"Even if my salary was doubled, I wouldn't do it again": Why employees no longer want to be bosses

French employees have no desire to become leaders, and this attitude is specific to France. According to a study published by the training organization Cegos in France, 56% of employees identified by human resources managers as potential good leaders do not want to move into a position of responsibility, compared to an average of 36% in other countries, a significant gap.

So why are French employees so reluctant to take on responsibilities within their companies ? Because where some see responsibility and promotion, employees mostly see problems and long days, caught between the hammer of their superior and the anvil of their subordinates.

Three-quarters of first-time managers believe their working hours are steadily increasing, as is their stress, more so than in other countries. Given this increase in time spent at the office, recognition is deemed insufficient or even nonexistent for a fairly unmotivating pay increase of a few hundred euros per month at most.

This is what Valérie, who works in the viticulture sector, told RMC : "It was too much pressure, I couldn't answer the phone, people could call me from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. at night," she says.

"For a raise of 100-150 euros, I was bothered by absences, customers asking for information, and it was like that even on weekends. Even if today they double my salary, there's no way I'm going back to being a chef. Now I work alone and I'm so much better," Valérie recalls.

"One day I woke up, I resigned, I lost everything including my seniority, but I wouldn't sign up again for anything in the world," she promises.

To explain this French exception, we must first look to management culture. According to a report by the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS), French management is characterized by highly vertical and hierarchical practices and a "much weaker" recognition of work than in other countries.

This is what sociologist François Dupuy calls "elite fatigue": this precariousness of their work, the essence of which, the responsibility, has been devoured by the multiplication of procedures of all kinds.

Moreover, in France, the person who becomes a manager is often the best technician, who does not necessarily have the qualities of a manager.

There's also a misunderstanding between managers and human resources: HR thinks they're power-hungry and driven by ambition, while managers primarily want to earn more, have more flexibility to make decisions on a daily basis, and be useful. A total waste of human resources.