Senior Executives: facing changes at work and Covid-19, stay agile!
Digitalisation, outsourcing, new organizational models: in the face of changes in work and after the Covid-19 crisis, how can senior executives approach their second career? It will be all about agility.
If you were born before 1975, you are officially a “senior”. But be careful not to look like a disengaged quinqua! Because prejudice remains. Age remains the first criterion of discrimination in hiring and in the company. Even for executives. Olivier Beyer, President of Go Cadres, does not hesitate to stress that “if unemployment remains minimal for them, the risk that it lasts more than a year increases with age.” And when he looks at the “waves of layoffs” that should follow Covid-19, he finds that 50% of the executives laid off are over 45. On the recruitment side, the situation is not much better: “They have 20 years of experience, but are the ones who receive the least job offers (5%)”.
Mutations and change of posture
According to France Stratégie, three new ways of organizing work should become the norm by 2030: the “learning organization”, the “virtual collaborative platform”, and the “super-interim” (…) These changes accompany a deeper movement: the digital transformation. ( …) For Olivier Beyer, “the other major change is the flexibility of the managerial posture. Faced with young people whose aspirations are no longer the same, senior managers have no choice but to confront new ways of managing. (…)
Continuous training
But not everyone can change overnight.That’s why continuing education is so important. According to Michael Page, in the aftermath of Covid, “it will be the key to ensuring employee performance and employability”. This is why Claudine Pierron, at Apec, recommends that seniors solicit their company to initiate a training path, but also “do not hesitate to use their CPF (personal training account), and to call on professional development advisors.
Entrepreneurs or temporary managers
More and more 50-year-olds are also leaving their businesses to carry out shared-time missions. Covid-19 has certainly put their projects in brackets. But the transition management, in particular, should restart in force after the epidemic.“Companies are currently trying to re-mobilise their employees, but they are also preparing for major changes in the future. Because confined teleworking has changed the situation,” says Marie Paillard, Associate Director at Grant Alexander.
