Comet and Forvis Mazars publish their HR Barometer 2026, “Managers vs. Employees: the great divide?”. Conducted among 159 managers, executives and employees from more than 50 companies, this mirror survey shows that both groups agree on the visible realities of work, but diverge sharply on motivation, engagement and intentions to leave.
Paris, 6 October 2026: Comet and Forvis Mazars publish their HR Barometer 2026, “Managers vs. Employees: the great divide?”. Conducted among 159 managers, executives and employees from more than 50 companies, this mirror survey shows that both groups agree on the visible realities of work, but diverge sharply when it comes to interpreting motivation, engagement or intentions to leave.
In brief
- A 32-point gap on the role of money: 65% of managers believe their teams work first and foremost to earn a living, compared with 33% of employees;
- 28 points on hours worked as proof of engagement: 37% of employees see them as a sign of their commitment, compared with 9% of managers;
- 22 points on day-to-day effort: 58% of employees say they do more than is expected of them, while 36% of managers perceive it;
- A risk of departure identified but hard to measure: 27% of employees say they cannot see themselves at their company in two years' time, and 12% do not yet know whether they will still be there. Among managers, 41% identify a risk of departure in their team, but only 8% consider it truly significant.
The HR Barometer 2026 highlights a gap in interpretation: managers and employees broadly see the same facts, but do not read them in the same way. A “great divide” that stems less from a lack of goodwill than from a lack of dialogue and managerial closeness.
“Every day, Comet welcomes executives, managers and employees in places designed to create connection. With this Barometer, we wanted to understand what is really at stake in these interactions, by comparing managers' perceptions with employees' lived experience,” explains Victor Carreau, co-founder and CEO of Comet.
“High-performing organisations are those that put the manager-employee relationship at the heart of their priorities. There is no lasting success without managerial performance,” adds Raphaël Bolard, Partner, HR Transformation, Learning & Change Management at Forvis Mazars.
Money remains the biggest misunderstanding between managers and employees
This is the largest gap measured by the barometer. 65% of managers believe their teams work first and foremost to earn a living, compared with only 33% of employees.
Among employees, a sense of accomplishment actually comes first at 37%, ahead of pay at 33% and work-life balance at 19%. The gap is also visible in priorities at work: 44% of employees cite interesting work, almost as many as cite pay (43%), whereas only 23% of managers identify it as a priority for their teams.
Managers therefore tend to give more weight to the financial dimension of work than employees themselves do.
Engagement: everyone uses their own thermometer
Managers and employees do not rely on the same signals to measure engagement. 85% of managers look first at proactivity, while 37% of employees cite the hours they spend at work as proof of their engagement, compared with only 9% of managers.
This difference in interpretation also shows in how effort is perceived: 58% of employees say they do more than is expected of them day to day, while only 36% of managers perceive it.
Part of the extra effort employees put in may therefore remain invisible to their managers, particularly when engagement criteria and expectations are not made explicit in the same way.
Retention: the risk is identified, but its causes remain poorly understood
Looking two years ahead, 27% of employees say they cannot see themselves at their company and 12% do not yet know whether they will still be there. 41% of managers identify a risk of departure in their team, but only 8% consider it truly significant.
This comparison should nonetheless be treated with caution: managers were asked about the share of their team likely to leave, while employees answered about their own outlook. The categories are therefore not directly comparable.
The gaps are, however, very clear when it comes to the reasons that might trigger a departure. 68% of managers think better pay could push their employees to leave, compared with 43% of employees themselves.
Conversely, managers underestimate motivations more closely linked to life choices: 31% of employees cite a personal project as a potential reason for leaving, compared with only 15% as perceived by managers, and 23% mention work-life balance, compared with 13% among managers.
The great divide appears above all when it comes to interpreting the other side
On the most factual dimensions, managers and employees nevertheless describe a fairly similar reality. 72% of managers and 67% of employees cite head office as their main place of work, and two days of remote work per week is the dominant pattern on both sides. The differences appear mainly when it comes to interpreting the other side's reasons, intentions or effort.
Managers see what is visible fairly well, but interpret more of what is not. A “great divide” that stems less from a lack of goodwill than from a need to strengthen dialogue and closeness between managers and employees.
For Comet and Forvis Mazars, these results underline the importance of creating more opportunities to clarify expectations, motivational drivers and signs of engagement. In a context of hybrid work and fewer informal exchanges, these conversations help prevent each side from interpreting the same reality solely from its own point of view.
The results of the HR Barometer 2026 were presented on 6 October at a morning event for HR directors at Comet Étoile, including a round table with Victor Carreau, co-founder and CEO of Comet, and Raphaël Bolard, Partner, HR Transformation, Learning & Change Management at Forvis Mazars.
The HR Barometer 2026, “Managers vs. Employees: the great divide?”, is available to download.
Methodology
The Comet x Forvis Mazars HR Barometer 2026 is based on a survey conducted between April and June 2026 among 159 respondents from more than 50 companies, ranging from very small businesses to large groups. The sample consists of 49% managers and executives and 51% employees.
Two mirror questionnaires were administered across nine themes, from attitudes to work to reasons for leaving. For each topic, managers and executives were asked about their perception of their teams, while employees answered about their own experience.
Press contacts
Taddeo agency for Forvis Mazars: Camille Duchiron, camille.duchiron@taddeo.fr, +33 6 50 52 44 43
Linker agency for Comet: Léa Schlackman, lea@linker-agency.com, +33 6 86 32 97 34
About Forvis Mazars
Forvis Mazars Group SC is an independent member of Forvis Mazars Global, a leading global professional services network. Operating as an integrated international partnership in over 100 countries and territories, Forvis Mazars Group specialises in audit, tax and advisory services. The integrated partnership draws on the expertise and cultural diversity of its teams (more than 40,000 professionals worldwide) to support clients of all sizes at every stage of their development.
About Comet
Founded in 2016, Comet is one of the leaders in urban event venues, with 14 addresses in Paris, Brussels and Madrid. The company designs and operates places to live and work dedicated to companies' collective moments, whether meetings, seminars, training sessions or corporate events, as well as to their everyday work, from coworking to operated offices. Comet applies the codes of hospitality to work environments through architecture, design, food, technology and service, to enhance the experience and collective performance. In ten years, Comet has welcomed more than one million visitors from nearly 7,000 client companies. Since July 2026, Comet has been majority-owned by Icade, with an 81.5% stake.
