Barrier gestures, vaccination, health pass… These bones of contention have invaded all areas of daily life, in the family and friendly circle, and the world of work is no exception.
While the telework revolution has been extensively analyzed and commented on, office life has also undergone visible upheavals (masks, distancing, etc.) and other more insidious ones, particularly in relations between colleagues.
Read alsoCan the health pass become the rule for all employees?
“This return to the office generates a lot of apprehension among employees,
observes psychologist Valentina Urreiztieta, specialist in quality of life at work in the consulting firm Empreinte Humaine.
Communication between colleagues has been made very complex because of teleworking with misunderstandings or even annoyances due to the distance. Some people wonder how the reunion will go. "
To this concern are added the countless fears generated by the pandemic.
Starting with the fear of getting contaminated in the
open space
.
These open spaces are designed to increase interactions… and therefore friction in the midst of an epidemic.
"Wearing a mask is supposed to be compulsory but no one wears it while everyone is not vaccinated,"
Nicolas annoys his colleagues.
The latter seems to come back to work reluctantly.
"
I tell myself that I take a risk by working face-to-face and that I am better at teleworking".
Glass walls and sanitary straitjacket
By isolating everyone in a sanitary straitjacket made of glass walls and distancing, the so-called “
barrier
”
gestures
have never borne their name so well.
"We are faced with an overdose of standards, of information around the Covid
", fulminates Stéphane *, an executive at Société Générale.
It weighs on friendliness and even politeness in the office
”. This risk management employee says he is stunned by the number of emails from management deploring the non-compliance with barrier gestures, confused by arrows on the ground and bored by the remarks of his picky colleagues.
"I have a little the feeling of being watched, under constant surveillance"
, he regrets, saying
"the pleasure"
that he now has to telework two to three days a week.
Many workers ultimately speak of teleworking as a refuge from the deteriorating office environment.
"These workers have experienced the advantages of teleworking, and see less interest in returning to the office, which is no longer the only symbolic place of professional life,"
analyzes Valentina Urreiztieta, from the firm Empreinte Humaine.
The challenge for companies is to convince them to come back at least partially in person.
"
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Debates at the coffee machine
Beyond the health risks and the flexibility offered by teleworking, employees are also irritated by the debates around the health crisis.
"With the continuous news channels in the common spaces, the discussions are constantly replenished by the epidemic twists and the government measures"
, points out Laurent Laporte, executive in a psychiatric hospital and CGT delegate.
These are divisive subjects that provoke arguments among caregivers. ”
Those who find themselves in the minority because of their opinions sometimes feel left out.
"I clearly have the feeling of being considered an idiot or an irresponsible by my colleagues,"
said Thomas, a 24-year-old young man with arguments put forward who does not want to be vaccinated for the moment.
This works supervisor in a large construction company equates discussions with his colleagues
"at best a debate between politicians, at worst a shouting match on a TV set
" Fortunately, his entire team changes the subject during lunch breaks at the restaurant and Thomas considers that his daily life is
"not yet too affected"
by these tensions.
"Great psychological vulnerability"
"There is a real risk of conflicts of values between employees on questions of freedom, health around the health pass"
, anticipates psychologist Valentina Urreiztieta.
For her, the next few weeks will be
"decisive"
in the demining or aggravation of these potential conflicts.
It is up to managers to be diplomatic in order to keep their service running smoothly.
“I have to pay close attention to the working climate in the teams,”
says hospital manager Laurent Laporte, very affected by the
“bad atmosphere in the teams”
.
Read also Health pass: risks of disorganization and tension in SMEs and VSEs
The health of employees could also suffer from this poisonous atmosphere.
Psychologist Valentina Urreiztieta warns of a potential wave of burn-out in the coming months:
“Many employees are already in great psychological vulnerability”.
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-
Face
-to-face feedback in companies: "teleworking limits the size of clusters", argues Benjamin Rossi
