Paris (AFP)

Eight HRD out of ten wish to see long-distance work perpetuated, which has experienced a meteoric rise with the health crisis, even if they "favor a hybrid model combining face-to-face and telework", according to a survey carried out by the ANDRH and BCG published on Friday .

"Confinement made the lines move" in terms of work organization, said Vinciane Beauchene, associate director of the consulting firm BCG, during a videoconference presenting the results of this survey carried out in partnership with the National Association of Human Resources Directors (ANDRH) from June 2 to 17.

Of the 458 French HR managers who responded (rather 300 for certain questions), more than half work in companies with more than 300 employees.

In terms of teleworking, "we are on the other side and we will not be able to go back," said Audrey Richard, president of the ANDRH.

According to the survey, 85% of the HR managers questioned consider the long-term development of telework in their company desirable. However, they do not favor 100% teleworking, which has been tested in a constrained manner by many employees during confinement and is a source of psychosocial risks.

A majority of them, on the contrary, prefer a "hybrid model". Thus, "60% plan to have more than a quarter of their employees in telework with an average of 2 days per week", underline the authors of the survey.

"Only 10% of companies envisage a model where more than 75% of the employees would work more than one day per week in telework", they specify.

If 93% of respondents consider that the use of telework makes it possible to better meet the expectations of employees in terms of well-being, travel time or balance, and to increase the attractiveness of their company, they also expect it several benefits: increased productivity (for 64% of them), a reduction in the company's carbon footprint (61%) and for a third, potential property gains.

Eight HR managers surveyed out of ten also identified risks concerning the feeling of belonging and cohesion between employees in face-to-face and employees in telework. "A new divide between blue-collar and white-collar workers should not appear," warns Benoît Serre, ANDRH vice-president, who underlines the "need for equity and consistency in the company ".

The survey also points to the need to overhaul managerial practices (for 93% of those questioned), the manager being called upon to give more meaning to work, to motivate and to set clear objectives for his teams.

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