Work and Personal Values: An Impossible Marriage?
12 September 2013
Read by 2256 persons
Text: Feeling the need to rush through files to meet deadlines or conflicting orders, an obsession with numbers... Many employees feel they are no longer in line with their work ethic. Stories and advice to get out of a dilemma that sometimes turns into suffering.
Claudine is 50 years old. Head of a production department in a large advertising agency, she defines herself as "a good second": an expert in managing communication projects. Competent and a good manager, but not particularly attracted to power, she is keen to preserve a good working atmosphere within her team of creatives. Concerned, simply. "I feel like I'm regressing. The quality of our creations is dropping, we only think in terms of gross margin. The concern is no longer to advise our clients well but to sell them the most expensive services. Before, creatives were involved upstream in client meetings, today, it is considered that their presence is no longer essential. There is no anticipation and I manage a perpetual race against the clock," she regrets, bitterly. After nine years in this agency, Claudine is at the end of her tether. Her pleasure in working has dried up: "It's contrary to my conception of work. For me, the most important thing is that my colleagues feel good and can produce quality. But where is the respect when teams are mistreated and squeezed like this?"
Respect, recognition. Words that come back like leitmotifs among these managers who are committed but discouraged by arbitrary decisions contrary to their vision of work. "They have the impression that their work is never valued, while they are under intense pressure for results and are no longer involved in decisions," observes Claire Noyer, consultant in assessment and outplacement at BPI. The pill is sometimes hard to swallow, especially for operational managers, the transmission belts of the company's strategy. "They have a very strong professional value, and they find it difficult to see business decisions crumble in favor of financial decisions. What's more, management has become more authoritarian: objectives are rarely discussed, and even less so the means of achieving them," analyzes Patrice Chassagne, associate director of the CAA training consulting firm.
Resistance, at all costs?
Anne-Marie can testify to this. At 41, this sales representative who has spent her entire career in a retail bank has seen sales targets increase year after year for the past five years. As branch manager in a provincial town, the pressure for results has become unbearable: "In addition to reporting sales figures twice a day, the regional manager would call me three times a day to check up and find out why we hadn't reached our targets on a particular product line. A real nightmare." All the more so since Anne-Marie refuses to obey certain instructions, faithful to her philosophy of customer relations. "If I had listened to the promotional offers we were asked to sell within record deadlines, I would have had to ask my advisors to offer life insurance to anyone and everyone. You can't betray your clients' trust like that, and you can't keep quiet about the risks involved in certain products listed on the stock exchange." Faithful to her ethics, this strong-willed woman continued to ignore certain directives, even if it meant not meeting her targets, while juggling products to maintain the profitability of her agency. However, her act of rebellion will cost her dearly: at the first reorganization of the network, Anne-Marie is demoted to the rank of private wealth advisor. A painful experience (15 days of sick leave from occupational medicine for nervous depression), before regaining her footing: "I now prioritize my family life. I prefer to earn less and have less responsibility, and not be under so much pressure."
This withdrawal of executives is gaining ground, according to recent studies**. "Today, it is not uncommon to see executives preferring to move towards a less exposed position, more in line with their values," observes Brigitte Carnelle, director of the skills assessment center Ressources plurielles (see also her interview). Or to circumvent certain rules in order to protect their teams: allocating training instead of bonuses, informal exchanges to maintain conviviality... Small alternatives to continue acting according to one's professional conscience.
Resign or submit?
But what to do when one's room for maneuver is limited? How far should one accept decisions that clash with one's personal convictions? For Patrice Chassagne, the choice is limited. And heavy with consequences. "In a company, there are those who decide and those who execute, with more or less latitude. But in the end, if a senior executive or manager profoundly disagrees with the strategy of his company, he has only two options: to resign or to submit," he states abruptly. Especially in highly exposed positions, such as HR directors in particular. Florence, a young 34-year-old HR director, refuses to sacrifice certain principles in her profession. Her work philosophy? Transparency and honesty. She still has a bad memory of the takeover of her former company - a family-owned industrial SME - by an Anglo-Saxon group three years ago. "At the time of the takeover, we were assured that the new buyer would keep jobs at the French sites. However, six months later, he called me to ask me to think about closing a factory of 200 people. What's more, he was annoyed by the measures inherent in a social plan in France, and the time it would take." This is too much for the young woman, who decides to leave... the first. "I can understand that a company is forced to lay off employees for economic survival reasons. But not that it lies and refuses to mitigate the collateral damage," asserts Florence, who plans to move into recruitment consulting so that she no longer has to manage redundancies.
