Pierre-Olivier Nau
PGE 2000
CEO MANATOUR, Président Medef 31

His first observation is that of an accelerated transition in working methods which has been further amplified by the health crisis we have just gone through. Teleworking and remote management are the most obvious but also the most divisive manifestations. Resistance to change is a widely shared phenomenon, and Pierre-Olivier observes it in the bosses he works with: Only some of the managers have quickly assimilated the challenges of mass telework and the necessary adaptation of managerial style! Others are still clinging to the virtues of face-to-face meetings at the company's headquarters and the informal links forged around the coffee machine, which, it must be admitted, have proved their worth...

The hybridization of work is leading to a radical change in managerial software

The world of work is now faced with a hybridization of these two visions which is gradually integrating a remote part by building a new reference system: Ideal number of days of telework, regulation of the number and duration of video meetings, financing of all or part of the equipment for home telework, emergence of new networks of third places close to the employees' place of residence... The COVID crisis has turned the situation upside down and made it necessary to change the managerial software and the notion of leadership. In order to propose a vision to teams destabilized by the crisis, managers had to mobilize all their capacities for questioning and changing paradigms.

The relationship to work has been profoundly modified

The "Great Resignation", the movement that is causing concern in the United States, affects several million employees who want to reorient their lives, go freelance, go back to school or change their sector of activity. However, Pierre-Olivier does not believe in the end of the wage-earning system announced by certain economists, but admits that the permanent contract is no longer necessarily the alpha and omega of young people entering the job market. For him, the 2019 Pact Law is a major step in the evolution of corporate values and therefore an important moment in the evolution of leadership: it aims to rethink the social purpose of the company and enshrines the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as the foundation of the company. It thus encourages the co-production of corporate values. .

In the same vein, Pierre-Olivier is convinced that today the charisma of companies and their leaders is largely based on the employer brand articulated around CSR themes that motivate the younger generations: Support for the climate transition, gender equality, work/life balance, more meaning and less dividends... 

Those eligible for the TBS competitive entrance exam are in tune with these new issues.

We have both noticed this tropism in the candidates who present themselves to the TBS juries: Most of the associative experiences or projects presented revolve around these environmental and social issues.

As far as his own company is concerned, Pierre-Olivier has put his convictions into practice by creating a position of CSR Manager at Manatour, who works on projects involving soft mobility, energy saving, and biodiversity (beehives, Tiny Forests), because he believes that the subject is crucial, inclusive of small and medium-sized companies. In the same spirit, he also advocated the merger of the Ministry of the Economy and the Ministry of Ecological Transition to accelerate the movement. It is therefore quite obvious to him that the economy and business are at the heart of multiple social, economic and environmental transitions.

The ecological transition is at the heart of the changes in the company.

In this respect, Pierre-Olivier believes that the Nordic countries, the West Coast of the United States and Germany are far ahead in this respect. But the degree of agility also depends on the size of the company, risk-taking is freer in SMEs, or the sector of activity, the service sector for example. One challenge follows another and Pierre-Olivier notes that the entrepreneurial spirit has shone during this health crisis, which exacerbates the spirit of innovation, adaptation and risk-taking. Boldness is more than ever a powerful driver of leadership, including in large groups that encourage intrapreneurship! Boldness, more boldness, always boldness, this must be the mantra of the leaders of the World that is taking shape before us, but with respect for the renewed values of the company initiated by the Pact Law... …