EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT: WHAT CONTRIBUTION TO A MUTUAL INSURANCE'S PERFORMANCE?

Abstract

In mutuals, as Social Solidarity Economy organizations, employees are generally considered
to contribute primarily to economic performance, and activists to socio-political performance, understood as the achievement of objectives conveyed by SSE values. However, a few rare studies suggest that employees can also contribute to this socio-political performance, without however detailing the modalities or HR practices involved. Our research therefore explores the subject via the concept of commitment to work and the organization, given its known impact in the literature on performance in the broadest sense. An action-research project was carried out with 35 employees of a large mutual insurance company. Four forms of commitment were first identified, then analyzed in terms of their contribution to socio-political performance. HR practices were then discussed, with a view to career development and talent management, while avoiding organizational hypocrisy and “social washing”.