• A study published this week shows that some employees believe that the quality of life at work has deteriorated, in particular the human bond between employees.

  • With the democratization of teleworking in certain companies, the exchanges that we could have naturally between colleagues in the past, and which contributed to the quality of the collective, have faded.

  • If they were a factor in the preservation of health at work, according to the psychologist Daphnée Breton, they were also, it seems, a plague for some employees who responded to our call for testimonials.

Between Gilbert from accounting, who never comes on Wednesdays and Fridays because he takes his children to football, or Nadine in marketing, who has moved to the countryside and is only there every other week, life of certain companies has changed quite a bit with the democratization of telecommuting.

The savings in commuting time, the calm and the extra hours of sleep are good, but these absences have also buried office life.

According to the recent ViaVoice barometer of life at work, with the Family Mutual, BloomTime and franceinfo, 67% of respondents believe that the human bond that prevailed in the past between employees is deteriorating quite quickly.

“In the office, when you are dispatched in all directions, either face-to-face or teleworking, community and informal times are much less easy”, analyzes Daphnée Breton, work psychologist at Cabinet Sens & Travail.

However, it is during these moments at the coffee machine, where we talk about our files or the problems encountered, “that we create a bond”, she specifies.

less spontaneous

For the expert, exchanges, communication and mutual assistance at work are all elements that constitute the quality of the collective: “the first factor in the preservation of health at work”.

“If there is a good collective, there is trust, and therefore good relations between colleagues, less isolation or difficulties without solutions.

»

To speak with absentees, there is now a whole panoply of tools.

They multiplied with the Covid-19 and returned in a few months in the daily life of companies.

But for some of our readers, it's not the same.

"Teams meetings are effective, but they're not face-to-face... Difficult to analyze non-verbal language", observes one of them.

The exchanges are thus less spontaneous.

Illusion of performance in teleworking?

However, the end of these famous exchanges is a godsend for those who were fed up with this "constant flow of interruptions of people who come to ask for our opinion, our help, to exchange more or less relevant information".

"I have come out of a face-to-face working day having accomplished practically nothing, where I could have chained several uninterrupted and constructive hours of teleworking", argues another of our readers.

An argument that has its limits, however, according to Daphnée Breton.

"In telework, the employee is very efficient during the day, because isolated and with a greater amplitude of work, but with a risk of deterioration of working conditions if he is not framed".

“A boon for employers”

Some will therefore not take out the tissues for the death of the office, and even less for the end of the links between colleagues.

"There is no longer this tyranny where we ''had'' to go to the cafe, or we had to meet for moments of ''sharing'' or ''conviviality'' completely artificial", rejoices a internet user.

"Less jealousy, less hypocrisy, less stress, less ''did you see me'', less rumors, less fashion shows, makeup", lists another, while a last asserts: "Colleagues are colleagues, not friends".

And they are not the only ones rubbing their hands, some employers too.

“Before, staff representatives had direct access to employees.

Today, it is more difficult to organize, to bring down the information, ”underlines Daphnée Breton.

For her, the break-up of the collective often generates more individualism and less solidarity.

For example, Gilbert wants Monday face-to-face for the team, but Nadine wants Thursday.

Why must he make the effort to shift his day?

"It's a godsend for employers, because all this weakens the balance of power," says the occupational psychologist.

Interchangeable numbers in flex-office

And the situation is not likely to improve with the introduction of the flex-office.

Some boxes have seized the opportunity of teleworking to rent smaller premises, in which no employee has an assigned office.

By not finding yourself next to those with whom you have to work, "we lose fluidity of information and exchange", notes Daphnée Breton.

Under these conditions: why come?

More profoundly, according to the expert, the flex-office raises the question “what is my place in the company?

".

“By not assigning a place to employees, we don't take into account the specificities of each person's jobs, we standardize everything and we consider that we can work anywhere.

Employees may experience a lack of recognition from the employer, seeing themselves as interchangeable numbers.

“Not sure that this contributes to the quality of life in the office

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  • Company

  • Telework

  • Desk

  • Covid-19

  • Employees