"VIP Conversation" between Alexia Vigneau, Head of Human Resources for France at Forvis Mazars, and Manuelle Mallot, Director of the EDHEC NewGen Talent Centre
Are recent graduates turning their backs on the corporate world? Do they really aspire to move away from salaried employment, management and traditional career paths? To mark the publication of new research on the expectations of recent graduates, Alexia Vigneau, HR Director at Forvis Mazars in France, and Manuelle Malot, Director of the EDHEC NewGen Talent Centre, share their perspectives on how young talent’s relationship with the corporate world, their first job, management and skills is changing.
The latest EDHEC x Forvis Mazars collaboration shows that recent graduates do not reject the company; on the contrary, 80% see it as collaborative and innovative, but they also find it stressful, complicated or hierarchical. What do they really want from it?
Manuelle Malot: The key takeaway is that recent graduates have a very positive view of work and of the workplace. They see work as a source of fulfilment and the workplace as the place where this fulfilment is to be built. They see it as a space to innovate, make a meaningful contribution to society, learn and progress.
Young people often speak of a ‘collective adventure’, because by joining a company, they want to take part in ambitious, exciting projects and forge social bonds there.
On the other hand, they do not have a naïve view. They also see the organisation as a complex, rigid environment that is sometimes difficult to understand, and which remains very top-down and highly hierarchical. They may regard it as innovative in its products and services, but still characterised by outdated models in its organisation or management. They do not reject the organisation; they simply expect more from it.
Alexia Vigneau: At Forvis Mazars, this issue concerns us directly. Recent graduates make up a very significant proportion of our new recruits, and the average age of our staff is 29. What they will find here is a people-centred environment, a culture of advancement and a team-oriented ethos.
They want to learn, feel supported, be part of a community, contribute to projects and work on meaningful assignments. In our line of work, particularly in audit, this drives us to adapt our models. We know that young people do not want to be boxed into a narrow career path too early on. They want to develop skills, broaden their scope of work and experience a variety of environments.
This is what has led us to offer more open career paths, combining, for example, financial audit with other areas of expertise such as IT, CSR or innovation. We are still a hierarchical organisation, like many professional services firms, but we are evolving this model towards an approach that is more skills-led.
That first job is, of course, the main concern for all young graduates. But is it still really seen as a long-term position, or rather as a stepping stone?
Alexia Vigneau: In our audit and consultancy roles, a young employee joins us to learn the trade, then progresses step by step. Each year brings a progression in skills: junior 1, junior 2, then senior 1. This progression is built into the model.
But we wanted to go further. Firstly, our junior auditors are not assigned to a specific sector straight away. For three years, they can explore various sectors: banking, insurance, manufacturing, IT, services… The idea is not to confine a recent graduate, from their very first year, to a sector they are only just getting to know. After three years, they can make a choice based on their experience.
Secondly, we offer hybrid career paths. A young professional can focus primarily on financial audit whilst developing expertise in another area. This responds to the desire not to ‘do just one thing’, but to broaden their horizons, learn new skills and build a more well-rounded profile. It is also our responsibility to facilitate internal mobility when their aspirations change.
Manuelle Malot: According to our research, the ideal average length of time for a recent graduate’s first job is 17 months. But that does not mean they only envisage staying with the company for 17 months before moving on. It means they do not want to remain in a role where they feel they are no longer learning.
They are impatient, in a way, but this impatience reflects, above all, a desire for progression. They want to be able to identify what their second or third year in a role will bring them: new skills, a better understanding of a sector, different exposure, a network, and the opportunity for personal development.
The first job is increasingly seen as a learning experience. For graduates of business schools, it is often a career accelerator. For university graduates, it can be a phase of clear-eyed exploration. For engineers, the focus is often more on expertise. If the company can show a young person that they will continue to learn and develop their employability, then they will want to stay.
Your research also reveals a profound shift in the relationship with management. Why do young people want a manager who looks out for them rather than one who keeps a close eye on them?
Manuelle Malot: The n+1 manager is the young employee’s immediate point of contact. However, expectations of this direct manager have changed significantly. For a long time, managers derived their authority from their status. Today, young people do not reject authority, but they expect authority based on competence: a competent manager, of course, but also one who helps them develop their own skills.
We’ve summed this up in a phrase: they want a manager who looks out for them rather than one who keeps an eye on them. A few years ago, a newspaper ran the headline: ‘Don’t manage me, develop me.’ That’s exactly it. They expect their manager to instil confidence in them and trust them, to inspire them, and to help them progress.
They expect regular and constructive feedback: tell me what I’m doing well, tell me where I can improve. The ideal manager is also someone who protects their team, who stands up for them, and who understands individual circumstances. The difficulty is that managers are often caught between very demanding business objectives and increasingly demanding teams. They’re expected to deliver results, lead, train, provide purpose and offer support – all at the same time. In this regard, Forvis Mazars takes a rather radical and innovative approach.
Alexia Vigneau: Yes, we have chosen to create a complementary role: managers dedicated 100 per cent to supporting junior staff. We call them facilitators, or ‘care managers’. Their role is not to get involved in the technical aspects of the assignment, but to support the staff member over the long term.
