Paternalist Rule as Social Retention Glue

"How can it be explained that from 1945 to 1970, everyone believed in this paternalism from another era? What is the mystery of its success? Isn’t it surprising that, unlike François Michelin who led a monastic life among his employees, Boussac managed, from a distance and with just an annual visit to his factories, to maintain a level of devotion and loyalty unique in the history of French industry, which withstood all the upheavals of recent years? This feat can be explained by the perfect symbiosis that existed between Boussac and his social director, Jean-Marie Compas. There lies the key to this paternalism, successful because it had a genuine face."

"The idea of “paternalism from baptism to the grave” was, long before him, the work of great French industrial families, of Protestant belief, such as the Schneider and Wendel, or Catholic, like Peugeot and Michelin, who relied on Christian faith to practice an active social policy. Boussac’s social work takes a different path, in the sense that it is not inspired by religious ethics, but solely by the generosity of the boss."

"Boussac reinstitutes a type of very personalized human relation, thereby going against the general trend. A true return to a feudal order, with the benevolent policy of this great lord who treats his staff like his own family, and not according to employer-employee relations. He is the responsible master of his people; those who work are entitled to respect and protection from others. Anyone on his domain respects his sacred authority and, in exchange, receives security and assistance. x"