing, where careers are no longer linear, where ethics matter, transition management is a solution for the future, both for managers and their individual aspirations for a “multi-faceted” professional life and for companies, by overcoming their recruitment difficulties.

(*) Biographies :

Anne Cudkowicz – Anne began her professional career with a headhunting firm specialising in the recruitment of senior executives, then for seven years she set up, developed and managed the Marketing & Commercial division at Expectra (Randstad Group).

Gwenola Dubois-Dorkel – After 10 years as a consultant and then manager at Expectra (Ranstand Group), she became a Partner in 2017 and took over as General Manager of the business in 2019.

Preface by Jérôme Fourquet, Director of the Opinion Department at IFOP

For Arthur Hunt, in partnership with Bona fidé, IFOP carried out an exclusive, unprecedented study on a robust and representative sample of 500 senior executives and managers from French companies with more than 50 employees ^[1]. At a time when work, from recruitment difficulties to social mobilisation for employees, is playing an increasingly important role in the public debate, the survey allows us to take stock of the state of mind of managers in September 2022. The impact of teleworking, ethical expectations and understanding of youth movements: this study reveals that the major debates permeating our society are also having an effect on the management of major French companies.

The “big quit” seems to be taking hold in the collective imagination. And senior executives and managers want to be somewhere else. 58% say they are “tempted” to resign in the coming months to change companies or activity, 40% being particularly attracted by freelancing or entrepreneurship. If there is a fine line between saying and doing, the temptation to resign seems to affect senior managers as well, and is much less linked to dissatisfaction with the management of “their” company than to a search for meaning and a profound change in their relationship with work.

Indeed, managers and executives have a positive relationship with the general management of their companies. They say they are committed to the transformation of their companies, satisfied with their general management, which they feel has the required capabilities and attributes, and their relations with their N+1 In details:

-76% of executives and managers say they are “involved in and committed to” the transformation of their company. Asked in an open-ended question to describe this transformation spontaneously, senior executives and managers mainly cite teleworking as the most important recent change. From this point of view there is definitely a before and after Covid, with no doubt a real ratchet effect from which it will be difficult to return.

-84% (96% of executives, 74% of managers) have a good image of the management of their company.

-87% (96% of executives and 80% of managers) say they are “satisfied” with their relationship with their N+1 and consider that they have the required qualities for their role.

It is therefore more a case of a profound change in the relationship to work, rather than dissatisfaction with management, that makes managers want to be somewhere else.

This sociological change in representations about work and career can also be seen in the rise in ethical expectations and the demand for more responsible companies.

Thus, respect for employees (69%) and ethics and honesty (68%) top the list of qualities considered “very important” for a executive, ahead of leadership, strategic vision, skills and capacity for innovation.

The “societalisation” of companies, i.e. the rise in moral expectations of them, does not only concern consumers, it also affects employees, including senior executives and managers.

These expectations of ethics and respect could well become key recruitment criteria in the future. In another sign of the changes underway, “established” managers and executives are sympathetic to youth movements against global warming. More than three-quarters of executives and managers (88% of executives, 69% of managers) say they “understand” the protest movements of graduates of the grandes écoles at Agro-Tech, Sciences Po, HEC or Polytechnique against companies perceived as insufficiently responsible in the fight against global warming. A level of understanding which is highest among young managers (88%) and executives and managers in the Paris region (80%). So no generational divide on this point; young people show the way and the established, older managers seem to follow! Finally, this survey makes it possible for the first time to take stock of the perception in companies of transition managers, one of Arthur Hunt’s core businesses. It shows that they enjoy a positive image and are considered useful by a large majority of executives and managers, with however significant differences in intensity between the two:

-96% of executives and 63% of managers have a positive image of transition managers

-68% of executives and 61% of managers consider that transition managers are useful

-40% of executives and managers consider that transition managers are also useful in times of growth and crisis, 23% that they are first and foremost useful in times of growth, 18% that they are first and foremost useful in times of crisis, with 19% considering that they are never useful. Transition management is, in fact, now seen more as a structural lever for development than as a firefighter and a cyclical solution to a crisis.

In a context where the relationship with work is changing, where careers are no longer linear, where ethics matter, transition management could well be a solution for the future, both for managers and their individual aspirations for change and a “multi-faceted” professional life, and for companies, by helping them overcome their recruitment difficulties In fact, the transition management model could well be redefined and reinvented in light of the ongoing social changes.

[1] Survey of representative samples of 200 senior managers and 300 supervisory managers from companies with more than 50 employees from 30 August to 14 September.

Jérôme Fourquet
Director of IFOP’s Opinion and Corporate Strategies Department

Vincent Coderc, Partner at Arthur Hunt Transition, expert in Finance functions for more than 20 years, gives us his vision on the evolution of this profession and its transformation challenges.

How has the health crisis accelerated the transformation of the finance function?

The CFO must be the rock in times of crisis. It is the critical arbiter who must present and even announce difficult decisions. It must also anticipate the near future. This lies in having reliable data.

They are the first to provide relevant and up-to-date facts and figures about their business.

The role of the CFO is much more extensive than it was about 5 years ago.

Beyond issues related to cash management, which has grown even more in recent months, the current crisis shows us that financial processes must be digitized.

Finance teams are increasingly working in nomadic mode.

Manual tasks, such as accounting for invoices for example, are practically impossible from home.

For example, companies save up to 70% of their time and administrative costs. Automation and digitalization are therefore the keys, it is still necessary to have suitable tools but also an efficient organization.

Today, the CFO must also take into account the necessary compliance procedures.

They make it possible to guarantee the continuity of the activity, to meet the constraints of CSR by reducing the ecological footprint.

What are the impacts of these changes?

As companies increasingly opt for digitalization and automation due to this pandemic, notions of risk are also changing.

Remote work along with the increase in intangible transactions creates an increased risk of C-level fraud, phishing (phishing, extracting personal information for identity theft) and dealing with ghost companies.

Existing controls in the area of ​​compliance are no longer sufficient, creating a significant risk.

The CFO has a new role in this area because it must have a 360° view of all risk profiles. He must have access to all possible elements and data flows and ensure their security.

The danger of not controlling these risks will damage the image of the company, both internally and externally with a real risk of losing customers.

In conclusion ?

The CFO sees its position as arbitrator within the Board of Directors strengthened when structuring discussions are underway.

Both Business Partner and Guardian of the Temple, it must more than ever be objective, transparent and dare to contradict if necessary.

I firmly believe in the advent of a new type of Chief Financial Officer.

They will have a much wider scope of responsibilities. IT, the environment (CSR) and compliance/security will be essential dimensions to master.