Currently, five facilitators support our junior auditors over a three-year period. They get involved right from the induction stage and then provide support regarding their progress, feedback, professional conduct, soft skills and understanding of the company’s culture. Each junior auditor therefore has two managers: an assignment manager, who focuses on the assignment and the client; and a care manager, who focuses on the auditor’s career path, development and any queries they may have.
This creates a genuine point of connection. If a young person encounters a relationship issue on an assignment, or if they are hesitant to admit that they have not yet mastered a technical subject, they can turn to their facilitator. This isn’t a top-down approach. It’s facilitation. The aim is also for the employee to take an active role in shaping their own career path.
Manuelle Malot: A facilitator is a bit of a cross between a mentor and a coach. You could say they become a ‘career partner’ for the young employee. And that’s invaluable, because many young people are still trying to find their feet.
There is also frequent talk of a certain ‘loss of enthusiasm’ for management roles amongst young people. Is hierarchical management still a natural career path?
Manuelle Malot: We must be cautious about the notion that young people no longer wish to take on management roles. There is sometimes talk of ‘conscious unbossing’, as if a reluctance to move into managerial positions were indicative of a rejection of the organisation or of work itself. We would, however, take strong issue with this interpretation.
What our research shows is that hierarchical management is no longer automatically seen as the only path to success. Historically, the natural progression was to become a manager, then an executive. Today, this is no longer the only desirable model. People may wish to develop specialist expertise, lead a cross-functional team, or manage within a hierarchical structure – but only provided they have received the necessary training.
They aren’t saying, “I don’t want to commit”. Rather, they are saying: “I don’t want to be put into a managerial role simply because it’s the next step.” Here again, it is a call for consistency.
Alexia Vigneau: I see this in the workplace too. For a long time, it was assumed that career progression naturally involved moving into management. But some people, particularly those with highly technical backgrounds, do not necessarily want to manage others. They excel in a specialist role, find fulfilment in it, and there is no point in forcing them.
That is why we need to create two career paths: a specialist path and a management path. In future, people should be able to be recognised as experts in data, IT, CSR or another field without necessarily having to manage a team hierarchically.
Conversely, those who wish to manage must be supported. Management is a skill that can be learnt. You don’t become a manager overnight just because you’ve been a very good operational specialist. You have to learn how to give feedback, deliver difficult messages, offer encouragement and listen.
It’s also about leading by example. If a young person sees managers who are overwhelmed or not properly trained for their role, it can discourage them. They might think: “If that’s what being a manager is like, I don’t want to do it.” It’s up to us to show that management can be a proper profession - one that is useful, recognised and supported.
This traditional pyramid-shaped corporate structure is also being challenged by young people, who tend to think in terms of skills to be acquired rather than ranks to climb. Will the company of the future be built around skills rather than ranks?
Manuelle Malot: I often draw a parallel between the expectations of this generation and the shift from a mindset of ownership to one of usage. In the past, we owned a qualification. Today, we utilise a skill. And we must constantly update it.
A qualification must reflect not only a level of technical and managerial skills underpinned by an extremely solid cultural foundation, but also the ability to learn how to learn, to question one’s own skills and to progress.
Young graduates have understood this very well. They don’t think solely in terms of job titles or status. They think in terms of the skills they’ve acquired, their employability and their ability to develop. This is also why they expect a great deal from their first job and their manager: they want to know what they’re going to learn, how they’re going to progress and how they’ll make an impact.
Alexia Vigneau: At Forvis Mazars, we still operate under a hierarchical structure, but we are moving towards an organisation that is more skills-based. This addresses a number of challenges.
Firstly, because young people are looking to develop their skills. Secondly, because our clients themselves have increasingly complex needs. When assigning a project, we are not simply looking for ‘a senior’ or ‘a junior’. We are looking for someone with a specific IT skill, sector-specific knowledge, or the ability to work on a particular subject.
For staff, this can open up more flexible career paths, provide a greater sense of purpose and enhance employability. For the firm, it enables better utilisation of talent, greater innovation, improved performance and a better ability to respond to the transformations taking place in our clients’ industries.
The key issue, ultimately, is to no longer assign people solely on the basis of their grade, but based on what they can do, what they want to develop and the value they can bring to an assignment. This is a significant shift, but it is deeply in line with the expectations of this generation.
Manuelle Malot: Young people are not disengaged. They have high expectations - sometimes impatient ones - but these relate to issues that are fundamental to their development: learning, contributing, receiving support, developing skills and finding their place in the world. It is up to businesses to turn these expectations into tangible pathways.
What is the ultimate purpose of these studies and data on the pulse of the younger generations?
Manuelle Malot: The role of the EDHEC NewGen Talent Centre is to generate data, but above all to ensure that this data is useful to our stakeholders. We are pleased to see that our work enables companies to integrate young people more effectively, to better understand their expectations and to help them progress more successfully. This is our shared objective with companies: to ensure that the right match is made, and that it is made under the right conditions.
Alexia Vigneau: These studies are important because they force us to face up to the expectations of younger generations. They provide very practical insights and enable organisations to adapt their structure, career paths and management practices. For Forvis Mazars, this serves as regular validation of the choices we make.
Further reading
- Access the publications from the EDHEC NewGen Talent Centre
- View the report ‘Recent graduates: The new rules for recruitment in 2026’
- Browse the report ‘Early careers of graduates from the grandes écoles’
