Human Experience Excellence - July 2023

- Alex Brueckmann, Founder & CEO, Brueckmann Executive Consulting

6 Great Ideas To Leverage The Power Of Corporate Social Responsibility

Empowering your team and making a difference

- Kevin Sheridan, Author, Kevin Sheridan LLC

Peer-To-Peer Recognition: The Good, The Bad, And The Questionable

Evaluating the effectiveness of modern employee appreciation initiatives

- Dr. Paul White, Psychologist, Speaker, and International Leadership Trainer, Appreciation at Work

8 Actions To Nurture Trust In The Remote Work Environment

Balancing communication and maintaining transparency for remote success

-

Yoram Solomon, Founder, Innovation Culture Institute™ LLC

From Passive To Proactive: Reigniting The Drive For Career Development

It’s time to help employees get back into the driver’s seat of their career development

- Julie Winkle Giulioni, Author, juliewinklegiulioni.com

Human Experience Excellence - Monthly Interactive Learning Journal

The future is all about going beyond the employee experience to focus on human experience. This monthly interactive learning experience showcases strategies and programs to improve employee performance and strengthen your team.

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Our mission is to promote personal and professional development based on constructive values, sound ethics, and timeless principles.

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Social Responsibility (CSR) is no longer a buzzword reserved for the socially conscious; it has become an imperative for businesses worldwide. As we navigate the ever-evolving landscape of the business world, the importance of CSR continues to grow, shaping the way organizations operate and transforming the role of human resources (HR) and Total Reward practitioners in driving change.

In this era of heightened awareness and accountability, the impact of CSR initiatives cannot be underestimated. From promoting fairness and trust through pay transparency, as highlighted by the EU Pay Transparency Directive, to addressing the pressing challenge of the cost-of-living crisis with equitable compensation structures, CSR has become a powerful catalyst for positive change.

The July edition of Human Experience Excellence includes informative articles that focus on the power of CSR, modern employee appreciation initiatives, well-being strategies, and much more.

Stuart Smith’s (Chief Innovation Officer, uFlexReward) article, Unleashing The Power Of Corporate Social Responsibility, emphasizes the need for accurate and up-to-date data to measure the impact of CSR initiatives and advocates for a comprehensive understanding of employee compensation and satisfaction. It also addresses the challenge of addressing the cost-of-living crisis and advocates for equitable compensation structures.

6 Great Ideas To Leverage The Power Of Corporate Social Responsibility by Kevin Sheridan, (Author, Kevin Sheridan LLC)

reflects on the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its impact on employee engagement, particularly among Millennials and Generation Z.

Today, while employees may not be actively pursuing growth within their current organization, they are open to exploring opportunities elsewhere. How can leaders change this dynamic and retain talent? Read Julie Winkle Giulioni’s article, From Passive To Proactive: Reigniting The Drive For Career Development for valuable insights.

Yoram Solomon, (Founder, Innovation Culture Institute™ LLC), in his article, 8 Actions To Nurture Trust In The Remote Work Environment discusses the impact of remote and hybrid work on productivity and trust, providing eight pieces of advice to maintain and enhance trust in these work arrangements.

In brief, as we navigate the ever-changing business landscape, it is essential to leverage the power of CSR, engage employees through career development, and nurture trust in remote work environments. By embracing these principles, we can shape a brighter future that aligns with the values of both employees and society as a whole.

We hope you find the latest edition of Human Experience Excellence valuable and informative. Your feedback and suggestions on our articles are always welcome.

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In a world of unparalleled challenges (global pandemic, racial injustice, political rivalry, digital 4.0, emotional malaise), uncertainty reigns. Finding opportunity in this context requires harnessing uncertainty and harnessing starts with reliable, valid, timely, and useful information. The Excellence publications are a superb source of such information. The authors provide insights with impact that will guide thought and action.

Excellence publications are my ‘go-to’ resource for contemporary and actionable information to improve leadership, engagement, results, and retention. Each edition offers rich and diverse perspectives for improving the employee experience and the workplace in general.

I regularly read and contribute to Leadership Excellence and Talent Management Excellence. I use many of the articles I read to augment my own presentations and I often share the articles with my clients. They are always quick, right on target for the latest issues in my field, and appreciated by my clients. If you want to stay up to date on the latest HR trends, choose a few of the different issues from the Excellence series of publications.

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Unleashing The Power Of Corporate Social Responsibility

HR’s role in pay transparency, accurate data, and driving impact

By Stuart Smith, uFlexReward

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a powerful force in today’s business landscape. As a human resources (HR) and Total Reward practitioner, you possess the ability to drive transformative change within your organization.

The recently introduced EU Pay Transparency Directive has ignited a renewed focus on pay transparency. Transparency in pay has emerged as a critical element in promoting fairness and building trust among employees.

