"Sometimes I was fine, sometimes everything I said, everything I did, was worthless. It had become a habit, it was almost normal to me."
— Workshop supervisor, 20 years of tenure
These words, spoken with barely contained emotion, encapsulate twenty years of workplace suffering in a luxury leather goods workshop. How could an organization celebrated for its exceptional craftsmanship have allowed—and perpetuated—a destructive management system for two decades? And more critically, how can organizations repair what we call a collective psychological debt accumulated over such an extended period?
This case study documents our intervention with a prestigious French luxury group—we will call it "Maison Prestige"—that found itself confronting a major psychosocial crisis following the departure of its long-serving director. It illustrates how organizational injustices, when left unaddressed, do not simply fade with time. They compound, contaminating the entire relational fabric of the workplace until they become existential threats to both individual well-being and organizational performance.
When Silence Finally Breaks
Maison Prestige operates two production sites in central France, employing approximately sixty highly skilled artisans. For over twenty years, both sites were led by a single individual—whom we will call Sophie—whose management methods had profoundly marked the teams.
The crisis erupted in September 2024 when, in a single day, four employees broke down in tears after being exposed to Sophie's management style during her temporary return. One testified: "She jumped on me about all the garments: 'Everything needs to be redone.' I ended the day in tears. I told myself, never again—tomorrow I don't want to come back to work."
This incident triggered an escalation to general management. The new regional director, who had arrived just months earlier, confronted Sophie. Shortly after, she went on sick leave, revealing the magnitude of the malaise she had created and leaving the organization to face a considerable toxic legacy.
Understanding Psychological Debt
Our analysis revealed that the current difficulties were not simple problems of "resistance to change" or "interpersonal tensions." They constituted manifestations of a collective psychological debt accumulated over two decades.
The concept of psychological debt designates the psychological consequences of an organizational injustice that has not been recognized or repaired. Unlike stress, which can dissipate, or conflict, which can be resolved, psychological debt persists as long as the organization has not explicitly acknowledged the harm caused and undertaken to repair it. It generates in affected individuals a profound sense of injustice that contaminates their entire relationship with work.
This framework draws from Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy's contextual therapy and its concept of relational ledgers—the implicit balance sheets of giving and receiving that exist in all relationships. When this ledger becomes chronically imbalanced, when people consistently give more than they receive, particularly in terms of recognition and respect, psychological debts accumulate. In organizational settings, these debts become encoded in collective memory and are transmitted across generations of employees, creating what we might call "organizational ghosts"—unresolved wounds that haunt present dynamics.
The Anatomy of Accumulated Wounds
At Maison Prestige, we identified two distinct but interconnected psychological debts.
The Debt of Betrayal (Main Site)
For twenty years, employees had alerted management about Sophie's behaviors. A team leader with 24 years of tenure testified: "We raised alerts multiple times, we spoke to certain people. They knew very well what was happening. We called for help, they didn't move." The workshop supervisor confirmed: "There were results, so we moved on."
This last sentence reveals the implicit trade-off that was made: economic performance took priority over people's well-being. Employees knew it, and this knowledge created profound distrust toward the institution. The message they internalized was devastating: your suffering is acceptable as long as we hit our numbers.
The Debt of Invisibility (Secondary Site)
The second site, acquired in 2012, had never been truly integrated. It was systematically positioned as a "subcontractor" to the main site, less visible in group communications, less visited by leadership. One employee summarized: "We were never invited, never consulted. We didn't exist." This invisibilization created a profound identity wound—a collective existential questioning about their place in the organization.
These two debts reinforced each other. Sophie had used the division between sites as a control mechanism, telling the main site that the secondary site "produced garbage," and vice versa. This divide-and-conquer strategy created a deep schism that persisted well after her departure.
The Mechanics of Sustained Toxicity
Our diagnosis identified three characteristic mechanisms of the toxic management exercised over two decades:
The Valorization/Disqualification Alternation. Sophie alternated between phases of intense appreciation and phases of brutal disparagement, creating in her victims a permanent state of insecurity and a form of emotional dependency. This intermittent reinforcement pattern—well documented in psychological research on trauma bonding—is particularly effective at maintaining control precisely because it prevents victims from developing a stable narrative about their experience.