Beware of loss of self-esteem
Of course, asserting one's choices is easier at the beginning of one's career, where material and family constraints weigh less heavily. At 34, Florence's age also protects her from the fear of not finding a job, a fear that is very prevalent from the age of forty. However, the harsh reality of age in the job market doesn't explain everything. Self-image also counts a lot. From this point of view, beware of the risks of giving up, especially without external compensation: "Being rebellious is less dangerous than choosing submission. The risk of settling into a situation that is contrary to one's deep convictions is to lose the reactivity and initiative that are essential to bouncing back in one's career. But also self-esteem," insists Jean-Yves Arrivé, coach and director of the Co'acting firm.
Claudine probably preserved her integrity by continuing to fight to ensure the presence of her teams at client briefs, by speaking out to defend her colleagues. However, without the support of her N+1, she ended up losing her energy: "I was morally exhausted. I started to doubt myself, to wonder if it wasn't utopian to work with people who respect my profession and my human values."
Re-projecting oneself
In order not to suffer from the situation, it is better to anticipate. And to find solutions outside. "When you are in this kind of untenable position, you have to get out of the company to broaden your field of vision. And to mobilize all the means to redefine a new project that is more in line with your values," advises Jean-Yves Arrivé. Claudine finally took matters into her own hands by asking her HR manager for a skills assessment. The operation lifted her doubts: "I regained confidence in my abilities. It allowed me to reaffirm that I needed good management and involvement in my work. At the end of the assessment, it was clear that if I couldn't apply these values, I had to leave my company." Her new project? To create her own company in a completely different sector: the marketing of ecological houses. "In this way, I will leave the advertising world, which no longer brings me satisfaction, and I will manage my own organization, without having to suffer it. In the meantime, I am no longer afraid of not finding a job at 50." Changes of direction are not always so radical. But the interest of the assessment, or of working with a coach to put projects and personal convictions into perspective, is precisely to find a new dynamic at work. Without giving up on one's motivation...
Claudine is 50 years old. Head of a production department in a large advertising agency, she defines herself as "a good second": an expert in managing communication projects. Competent and a good manager, but not particularly attracted to power, she is keen to preserve a good working atmosphere within her team of creatives. Concerned, simply. "I feel like I'm regressing. The quality of our creations is dropping, we only think in terms of gross margin. The concern is no longer to advise our clients well but to sell them the most expensive services. Before, creatives were involved upstream in client meetings, today, it is considered that their presence is no longer essential. There is no anticipation and I manage a perpetual race against the clock," she regrets, bitterly. After nine years in this agency, Claudine is at the end of her tether. Her pleasure in working has dried up: "It's contrary to my conception of work. For me, the most important thing is that my colleagues feel good and can produce quality. But where is the respect when teams are mistreated and squeezed like this?"
Respect, recognition. Words that come back like leitmotifs among these managers who are committed but discouraged by arbitrary decisions contrary to their vision of work. "They have the impression that their work is never valued, while they are under intense pressure for results and are no longer involved in decisions," observes Claire Noyer, consultant in assessment and outplacement at BPI. The pill is sometimes hard to swallow, especially for operational managers, the transmission belts of the company's strategy. "They have a very strong professional value, and they find it difficult to see business decisions crumble in favor of financial decisions. What's more, management has become more authoritarian: objectives are rarely discussed, and even less so the means of achieving them," analyzes Patrice Chassagne, associate director of the CAA training consulting firm.
Resistance, at all costs?