Accurate and up-to-date data is vital for measuring the impact of CSR initiatives. Many businesses are now pursuing a ‘gold standard’ for the collection and analysis of data across all forms of rewards, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of employee compensation and satisfaction. With more reliable data, organizations can make informed decisions, identify areas for improvement, and align CSR strategies with employee and societal needs.

Addressing the cost-of-living crisis while ensuring fair compensation practices presents a significant challenge, particularly because those at the lower end of the pay spectrum are disproportionately affected. As HR and Reward practitioners, it is crucial to advocate for equitable compensation structures

that alleviate financial burdens on employees. It is essential to be mindful of the potential exacerbating impact of increasing senior and executive workers’ pay while the lowest-paid employees struggle to meet their basic needs.

Technology plays a pivotal role in advancing CSR initiatives. HR professionals can leverage technology to track and measure the impact of CSR programs, monitor environmental sustainability, and engage with stakeholders. By embracing digital solutions, organizations enhance their CSR impact, foster innovation, and ensure long-term success.

Measuring the impact of every facet of reward is crucial for optimizing company performance. Reward practitioners can develop comprehensive frameworks that go beyond financial indicators, incorporating data on employee satisfaction, engagement, retention, and customer loyalty. By aligning total rewards strategies with CSR goals, organizations create a motivated workforce, enhance productivity, and drive financial success.

As an HR or Reward practitioner, you play a critical role in driving CSR initiatives, especially in addressing the cost-of-living crisis. To effectively navigate this challenge, here are 5 key areas to focus on:

Foster a Culture of Pay Transparency

Establish open lines of communication regarding compensation. Provide employees with access to information about compensation frameworks, ensuring fairness and building trust.

Prioritize Gold Standard Data Collection

Implement robust systems to capture comprehensive data on all forms of rewards. Regularly analyze this data to identify patterns, gaps, and areas for improvement. Leverage technology-driven solutions to streamline data collection processes and ensure accuracy.

Conduct Regular Employee Surveys

Measure employee satisfaction, engagement, and perceptions of CSR initiatives through well-designed surveys. Use the insights gained to refine and enhance existing programs.

Integrate CSR into Performance Management

Align performance evaluation criteria with CSR goals to emphasize the importance of responsible business practices and the impact of the cost of living on the lowest paid.

Collaborate with Stakeholders

Engage with internal and external stakeholders, such as employees, customers, and community members. Seek their input, listen to their concerns, and involve them in decision-making processes.

As an HR or Reward practitioner, you have the power to unleash the true potential of CSR within your organization. Embrace these practical tips as you navigate the journey towards corporate social responsibility excellence and let your commitment to CSR shape a brighter tomorrow.

Stuart Smith is the Chief Innovation Officer at uFlexReward. He supports all aspects of the business in a variety of ways. His mission is to build bridges between uFlexReward’s operational functions that drive innovation. He has extensive knowledge and experience in total reward, market position management, compensation benchmarking, pay equity, pay review, flexible benefits, workplace insurance, plan design, global employee and employer tax, internal coms, and agile project management.

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6 Great Ideas To Leverage The Power Of Corporate Social Responsibility

Empowering your team and making a difference

By Kevin Sheridan, Kevin Sheridan LLC

Inlate February, I had the honor of giving the Opening Keynote at The Doolittle Institute in Niceville, Florida. In their words, “The Doolittle Institute has the privilege of providing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education to thousands of underserved students, many of them military personnel. These hands-on programs include robotics, coding, computer-aided design, managing job stress, and time management among others. One of our primary goals is to inspire and educate our country’s future workforce.” About half of my audience were in military uniform. Needless to say, I was inspired to bring my “A game” and deliver a kick-ass keynote speech.

This interaction with some of our nation’s serving military got me thinking about a key and often forgotten, driver of employee engagement: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR is getting more and more management attention, primarily because it is one of the key drivers for employee engagement for the two youngest workforce generations, Millennials and Generation Z.

In fact, 9 out of 10 Millennials would switch jobs in order to work for a cause or charity.1 And 94% of Gen Z believe companies have a responsibility to address social and environmental issues.2 Companies are realizing that charitable giving can help attract and retain top talent and also lead to improved

productivity, employee engagement, reduced turnover, and higher profitability. As such, U.S. companies gave about $20.7 billion to charitable causes worldwide in 2017, up 8% from 2016.3

During my speech, and in the spirit of “giving back,” I offered all attendees free career coaching with me after the presentation. Five of the service men and women took me up on that offer, and I will continue to give them advice on their careers and/or help them find a career that they could become more passionate about than their current role.

Here are six great ideas on how you can leverage the power of CSR and show your team members that you are indeed “giving back” to the communities served by your organization:

1. Offer cost-free services to the communities you serve.

2. Provide a free volunteer day to each of your team members at the charity of their choice, so they can give back without losing a day’s pay.

