La charge de travail des cadres : d’une typologie à une compréhension systémique

Managers’ workload is a well-documented topic: the literature underlines, among other things, the intensification of managers’ workload as well as the effects of restructuring and other changes on this intensification. A case study conducted in a company that has gone through restructuring and is faced with the threat of open competition, and is also characterized by a corporatist model illustrates these aspects and goes deeper into the analysis. An initial descriptive and quantitative analysis shows that workload, and notably ‘uninteresting work, increase when managers move up the hierarchy, an observation that can seem surprising. An in-depth analysis mixing quantitative and qualitative methods within the theoretical framework of the strategic analysis of organizations makes it possible to show that workload is the result of various factors. These can be linked to the opening up of competition and the implementation of a constraining reporting system, as well as the strategies put in place by the actors themselves to manage their work, according to their resources and their role in the system. A typology allows us to identify four groups of managers characterized by homogenous perceptions and strategies concerning their workload. The strategic analysis of organizations allows us to better understand these strategies. Finally, this study underlines the systemic structuring of managers’ workloads and the usefulness of a mixed-method design to study it.
La charge de travail des cadres constitue un phénomène bien documenté : la littérature souligne ainsi l’intensification du travail des cadres et les effets des réorganisations sur cette intensification. Une étude de cas combinant approches quantitative et qualitative et mobilisant l’analyse systémique des organisations permet ici de montrer en quoi la charge de travail est le fruit de facteurs exogènes mais aussi des stratégies mises en place par les acteurs pour gérer leur travail. Une typologie conduit ainsi à identifier quatre stratégies, que l’on peut comprendre à l’aune du système de l’établissement. Finalement, cette enquête souligne la structuration systémique de la charge de travail et l’intérêt d’une méthodologie mixte pour l’appréhender.