We are pleased to announce our next OCE Research Seminar: Scarlett Salman (LISIS – Université Gustave Eiffel) will join us on November 23rd  to discuss her recent book : Aux bons soins du capitalisme. Le coaching en entreprise. (Presses de Sciences Po, 2021)

The talk will take place on November 23rd from 2.p.m. to 4.p.m. (bat B – 64, first floor), and online : https://em-lyon.zoom.us/j/97226334916

Please note that Scarlett Salman will be presenting in French.

Abstract :

“Happy workers are efficient workers.” Over the last twenty years, companies have introduced a whole range of practices with this motto in mind: counselling and psychological support for managers and leaders, “benevolent management” training, Chief Happiness Officers, stress mediation sessions, and so forth. At the core of this evolution is a new and attractive activity: coaching. Organised by HR departments convinced of the benefits of personal development, coaching remains shrouded in a certain mystery. Is coaching a symbol of human capitalism, or on the contrary an instrument of management requirements for wellness and self-optimization? This long-term study, which combines accounts from coaches, human resources directors, and managers, explores this “new spirit” of capitalism which has a tendency to make the individual – and even the person – into a project. And which therefore runs the risk of offloading companies’ organizational responsibilities.

 

Bio : Scarlett Salman is an Associate Professor in Sociology at Université Gustave Eiffel. Her research focuses on the uses of psychology in organizations and on work transformations, with a focus on leadership in capitalism, managerial professions and consulting. She studied the genesis, the professionalization and the uses of executive coaching (a book is to be published at Les Presses de Sciences Po). She also analyzed the category of “suffering at work” and its dissemination among occupational physicians.