3. Plan a team volunteer day where the whole staff takes the day off work to volunteer together. Volunteering at Habitat For Humanity and/or at a local soup kitchen are employee favorites.

4. Offer pro bono career development help to local high schools and/or universities. Just two weeks ago, I gave a speech to the Business Leadership class at my daughter’s high school, New Trier, in Winnetka, Illinois. It was not only rewarding to teach these aspiring business people, but I fielded some questions I’ve never been asked in my nine years of doing keynote speeches. Interacting with these young people also helps keep you young.

5. Establish a charitable giving matching program. Shockingly, only 18% of companies have a gift-matching program.4 Needless to say, this represents a huge opportunity for improvement.

6. Give your employees a greater say in your charitable giving. Many employees are yearning to express their personal values at work, so give them the opportunity vis-a-vis charitable giving. And by matching their contribution,

you are showing them that you endorse and support their choices. Importantly, when doing your annual “State of the Company” address to your employees, make sure you include a listing of all of the charities to which you matched employees’ contributions. When you do, you will likely see people tear up since many of those gifts positively impacted a friend or family member.

While I was selling my company about nine years ago, I knew the sale would ultimately lead to me receiving a significant sum of money - this is known by investment bankers as “a liquidity event,” which is just a fancy way of saying someone is giving you a shitload of money for the company you built from scratch. I wanted to share my success with others and continue giving back, even though it wouldn’t be through my company anymore.

I was mulling this over on the Sunday before the sale of my company while I was reading the newspaper. I came across the Parade magazine insert, and it featured the Actor Gary Sinise, who, of course, brilliantly played “Lieutenant Dan” in the movie Forrest Gump. Sinise expressed that it was an enormous honor to play this disabled vet, and he made a commitment to always pay for military service

members’ meals and drinks when seeing them in any airport. He thereby gave me a gift as I was searching for a way to give back after my “liquidity event.” I made the same commitment to always pay for military personnel’s drinks and meals while traveling and thank them for their service. Doing this has repeatedly warmed my heart.

Years later, I realized that helping veterans with their careers is another way I can give back. If you are a veteran, who is in need of career development help, I’d love to speak with you. Whether you need advice with job interviews, developing certain skill sets, or finding a position that better leverages your talents and interests, I’d love to help.

Whether it’s through your company or on your own, the greatest gift you can give to yourself is a gift to others.

Notes

1 2015 Cone Communication Millennial Study.

2 2017 Cone Communication How To Speak Gen Z Study.

3 Indiana University Lilly Family School Of Philanthropy Report, 2017.

4 Society For Human Resource Management’s 2018 Employee Benefits Report.

Kevin Sheridan is an internationally-recognized Keynote Speaker, a New York Times Best Selling Author, and one of the most sought-after voices in the world on the topic of Employee Engagement. For six years running, he has been honored on Inc. Magazine’s top 100 Leadership Speakers in the world, as well as Inc.’s top 100 experts on Employee Engagement. He was also honored to be named to The Employee Engagement Award’s Top 101 Global Influencers on Employee Engagement for five years in a row. Kevin’s premier creation, PEER®, has been consistently recognized as a long-overdue, industry-changing innovation in the field of Employee Engagement. His first book, Building A Magnetic Culture, made six of the bestseller lists, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. He is also the author of The Virtual Manager, which explores how to most effectively manage remote workers.

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Strategies To Create An Effective Employee Value Proposition

Can a company “fake it ‘til it makes it” when crafting its EVP?

By Martha Marchesi and Jim Galligan, JK Design

Inmodern society, building an inclusive employer brand should be considered mission-critical for businesses large and small. The most successful companies are the ones that see challenges and opportunities from many different angles, and having a diverse employee population allows you to do just that.

An inclusive employer brand lets you engage, recruit, and hire a wonderful spectrum of people who can bring their varied backgrounds to bear for your business. Simply put, building an inclusive employer brand brings a diverse set of experiences and perspectives to the table, which in turn allows your company to be smarter, more thoughtful, and ultimately more successful.

One way to keep your business stuck where it is today is to keep hiring the people who look like your current employees. Embracing diversity is an opportunity to embrace new perspectives that can help your business grow in new and meaningful ways. When you build your employer brand, it’s your chance to take control of the narrative and have a real impact on how talent views your business.

If your employer brand isn’t inclusive and doesn’t show underrepresented talent that you value them and are excited to work with them, then they’re going to

choose another place to work and your business isn’t going to benefit from their perspective.

It’s really important when creating an employer brand that people can see themselves working in your organization. And by seeing themselves, I mean literally seeing people who look like them, share a similar background, and bring similar skills and experiences to the job.

