Stéphane Meynard, Deputy Director of the Monaco Cardio-Thoracic Centre
Portrait of the author
I’ve been working in the healthcare sector for over 25 years. During that time, I have always worked with people who are motivated by their profession.
But the news over the last five years shows that our sector is facing a crisis of attractiveness and a loss of meaning at work.
Faced with this problem, at the age of 50 I decided to go back to university to do research. In order to obtain a Master 2 in Management Research and Consultancy at the IAE in Nice, I wrote a dissertation, under the supervision of Professor HURON, on the loss of meaning and motivation, with a particular focus on working people from ‘Generation Z’ and ‘Responsible Management’.
What are the main characteristics of the new generation Z professionals in the healthcare sector?
According to three benchmark studies on Generation Z (Tapscott 2010, E.Y. 2014 and Gentina 2018), young people born between 1995 and 2010 are consistently characterised as :
– confident in their education and sources of information
– looking for integrity, exemplarity, ethics and social responsibility
– eager to collaborate, cooperate and respect others
– sensitive to the feeling of freedom, autonomy and continuous learning
– impatient, looking for innovation and good working conditions.
In their relationship with work, young people are particularly keen to see transparency, a desire for autonomy and security at work, and a balance between their professional and personal lives. To achieve this, they advocate trust, effective cooperation and fair treatment.
Analysis of the data gathered as part of my research in the healthcare sector also shows that these young workers are looking for recognition and autonomy, and are in favour of intergenerational collaborative working. In the healthcare sector, faced with obstacles to hierarchical delegation, generation Z workers are questioning legitimate authority in favour of authority acquired through experience.
What are their specific expectations of an employer (in this case, a healthcare establishment)?
I interviewed over a hundred people with different professional backgrounds.
By studying the responses to the definition of a ‘good manager’, I was able to find that, as well as Listening and Respect, which are expectations shared by other generations, the specific expectations of working people from Generation Z include a serious attraction to Communication, Understanding and Trust.
In the world of healthcare, Generation Z will be satisfied with two-way communication that not only provides the information and transparency they expect (clear instructions, up-to-date protocols, introduction of sponsorship, etc.), but also takes account of their opinions and the solutions they propose. Listening to them is essential if we are to understand and trust them.
The young people I interviewed as part of my research confirmed that, unlike previous generations, they are in favour of intergenerational collaboration. While they question their parents’ methods and technologies, they remain open to sharing their elders’ experiences as a source of positive cooperation.
What are the possible ways of enabling this generation to achieve fulfilment at work?
The levers of fulfilment for Generation Z are those that promote motivation and meaning at work, defined according to three dimensions:
– The emotional dimension, linked to positive affects: doing a job that has a heart, if possible with a social impact
– The cognitive dimension, linked to good working conditions and expected flexibility
– The aspirational dimension, which is found in the coherence between the organisation for which the employees work and their major life principles.
While this may seem obvious, it must be stressed that ‘Generation Z’ are particularly sensitive to all three of these dimensions. They are looking for overall fulfilment, not just that provided by work.
During interviews with care managers, it became clear that traditional management (authoritarian and directive) is a hindrance to their development, whereas a collaborative management model will be a springboard for their motivation and involvement.
Among current management models, the one that seems best suited to the expectations of these young working people is responsible management. Based on the main principles of the CSR/RSO approach, this model is particularly well suited to the expectations of the “Z” generation, bringing about the ethical changes needed to build, with them, a better society for future generations. Responsible management, which is attentive to stakeholders, also makes it possible to encourage constructive exchanges and two-way communication through the inclusion of assets.
What are the limits of responsible management?
It’s difficult for me to tell you what the limits of this type of management are, because I think it’s very well suited to sectors experiencing a motivation crisis and to young workers.
While periods of crisis or post-crisis (the financial crisis of 2008, the health crisis of 2020) remain unfavourable for motivating people and helping them to find meaning in their work, the introduction of ‘virtuous’ practices linked to CSR/RSO has shown a strong positive correlation with business performance.
Some of the limits of responsible management therefore seem to lie in the inconsistencies that management may feel with regard to CSR/SR initiatives, in the face of the current constraints of profitability and quality imposed by their sectors of activity.
However, the healthcare sector is starting to become aware of its impact in terms of pollution and carbon footprint (high energy consumption, a lot of single use and waste, a lot of imports, etc.). Faced with this situation, many initiatives to reduce these impacts are being launched in the healthcare sector, and the responsible management model is an important part of this R-evolution.
Responsible management therefore seems to be the modern and innovative management model that should currently be applied in care establishments.
Read a digest in French
