“More and more, it is the young temporary worker who takes the initiative to speak to me informally. Sometimes even without realizing it! » exclaims with a smile Nicolas Lefoulon, agency director at Current downstream. This statement clearly illustrates the confusion that exists among some young people in business. There is nothing abnormal about being familiar with your manager, your HR, or even your boss, even if, in certain areas, the “you” continues to reign supreme. It’s not easy, in these conditions, to communicate well with your colleagues when you’re a young recruit. Depending on the context, the line between lack of respect and the desire to integrate is sometimes very fine.
Confusion upon recruitment
Although it does not date from the last rain, this desire to favor the familiar register is above all a question of generations. “Using familiarity allows you to feel comfortable more quickly. Young people, especially, want to feel at home and break down these barriers of distance. To be close enough to your colleagues for reasons of comfort,” indicates Raphaël Girard, communications and partnership manager at Studyrama. However, new recruits are not the only ones to dare to be familiar: “We have a lot of n + 1s who put more proximity into their management. They know that today, being in a position of responsibility is not just about dictating orders. It also involves a lot of exchange,” says Nicolas Lefoulon.
However, there is the framework of corporate life, and the more solemn framework of the job interview. Even if job offers for certain start-ups go to you and you, at the moment of truth young people prefer informality to informality, which they consider infantilizing: “I am a young manager and I put feel comfortable very quickly by telling recruits that we can speak informally. But, at the time of the interview, it is important that they have this formal framework of referral,” confirms Raphaël Girard. An observation shared by Nicolas Lefoulon, who specifies that he “sees the future recruit in all circumstances”.
Once in business, the role of managers’ tutor
Once in the company, the latest arrivals are not out of the woods. Who to send you? Who to speak to? “I am an agency director and I refer to all of my temporary employees because I do not have a very close relationship with them. But often, familiarity is established very quickly. », explains Nicolas Lefoulon. When we know that certain colleagues within the company are attached to these formalities, Raphaël Girard advises “taking the time to explain to new elements what to do and how to behave in this type of situation. » Nicolas Lefoulon thinks that “the best posture is that of posture in the first place”. He adds “that in the long term, there is nothing more annoying than contrasting management. When I integrate a new employee into my agency, I quickly make them familiar, given that familiarity is required with permanent staff.” Although it is required, the fact remains that familiarity remains a slippery slope, on which it is better to tread lightly.