What skills do we need in a future manager?
Predicting what a good manager of the future will be is difficult, if not impossible. Yet we need to train them today. An original approach has been implemented at the University of Montpellier.
Marion Polge, University of MontpellierFrançoise Pierrot, University of Montpellier; Sarah Mussol, University of Montpellier; Sophie Casanova, University of Montpellier and Sylvie Sammut, University of Montpellier
"We can't say what kind of manager the young person we're recruiting today will be. He or she is neither top-down nor horizontal. He's in the diagonal... and the slope of the diagonal remains to be invented". Françoise, an experienced SME manager, notes that the younger generations are turning the corner and demanding new ways of relating to each other, whether as employees, workers or managers.
Not really in opposition, but still in disagreement, the new generation of recruits aspires to other decision-making and relational systems. What kind of manager will lead these changes, and what skills will he or she be able to mobilize, caught between digitization, AI, professional nomadism, hedonism, the need to belong and disengagement? To explore the issues surrounding this question, teams from Montpellier Management - the university management school - have set up a THINK Lab, a kind of think tank where managers, executives, alumni and teacher-researchers meet to cross their views and imagine together who the manager of tomorrow will be. What salient ideas emerge from these exchanges?
The ambiguous demand for meaning at work
The first observation is that the relationship with work is changing, influenced not only by the aspirations of the younger generations, but also by a wider societal mutation. As Christophe, a chartered accountant, observes, "It's a general change, on the relationship to work, young people too, maybe more so, but it's everyone." Digital transformation is disrupting our cognitive patterns, our relationship to knowledge and time, while the demands of environmental transition can lead us to refocus on personal or collective aspirations outside the company.
While the quest for meaning is a hot topic of discussion, it's not one on which everyone agrees. All agree on its importance, but for some opponents it's not a new subject. Others believe it to be of secondary importance at a time when employees and managers are focusing more on hedonistic behavior. The hypertrophy of individual desires even creates a paradox with the company's quest for meaning, which calls for collective commitment.
In short, the quest for meaning at work is a complex issue, combining personal purpose, societal impact and professional development. Organizations must adapt to these changes to create an environment conducive to personal fulfillment and contribution. They are thus adopting models based on collective intelligence, where managers and employees seek to align their actions on the basis of shared values. Personal expectations, well-being at work and the need for self-fulfillment are leading some to re-evaluate their career paths, calling into question the way in which skills are acquired and then developed.
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What skills?
In addition to "hard skills" (expertise) and "soft skills" (behavioral competencies), there are now "mid skills" and "mad skills". The latter now occupy a very special place, because unlike "hard skills", which are acquired through training and experience, "mad skills" are essentially about the individual's ability to sublimate a group or stand out from the anonymous crowd. Hence the incongruous association of the terms "competence" and "mad". Heterodoxy as a reference in terms of creativity, hypersensitivity, trajectory and so on.
The portfolio of skills required has thus become much more complex, combining objective and individual parameters with emotional and collective items derived from personal experience, as well as resilience and audacity. "To cushion the shock of joining a company, we also talk about humility," stresses entrepreneur Jean-Marie. Everyone feels part of a group where they feel useful and legitimate, and all the more so as the company enables them to broaden their range of knowledge. We move away from conformism to find "the" talent who will be able to move the lines of the collective and strengthen "doing things together". In a fiercely competitive world, a company's ability to adapt and leverage the skills of all its employees underlines its uniqueness, and hence its attractiveness.
Expectations from all, but especially from each individual
Faced with these different developments, the expectations of new employees, managers and the company are changing. Coordinating these expectations seems to be the sine qua non for harmonious operation within the organization.
"My relationship with work means that I work to develop myself, to learn and to live in a pleasant environment. This change in our relationship to work has also changed our sense of belonging," explains Maxence, a former Moma student.
New employees aspire to inclusive working environments, where they feel valued and supported. They expect clear opportunities for career development, appropriate training from the moment they join the company, and a corporate culture that encourages continuous learning and the assumption of responsibility.
Companies' high standards, combined with employees' individual desires, create a paradoxical tension that can undermine a sense of belonging. The pressure undergone or perceived to achieve high organizational goals, while at the same time pursuing ambitions of their own, potentially leads to a loss of motivation and loyalty to the company. As a result, employees adopt a nomadic attitude, prone to changing employer as opportunities arise.
Company loyalty in decline
Managers can find themselves bewildered by these new demands: in addition to environmental uncertainty, talent is becoming increasingly mobile as a result of paradoxical individual expectations. This creates a need for rapid skills upgrading within the company, particularly in social skills synonymous with attachment: communication, adaptability, collaboration, conflict management, inclusive leadership, mentoring, strategic vision. To facilitate this work, managers also expect their future employees to have a greater capacity for integration, so as to understand the expectations of different stakeholders.
" Denis Dauchy writes: "The accumulation of know-how and skills by employees is the basis of the uniqueness, even rarity, of the company's offering, and therefore its value. The question of matching the skills expected by companies with those of their employees is essential to their smooth operation. The collective work carried out within the THINK lab has highlighted the aspirations of the younger generations (and not only), which are illustrated by new needs and a new way of looking at the company. The challenge facing managers and entrepreneurs is to take these societal changes into account, by supporting employees in enriching their skills, while respecting their personal aspirations and meeting performance targets. The ability to adapt not only to each other, but also to each other, is the key to what at first sight appears to be a paradox.
Marion Polge, Senior Lecturer in Management Sciences, University of MontpellierFrançoise Pierrot, PhD in Management Sciences, University of MontpellierSarah Mussol, Maitresse de conférences en sciences de gestion, University of MontpellierSophie Casanova, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship, University of Montpellier and Sylvie Sammut, University Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management, University of Montpellier
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.