Ever more participative and horizontal, corporate governance models are evolving with the times. At a time of climate crisis, organizations have everything to gain by including their ecosystems in the construction of their strategy.
What models of corporate governance?
Sociocracy, holacracy, do-ocracy... collective decision-making methodsthatflatten hierarchies are gradually making their way into the corporate world, determined to recreate meaning and cohesion at a time when only 6% of French employees say they are committed to their work. And yet, according to the BVA-Bluenov barometerbarometer, 90% ofemployeeswould like to play a greater partinshaping strategy, and only 25% are satisfied with the attention paid to their opinions.
Utopian? Not really, when you consider that some of these models,such as the liberated enterprise popularized in France by Isaac Getz and Brian M. Carney in Liberté & Cie. Liberté & Cie, Quand la liberté des salariés fait le succès des entreprises (2013), have already proved their worth at companies such as Michelin, W.L. Gore (Gore-Tex) and the Belgian Ministry of Social Security. The principle: employees are totally free and responsible for the actions they (and not their bosses!) deemfitto undertake.
Over the past few years, shadow comexes have been gaining in popularity.A handful of major groups, fromAccorHotelsand Engie to SNCF and Havas, are banking on these shadow executive committees reserved for juniors, who are invited to cast a critical eye on the directions taken by the main committee.
Vices and virtues of self-management in corporate governance
However, despite their appeal on paper, these so-called inclusive and participative modes of governance are far from self-evident in practice. Proof of this is provided by the mixed experience of Zappos,asubsidiary of the Amazon group, whose switch to horizontal governance where decision-making is distributed within autonomous "circles" (holacracy) in 2014 led to a sharp rise in turnover, reaching 14% a few weeks after its introduction, and 30% the following year.
There's a consequence of this organization that the company didn't anticipate: confusion, analysis. Self-management' has caused a lot of confusion, to the point where employees have told journalists that they are no longer sure how to do a good job.
Why flattening the hierarchy as corporate governance can be problematic?
Not to mention the risk of burn-out: " flattening out the hierarchy can bea breeding ground forjob-related ambiguities: by increasing employees' responsibilities, we are also asking them to do a lot more work andinvest a lot morepsychologically, with no compensation in return ", argues Adélaïde de Lastic, researcher and consultant on CSR approaches. and consultant on CSR initiatives.
The quest for meaning and empathic communication
The Covid crisis has further accelerated this trend towards horizontal management styles, with a strong emphasis onemployee autonomy. Thierry Weil, co-author of the 2020 survey "Au-delà l'entreprise libérée"(" Beyond the liberated company"), believes that" realizing that employees need less control than we thought allows us to envisage a flatter organization ". "Au-delà de l'entreprise libérée" (Beyond the liberated company)in an interview with Echos.
To this must be added, among the new generations, anincreasingly assertive quest for meaning andsocial usefulness. According to a study EDHEC NewGen Talent Centre in 2021,"acompany's impact onits environment and its ability to respond to issues of diversity andinclusion " have even become a differentiating motivational criterion for the new generation. In an uncertain world, where three-quarters of 16-25 year-olds in ten countries consider the future to be "frighteningInan uncertain world, where three quarters of 16-25 year-olds in ten countries consider the future to be "frightening", taking social and environmental issues into account in business activities, and defining strong values to hold on to, is more important than ever - provided, of course, that good intentions are followed up byaction. The recipe for do-docracy, born in the world of fablabs and other third places, enshrines the power of "doing": "It's those who decide who do, and it's those who do who decide", sums up Cédric Ringenbach, president and founder of the Fresque du Climat dans l'Info durable.
Not forgetting the vital ingredient in any horizontal organization: trust. At Makesensewherethe successful adoption of the liberated enterprise model is praised, trust is the fruit of "collective work on values and raison d'être". Employees have also been trained in " empathic communication, so that everyone can develop their ability to listen to themselves and others, and be open toothers without presuppositions or prejudices ". It's a way of working that effortlessly integrates so-called "feminine"values (as stereotypically defined by the collective unconscious): listening, benevolence, emotional intelligence...
Tomorrow, all co-decision-makers?
There's no doubt that participative modes of governance will continue to evolve in the direction of a better distribution of roles. The future lies in "co": co-construction, co-responsibility... In the digital age, strategies are co-developed via interposed screens, uniting ever larger and more hybridaudiencesaround strong values.
Starting in 2019, Decathlon involved its entire ecosystem in imagining its vision for 2030 via a collaborative platform: sports enthusiasts, customers, employees, partners, suppliers, community leaders... allbroughttogether in a vast exercise in collective intelligence in which ecological and social commitment took pride of place. In 5 weeks, no fewer than 30 challenges for the future and 160 possible solutionswereidentified.
Expanding participatory governance would also be synonymous with greater resilience.
This ecosystemic logic places the company in a culture of continuous learning: enrichingitselfthrough contact with all the players who gravitate around it, it knows how to question its certainties and adapt.And precisely for organizations freed from overly rigid organizational structures, the expansion of participative governance would also be synonymous with greater resilience. " By building more decentralized, self-organized and organic organizations," writes Pablo Servigne in Beyond the 'democratic' vote: New modes of governance (2011), [holacracy] enables the group to constantly question its 'raison d'être', like an organism moving forward in an unknown world, with greater flexibility, adapting ".
A truly ecological mode of governance,inshort, but also a necessity for companies wishing to make a sincere commitment to positive impact. Foritis by transforming leadership, redefining its raison d'être and co-constructing that they will be able to transform themselves in depth, avoiding all the pitfalls of greenwashing.
Further information
Why become a mission-driven company?
Since 2019, and the PACTE law, companies can change their articles of association to become a société à mission. What does the "société à mission" really mean?
Skills hybridization: what does it mean to be a "hybrid maker"?
The hybridization of skills is one of our strong points at iQo. Behind this expression (which may seem fashionable to some) lies the reality of our business.
Managerial innovation at a time of organizational transformation
We spoke on managerial innovation in November 2021 at the Campus de l'Innovation Managériale, organized over 2 days by ISD (Institut de la Sociodynamique).
