Management gemsFind here some gems from our monitoring of the best publications on leadership and management

In a context of a war for talent, numerous companies are questioning themselves about the way to retain their strongest elements. According to Zach Mercurio, a researcher at Colorado State University’s Center for Meaning and Purpose, they often tend to underestimate a simple but essential lever: showing these employees that they matter to the team, and making them feel in what ways their contribution is unique.

This notably entails paying attention to them: a Gallup study found that half of the employees who had voluntarily left their company had not had an exchange with their manager for at least three months to discuss their experience in their position, their performance or their morale. Indeed, in an effort to manage their availability, managers devote themselves first and foremost to employees who have a problem to solve, or a deficit in performance—at the risk of leaving their best-performing employees isolated.

To make them feel valued, dedicate regular listening time to employees for whom “everything seems to be sailing smoothly”. Make sure you go beyond the exchange of operational information in your discussions with them: take an interest in the ways in which they proceed to achieve their results and help them become aware of their strong points.

Source: 3 Ways to Make Sure High Performers Feel Valued, Zach Mercurio, Harvard Business Review, November 2024.

When we talk about stress, we naturally think of sources of concern: changes that destabilize us, conflicts, overloaded agendas, etc.

In an interview, Rob Cross, co-author of The Microstress Effect, alerts us to another, largely underestimated factor of stress. Every interaction with people whom we appreciate, and with whom we wish to establish or maintain a relationship, also generates its own share of stress. We are careful about what we say, we are eager for the other person to interpret our messages correctly, we ask ourselves how we should interpret their words. Admittedly, this stress is a low-intensity one, and one that we do not generally identify as such. But it is repeated dozens of times a day and can accumulate to the point of bringing us closer to the risk of burn-out.

How can we minimize this risk? The author emphasizes the need to limit “collaborative overload”. To promote good mental health, we need to choose, deliberately, with whom we interact regularly and with which groups we can maintain more distance. For establishing relationships with people we trust is essential to curbing our stress, but only up to a certain volume of interactions.

Source: Author Talks: How minor stresses add up to epic fails, interview of Rob Cross by Lucia Rahilly, McKinsey Insights, July 2023.

many have expressed surprise at the apparent lack of enthusiasm from potential female candidates. Why do so few volunteers put themselves forward?

A study by the University of Michigan has highlighted a paradox: women recognize themselves far less than men in the designation of “leader”. And yet, several studies have underlined the fact that women outperform men in a majority of key leadership competencies: personal development, integrity, initiative-taking, collaboration, team mobilization, change management, etc.

How can this shortage of female applicants be remedied? The authors recommend refraining from using the overly loaded term “leader” in recruitment campaigns, and instead focusing on the attributes of leadership and the behaviors that characterize it. Indeed, their study reveals that women prefer to describe themselves as demonstrating commitment, dynamism, intelligence or sensitivity, rather than leadership. An approach that ultimately results in finding the same qualities among potential candidates, regardless of their gender.

Source: When Qualified Women Resist the Leader Label, Julia Lee Cunningham, Sue Ashford, Laura Sonday, MIT Sloan Management Review, November 2024.

“Clean up your desk so you can work better”, your parents perhaps told you when you were younger… A piece of common-sense advice that has now been validated by neuroscience.

Researchers at Yale University recently showed that visual clutter has little effect on our ability to perceive information, but a far greater one on our ability to process it efficiently. In macaque monkeys, whose visual capacities are close to those of humans, under such conditions, information is transmitted almost normally to the primary visual cortex, but the way in which it is relayed to the secondary visual cortex is affected.

Can we compensate for this negative impact through the strength of our attention? In part, yes, indicate the researchers. This is the example of a driver watching out for a car that might overtake them, while centering their vision on the road in front of them. But the energy expenditure is high.

This research will certainly have applications in ergonomics. In the short term, it also opens up avenues for improving one’s concentration.

Source: ‘Visual clutter’ alters information flow in the brain, Mallory Locklear, Yale News, October 2024.

Many companies are doing away with quantitative performance assessments: Adobe and Morgan Stanley, for instance. A study published in the Academy of Management Discoveries shows that “narrative” assessments are perceived as being fairer and more motivating.

Indeed, a qualitative approach allows for giving contextualized appraisals, using concrete facts for support, retracing the manner in which results were achieved. Employees have the feeling of being able to exchange more effectively. This approach visibly encourages their commitment and an improvement in their performance.

This nonetheless does not mean abandoning quantitative evaluation altogether. The authors of the study show that the perceived equity of narrative evaluations is greatly diminished in the cases of very high or very low performance. Opting for a hybrid format, combining qualitative and quantitative, therefore often appears to be more desirable.

Finally, even more than the format of the assessment, it is the process that makes the difference: the assessments perceived as being the fairest are those defined by consensus, as part of a transparent process that explicitly links up with the company’s strategy.

Source: The Power of Words: Employee Responses to Numerical vs. Narrative Performance Feedback, Academy of Management Discoveries, July 2024.