The Drowned Managers? – Roland Massenet

Managers Facing the Storm: Overburdened and Loss of Autonomy

Roland began by highlighting the increasingly delicate situation of front-line managers. First observation: managers are facing increasingly extended hierarchical networks. For productivity reasons, companies have reduced the number of managers to save costs, mechanically leading to an expansion of managerial spans of control.

The second phenomenon profoundly disrupting their daily lives is the loss of autonomy. Managers find themselves caught between processes that limit their freedom of action and an accumulation of demands: those from employees, HR teams, finance, management, training, and also clients.

Lack of Support and Training

A striking figure shared by Roland: 41% of companies provide no training to sales managers. Among those that do offer training, nearly half settle for generic training, poorly adapted to the realities of the job. Worse still, the individual training budget allocated to managers is 20% lower than that for sales representatives, even though the managerial role is undergoing a profound transformation.

The Impact on Organizational Transformations

Companies, however, have a vital need for middle management, a crucial pivot for all major transformations. Roland cites a Gartner study revealing that 66% of transformation programs fail to achieve their objectives. Not because they are poorly designed, but because once the strategic priority is shifted by leadership, the only guarantor of continuity remains the front-line manager.

Torn Between Two Organizational Models

Roland explains that organizations are currently torn between two models:

• The Orange organizations, vertical, rigid, performance and indicator-oriented

• The Opal organizations, more organic, agile, centered on individual fulfillment

The problem with manager “Antoine” is clear: he operates daily within an Orange organization, while being expected to function as if he were in an Opal organization.

The TISA Model: Four Pillars of Managerial Engagement

To support this transformation, Roland presented the TISA model, a structuring framework to activate the levers of managerial engagement:

1. Transactional
   Define clear managerial objectives, align variable compensation with these objectives — and not solely on team performance.

2. Individual
   Restore autonomy, control over the environment, and pride linked to personal managerial achievements.

3. Social
   Create a true managerial community, recognize managers for their own contributions, and build collective pride.

4. Aspirational
   Restore meaning to the mission, align company values with individual values, and enable contribution to a project that transcends daily scope.

The Starfish: A Tool for Transformation

Roland also presented the Starfish, a tool derived from agile retrospectives. This structured approach is based on five key questions:

• What should I continue doing?
• What do I want to do more of? Less? Stop? Start?

Concrete Examples of Inspiring Initiatives

Several companies are leading the way:

• Google, with Project Oxygen, demonstrated that the primary quality of a good manager is to be a good coach

• Orange formalized a management manifesto and regularly organizes meetings between managers

• MAIF offers the Explore Action program, allowing managers to visit other companies

• BlaBlaCar launched the FLS (Fail, Learn, Succeed) program, where managers openly share their failures

In a nutshell

Here are the main takeaways from this Masterclass with Roland Massenet:

• Recognize the reality of the managerial landscape: overburdening, low autonomy, lack of training

• Understand their key role in transformations: without committed managers, no transformation lasts in the long term

• Rely on structuring tools: the TISA model and the Starfish facilitate action

• Draw inspiration from best practices: many organizations are innovating to reinvent management

Don’t miss the next Masterclass!

• Success Stories – Évelyne Platnic Cohen
• Sales Compensation – Cyrille Meunier & Guillaume Pestier
• Startup Success Story: Delicorner, Creator of Conviviality – Antoine Tran Huu