Virginie Martin, Kedge Enterprise Faculty – The agency: islands or hybrid? – Methods & Administration

Is the corporate an island or is it at the moment rising the islands?

Within the political subject we speak so much about balkanization, fragmented society, separation, communism, and so forth.

In the identical spirit, is the corporate in the present day made up of items of scattered confetti?

Though it appears to me that these diagnoses are a bit simplistic – I am going to come again to this -, sure indicators can nonetheless warn us about this breakdown of teams.

As well as, this doable division scares the unions who then ask themselves the query of figuring out: the best way to transfer unbiased cells carried away by centrifugal actions?

As a result of it’s:

These tendencies embrace Covid and the generalization of teleworking.

Even when that is shared very inconsistently between managers and employees, it’s changing into frequent: in 2023, 33% of employees in France have used this telework to constant

Relatedly, the 4% of distant employees 100% take part strongly in these actions; I additionally wager that this observe will change into extra frequent within the coming years, pushed by millennials. It will likely be much less and fewer unusual to work for a corporation primarily based in La Défense whilst you dwell in Asia.

Already, earlier than and these new methods of relations at work, the outsourcing of a number of companies – communication, recruitment, consulting of all types – additionally contributed considerably to breaking apart the corporate.

And at last, final however not least, managing and/or proudly owning firms is the work of faceless pension funds, unknown shareholders, bosses from the opposite facet of the world; so many teams that you could be by no means come throughout and work together with. Lastly, who began enjoying the island recreation… one would possibly ask then?! Can a universe create one thing apart from these centrifugal motions?

It’s right here that we should perceive for certain that we could also be much less in islands than in a transplant.
The person is each unbiased of the corporate and intently associated to it. Connections can take numerous varieties from face-to-face group constructing to an intensive What’s App loop, together with third-party conferences or occasions…

The corporate, for its half, is a bit like Saturn: a strong core with rings that transfer away and are available collectively in keeping with the wants of the stakeholders.

We’ve change into advanced, heterogeneous beings, each on the finish of the earth and linked to our lands, all with our skilled lives with out denying our non-public, conventional and modern lives on the identical time.
The trade is partly natural, and it has additionally change into advanced and hybrid. Not essentially fragmented, however, I’d say, hybrid.