More and more French people want to work in a company whose activity and philosophy are in line with their personal values, especially those related to ecology. This desire to feel useful to society through work is so important that 42% are taking the leap into professional retraining, a new survey shows.
Does my work have meaning? A crucial question that more and more of us are asking ourselves. A recent survey conducted by the Qapa platform also points to increasing fatigue at work and a sense of futility in the tasks performed. And according to a poll published last October, 33% of respondents believe they lost outright. “all meaning in their professional activity” since the start of the pandemic.
To better understand the motivations and obstacles in this “search for meaning at work”, the business school group Audencia and the job search platform “jobs_that_makesenses” surveyed 965 people, 70% of whom were between 25 and 44 years old and 81% were women. .
According to the research, this search for meaning at work seems to aim mainly for ecological impact. In fact, 57% of respondents say they want to “contribute to the challenges of ecological and/or social transition” through their job and 42% say they want to belong to an organization with a positive impact on society and/or the planet.
The research also brings up an interesting fact: the further employees progress in their careers, the more “disagreement with management practices” seems to amplify and play “a driving force” in their search for meaning. A phenomenon mentioned by 38% of all respondents, but increasing among 35-44 year-olds (44%) and more among the over-45s (56%).
Raised in recent years, especially by the younger generations, the desire for a work-life balance is also mentioned by 37% of the respondents. Expectations that translate into more flexibility in planning.
What are the concrete solutions that the respondents have introduced to give more meaning to their professional careers? Nearly half (40%) have taken the step to retrain, first by training, then by integrating a new company to learn their new trade. A preferred solution among 35-44 year olds (60%). Others stayed in the same professional sector but changed companies (23%), while 18% simply changed jobs. Only 18% opted for entrepreneurship.
However, some obstacles remain in this desire for “great innovation”. Starting with the fear of seeing their income drop (52%), but also the fear of not having the skills needed to start a new professional activity (29%). Still others admit to being “afraid of change” (27%).
To attract and retain talent, companies today have every interest in giving meaning and an environmental dimension to the missions they entrust to their employees.
(ETX Daily Up)