Anne-Marie can testify to this. At 41, this sales representative who has spent her entire career in a retail bank has seen sales targets increase year after year for the past five years. As branch manager in a provincial town, the pressure for results has become unbearable: "In addition to reporting sales figures twice a day, the regional manager would call me three times a day to check up and find out why we hadn't reached our targets on a particular product line. A real nightmare." All the more so since Anne-Marie refuses to obey certain instructions, faithful to her philosophy of customer relations. "If I had listened to the promotional offers we were asked to sell within record deadlines, I would have had to ask my advisors to offer life insurance to anyone and everyone. You can't betray your clients' trust like that, and you can't keep quiet about the risks involved in certain products listed on the stock exchange." Faithful to her ethics, this strong-willed woman continued to ignore certain directives, even if it meant not meeting her targets, while juggling products to maintain the profitability of her agency. However, her act of rebellion will cost her dearly: at the first reorganization of the network, Anne-Marie is demoted to the rank of private wealth advisor. A painful experience (15 days of sick leave from occupational medicine for nervous depression), before regaining her footing: "I now prioritize my family life. I prefer to earn less and have less responsibility, and not be under so much pressure."
This withdrawal of executives is gaining ground, according to recent studies**. "Today, it is not uncommon to see executives preferring to move towards a less exposed position, more in line with their values," observes Brigitte Carnelle, director of the skills assessment center Ressources plurielles (see also her interview). Or to circumvent certain rules in order to protect their teams: allocating training instead of bonuses, informal exchanges to maintain conviviality... Small alternatives to continue acting according to one's professional conscience.
Resign or submit?
But what to do when one's room for maneuver is limited? How far should one accept decisions that clash with one's personal convictions? For Patrice Chassagne, the choice is limited. And heavy with consequences. "In a company, there are those who decide and those who execute, with more or less latitude. But in the end, if a senior executive or manager profoundly disagrees with the strategy of his company, he has only two options: to resign or to submit," he states abruptly. Especially in highly exposed positions, such as HR directors in particular. Florence, a young 34-year-old HR director, refuses to sacrifice certain principles in her profession. Her work philosophy? Transparency and honesty. She still has a bad memory of the takeover of her former company - a family-owned industrial SME - by an Anglo-Saxon group three years ago. "At the time of the takeover, we were assured that the new buyer would keep jobs at the French sites. However, six months later, he called me to ask me to think about closing a factory of 200 people. What's more, he was annoyed by the measures inherent in a social plan in France, and the time it would take." This is too much for the young woman, who decides to leave... the first. "I can understand that a company is forced to lay off employees for economic survival reasons. But not that it lies and refuses to mitigate the collateral damage," asserts Florence, who plans to move into recruitment consulting so that she no longer has to manage redundancies.
Beware of loss of self-esteem
Of course, asserting one's choices is easier at the beginning of one's career, where material and family constraints weigh less heavily. At 34, Florence's age also protects her from the fear of not finding a job, a fear that is very prevalent from the age of forty. However, the harsh reality of age in the job market doesn't explain everything. Self-image also counts a lot. From this point of view, beware of the risks of giving up, especially without external compensation: "Being rebellious is less dangerous than choosing submission. The risk of settling into a situation that is contrary to one's deep convictions is to lose the reactivity and initiative that are essential to bouncing back in one's career. But also self-esteem," insists Jean-Yves Arrivé, coach and director of the Co'acting firm.
Claudine probably preserved her integrity by continuing to fight to ensure the presence of her teams at client briefs, by speaking out to defend her colleagues. However, without the support of her N+1, she ended up losing her energy: "I was morally exhausted. I started to doubt myself, to wonder if it wasn't utopian to work with people who respect my profession and my human values."
Re-projecting oneself
In order not to suffer from the situation, it is better to anticipate. And to find solutions outside. "When you are in this kind of untenable position, you have to get out of the company to broaden your field of vision. And to mobilize all the means to redefine a new project that is more in line with your values," advises Jean-Yves Arrivé. Claudine finally took matters into her own hands by asking her HR manager for a skills assessment. The operation lifted her doubts: "I regained confidence in my abilities. It allowed me to reaffirm that I needed good management and involvement in my work. At the end of the assessment, it was clear that if I couldn't apply these values, I had to leave my company." Her new project? To create her own company in a completely different sector: the marketing of ecological houses. "In this way, I will leave the advertising world, which no longer brings me satisfaction, and I will manage my own organization, without having to suffer it. In the meantime, I am no longer afraid of not finding a job at 50." Changes of direction are not always so radical. But the interest of the assessment, or of working with a coach to put projects and personal convictions into perspective, is precisely to find a new dynamic at work. Without giving up on one's motivation...
