Meaning & work: between continuities and shifts

**As Director of Consulting at the research institute OpinionWay, our co-founder and partner

Pierre-Etienne Bost presented at the first Meaning & Work Conference elements from various surveys assessing the perception of work in France and the importance given to its meaning dimension.** It emerges that certain fundamentals are permanent in how we relate to work: notably its importance in life, key elements such as remuneration, etc. But these fundamentals appear to be "augmented" rather than called into question by new dimensions, some of which seem irreversible: we can naturally mention the profound revolution in working conditions that has resulted from the massive use of remote work during the health crisis linked to Covid, and its lasting impact on various forms of "hybrid work" and certain expectations regarding working arrangements. But there are also emerging reactions to what we might call a sometimes "failing" work environment, whether through mistrust of promises of career progression or even real suffering at work linked to the harmfulness of certain contexts… Other dimensions of how we relate to work appear as more emerging, with still uncertainties about their development and future. Such as certain ambiguities concerning the definition of meaning given to work, between individual fulfilment or more collective issues (CSR in particular), and questions still very open as to their weight in actual behaviours. One certainty: A healthy and "secure" work environment remains the first key to reconciling individuals' **personal logic with organizations'** economic logic! In fact, we note that 100% of employees who perceive their work environment as highly infused with psychological safety are in a high-performing organization (compared to only a quarter of those working in an environment devoid of psychological safety…). Click below to access the full presentation of survey elements in pdf: 221020_OpinionWay for Meaning&Work Conference