The Rotating Scapegoat System. One person was targeted for several weeks before attention shifted to another. This mechanism maintained the entire collective in anxiety while preventing solidarity among victims. Everyone remained compliant, hoping they wouldn't be next, while feeling relieved when someone else became the target—a relief that itself generated guilt and shame.
The Indispensability Myth. Sophie had positioned herself as the sole interface with the primary luxury client, creating the belief that without her, the client would leave. This myth proved false after her departure—workshop supervisors now manage the client relationship successfully. But for twenty years, this fiction served as the ultimate shield against any challenge to her authority.
THE RECOGNITION FRAMEWORK
Philosopher Axel Honneth identifies three forms of recognition essential for dignity at work: affective recognition (being respected as a person), juridical recognition (having one's rights respected), and social recognition (having one's contribution valued). Sophie systematically destroyed all three dimensions: through public humiliation, through discrimination (notably against pregnant women), and through appropriation of collective achievements.
The Measurable Cost of Unacknowledged Harm
Our pre-intervention assessment revealed a situation of considerable gravity: approximately 50% of the main site's workforce in "active disengagement" (physical presence without psychological engagement), productivity estimated at 30-40% below potential, team bonuses that had collapsed from €3,500 to €300 annually, significant absenteeism with multiple long-term sick leaves, and observable symptoms of post-traumatic stress among several long-tenured employees.
These figures translate into millions of euros of lost value—far exceeding whatever short-term gains the toxic management style may have produced. The "there were results" justification collapses under scrutiny: it confused compliance with performance, and mistook fear-induced activity for genuine productivity.
An Integrative Contextual Intervention
Faced with this situation, we developed an intervention along four simultaneous axes, articulating the individual, collective, and organizational levels through what we call Integrative Contextual Intervention (ICI®).
Axis 1: Definitively Closing the Toxic Source
As long as Sophie remained in the organization—even at a distance—victims remained in a state of permanent alertness. One employee confided: "When we see her car arriving, we dread having to deal with her." Management needed to make a clear and definitive separation decision, then communicate it to teams in a way that marked a symbolic break with the past.
Axis 2: Settling Psychological Debts Through Recognition
Drawing on Paul Ricœur's philosophy of recognition, we recommended intervention at two levels. For the main site: acknowledge that management knew, that they should have acted earlier, and that they understood the suffering caused by their inaction. For the secondary site: explicitly recognize its legitimate and equal place in the group, and value its specific competencies. These acts of recognition had to be carried by the highest level of leadership to have sufficient symbolic force.
Axis 3: Constructing a Collective Identity
The concept of "Central Region" did not exist in employees' imagination. They thought in terms of competing sites, not of a unified entity. Inspired by Karl Weick's work on sensemaking, we proposed inter-site cohesion activities: common projects, shared events, balanced communication valuing both sites—creating a new shared narrative that could hold both histories.
Axis 4: Rebuilding the Management System
Current workshop supervisors were former victims who had been promoted, trained in a toxic environment, without an alternative model. One confided: "I wanted so much to become like her, because I was immersed with her when I arrived at 20, that I became like that." We recommended individualized support for each, combining training in management practices that are both caring AND demanding, and coaching to help them construct their own style—distinct from Sophie's but not devoid of rigor.
Early Results and Expected Outcomes
The intervention remains ongoing, but early signals are encouraging. The arrival of the new regional director had already created palpable relief. One supervisor testified: "He's a bit like a savior, actually. Honestly, now I know what a real director looks like." Workshop supervisors from both sites successfully took over the luxury client relationship, demonstrating that Sophie's "indispensability myth" was indeed a myth.
Based on comparable interventions, we anticipate within 12-18 months: a 40-60% reduction in absenteeism, measurable improvement in social climate, progressive recovery of productivity and team bonuses, and stabilization of teams through reduced involuntary turnover. The cost of inaction for twenty years will require at least 18-24 months of sustained intervention to begin resolving.
Lessons for Leaders
First: Never sacrifice well-being for results. The implicit trade-off of "there were results, so we moved on" is a time bomb. In the short term, toxic management can produce outputs. In the long term, it destroys human capital and creates psychological debts whose repair costs far exceed initial gains. Twenty years of tolerance required an intervention spanning multiple years.
