Covid-19: why we must take advantage of the development of teleworking

Emmanuel Duteil 5:10 p.m., January 04, 2022

EDITORIAL

The Covid-19 health crisis has saved us ten years in setting up teleworking in France. Jean-Claude Delgènes, a great specialist in the world of work, said it on the program

on Monday, December 3. In fact, the crisis has surely saved a lot more than ten years because it has broken down barriers which until then seemed unbreakable. For many companies, teleworking meant having fun. And without the worst crisis since the end of the war, we would not have succeeded in defeating this a priori.

In March 2001, only 5 to 7% of employees had experimented with teleworking.

We are now at nearly 40%.

This is going in the right direction, because all the studies show that there is a very strong desire on the part of a majority of employees to be able from time to time to telework.

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"There will be no turning back"

There will be no turning back once the crisis is over. Above all, we should not hope so. Teleworking when it is voluntary makes the employee more autonomous, freer and often more productive. So casually, that satisfies the employee, which is not bad. And then, it is also rather beneficial for the company. It is therefore for once - and this is rare enough to underline it - a win-win situation.

But teleworking can only work in the long term if we rethink the organization of work.

And this is the big project that will now have to be launched.

We do not manage an employee remotely like a face-to-face employee.

We must also pay attention to employees who cannot telework and who do not take advantage of this window of freedom.

There must be no internal opposition and even more importantly, the "work" moments must be moments turned towards sharing, towards brainstorming, towards the informal.

It has to be useful.

If it's to telecommute at work, it's no use.

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Still according to Jean-Claude Delgènes, it is essential because in the end, what is at stake is the collective and it is the most nourished collective possible that makes the strength of a company. 

"Teleworking should not be the prerogative of large groups"

This articulation between active working time in the exchange and teleworking time where we are more concentrated on this personal task is not easy to implement.

It's a very complicated mix to create and it will require a lot of effort from companies.

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Teleworking should not be the prerogative of large groups either. This crisis has shown that regardless of the size of the company, we can telework intelligently. This new organization of work can in any case make it possible to respond in part to the legitimate quest for meaning, which is becoming more and more significant, particularly among the younger generations.

The upheaval we are experiencing has and will have major impacts.

Everyone wants to know even more than before, what they are used for in their business, what the meaning of their commitment is, what the company brings to them, how the fruits of growth are shared.

It is all almost philosophical.

And teleworking cannot meet all these aspirations, far from it.

But moving out of this crisis alongside smart teleworking would be a monumental mistake for the future.