Second: Act quickly when toxic behaviors are verified. The cost of inaction is always higher than the cost of action. Each month, each year of tolerance aggravates the psychological debt and makes repair more difficult. Contrary to popular belief, "letting time heal" does not work with psychological debts—they accumulate rather than dissipate.
Third: Recognition is not a luxury; it's a strategic necessity. Psychological debts are not settled with bonuses or raises. They are settled with explicit acts of recognition: acknowledging what happened, acknowledging the suffering caused, acknowledging people's contributions. These acts must be carried at the highest level of leadership to have sufficient symbolic force.
Fourth: Watch for transgenerational reproduction. Toxic methods are transmitted. Managers trained under a toxic leader risk reproducing their behaviors, even unconsciously. Specific support is necessary to break this chain of transmission—otherwise, removing the toxic individual merely creates a vacuum that their former lieutenants will fill with the only model they know.
A Practical Framework for Leaders
1. Conduct a psychological debt audit. Before any action, understand the organization's history, identify unacknowledged injustices, map existing divisions. This audit must be conducted by an external party to guarantee confidentiality and freedom of speech.
2. Definitively close the source of toxicity. As long as the toxic person remains in the organization, even at a distance, victims remain on alert. The separation must be clear, definitive, and communicated to teams.
3. Organize formal acts of recognition. Senior leadership must personally intervene to acknowledge what happened, without seeking to minimize or blame. The objective is not endless apology, but symbolically closing one chapter and opening a new page.
4. Support intermediate managers. They are often former victims who have become supervisors. They need specific support to construct a new management model—neither reproduction of the toxic model nor total rejection of any standards.
5. Install long-term follow-up. Twenty-year debts are not settled in six months. Plan for support over 18-24 months minimum, with regular checkpoints and monitoring indicators (social climate, absenteeism, productivity, turnover).
The Path Forward
The Maison Prestige case illustrates a reality often neglected in organizations: untreated injustices do not disappear with time. They accumulate as "psychological debts" that eventually profoundly affect both team performance and health. The financial cost is staggering; the human cost is incalculable.
This case confirms the relevance of addressing individual dimensions (personal traumas), collective dimensions (divisions between groups), and organizational dimensions (culture, management practices) simultaneously and integratively. It also demonstrates the importance of addressing the existential dimension of work: beyond material conditions, employees need to feel recognized, respected, and legitimate in their contribution.
As Axel Honneth wrote, "recognition is the fuel of social existence." Twenty years of non-recognition emptied the tank of Maison Prestige's teams. The reconstruction work has just begun, but early signs are encouraging: trust can be rebuilt, provided the organization accepts to face its history squarely and assume its consequences.
For leaders confronting similar situations, the message is clear: the debts you don't acknowledge today will compound with interest. Acting now—with honesty, humility, and commitment—is not just ethically right. It is economically imperative.
References
Boszormenyi-Nagy, I. & Spark, G. (1973). Invisible Loyalties: Reciprocity in Intergenerational Family Therapy. Harper & Row.
Dejours, C. (1998). Souffrance en France: La banalisation de l'injustice sociale. Seuil.
Edmondson, A. C. (1999). Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350-383.
Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Stanford University Press.
Honneth, A. (1995). The Struggle for Recognition: The Moral Grammar of Social Conflicts. MIT Press.
Poirot, M. (2026). Les dettes psychologiques au travail. L'Harmattan.
Ricœur, P. (2004). Parcours de la reconnaissance. Stock.
Weick, K. E. (1995). Sensemaking in Organizations. Sage.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matthieu Poirot is a psychologist and Doctor in Management Sciences, founder of Midori Consulting and the School of Integrative Contextual Intervention® (ICI®). He teaches at HEC Paris and ESSEC Business School ans Panthéon Assas_Paris University. For over twenty years, he has specialized in complex organizational crises that conventional HR approaches cannot resolve, including post-crisis interventions following suicides, multinational harassment investigations, and traumatic transformations. His forthcoming book, Les dettes psychologiques au travail (L'Harmattan, 2026), presents his research on how unacknowledged organizational injustices accumulate and compound over time.
Contact: matthieu.poirot@midori-consulting.com | www.midori-consulting.eu
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