Sharing the stories of diverse people—especially in their own words—in your employer brand sends a strong signal to candidates: We see you, we value you, and you’ll be able to be yourself here and thrive. If that part is missing, then you’re likely going to miss out on engaging with and hiring the variety of people your business needs to be truly successful.

You need to meet prospective employees where they are and make it easy for them to imagine being successful in your organization. One way to do this is to create a toolkit that allows for localized activation, giving your recruiters and HR people the power to customize their outreach materials and recruitment collateral to match the moment.

This can be things like creating an easy-to-update Canva library for them to use, supplying social media templates that they can dial in for specific talent groups, and even customizing your employer brand messaging framework to resonate with different groups you’re trying to engage. While it’s important to highlight an authentic variety of people and experiences in your employer brand, it’s critical that you build in the flexibility for your boots-on-the-ground recruiters to customize it to their needs, especially if you’re a multinational company engaging people from a number of cultures.

Can a company “fake it ‘til it makes it” when crafting its Employee Value Proposition (EVP)?

When a company works to create an EVP, it’s often a part of a larger set of initiatives focused on enhancing the employee experience. You might be working to boost total benefits, enhance work-life balance, or improve in a number of other areas to increase employee satisfaction. No matter what area you are working to improve, here are a few insights that can foster a more effective EVP.

● Balancing promise and progress: What to include (or not include) in your EVP usually can be evaluated by looking at two things — the timing of what you’re creating and the language you use when talking about initiatives that aren’t quite fully baked.

● Consider your timing: If you’re close to launching a really great initiative that you know needs to be part of your EVP to attract the right people, you can include it…as long as it’s going to be implemented by the time your EVP starts gaining traction.

For instance, let’s say you’re creating a really excellent rewards program, something you

know your people and future talent will value. It’s set to launch next quarter—the vendor is set, the program mapped out, the budget locked in, and you have a standout name, visual identity, and messaging. The rocket is rumbling on the pad—this thing is definitely going to launch.

So do you mention rewards in your EVP?

Of course, because you’ve fully committed to delivering, and it’s going to happen soon enough.

● Use the right language: But what about other initiatives that aren’t quite this far along? How do you decide if you want to include these in your EVP? Well, that boils down to how you talk about it. If you still have work to do, but you know your organization has good intentions and ambitions, you can capture the spirit of your intentions in an EVP. The key is to use the right language to characterize your work-inprogress initiatives.

● Fully baked versus work in progress: You can look at your initiatives like chocolate chip cookies versus cookie dough. People find value in fully-baked cookies, but they also love cookie dough—although it is not yet baked, it still holds value in the hearts of those with a sweet tooth. Both can be very attractive, it’s just a matter of how you talk about them.

Let’s look at how we talk about a program that’s fully baked. A company that has a mature and robust leadership development offering might say that “we offer a comprehensive training and development process to keep you challenged, engaged, and growing as a leader and as a professional.” It’s very specific.

But what if you’re still at the cookie dough stage? Here we’d say you can include leadership development in your EVP if you use the right language and highlight your passion and your commitment, which are valuable to prospects in their own right.

So instead of saying, “We offer a comprehensive training and development program,” you might say, “We are committed to creating the leaders of tomorrow through an ever-growing foundation of training and support.”

It’s a little softer, but still meaningful, especially when it reflects your true commitment and beliefs as an organization. As long as you can support it with some tangible assets today and you’re confident more great stuff is coming, it really comes down to how you say it.

● Striking the right balance: When it comes to balancing today’s realities with tomorrow’s

ambitions, we say if improvements are imminent, you can be specific.

If they are not quite baked but reflect a true commitment to your organization, lean into your excitement for them and include them in your EVP using broader—but still motivating—language.

In the end, you should always work to be authentic and honest about the value you’re providing. It matters, especially to young talent who respect transparency. They don’t need you to be perfect, they just need you to be honest.

Martha Marchesi is the CEO, and Jim Galligan is the Director of Creative Strategy at JK Design—a full-service creative agency with a powerhouse roster that includes Johnson & Johnson, Philips, Priceline, Prudential, ADP, Tiffany & Co., and more. A veteran of Madison Avenue, Martha is a master brand storyteller, strategic and creative expert, and accomplished thought leader. The firm’s mission is to measurably favorably impact clients’ brands, businesses, and bottom lines.

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Peer-To-Peer Recognition: The Good, The Bad, And The Questionable

Evaluating the effectiveness of modern employee appreciation initiatives

By Dr. Paul White, Appreciation at Work

Peer-to-peer recognition programs have become quite the rage in the past few years. Unfortunately, they are not the panacea of positive workplace culture. They are often purported to be by those selling them to companies.

Within the context of employee recognition programs, peer-to-peer recognition generally refers to a tool within a technology platform that allows colleagues to send electronic messages to one another, primarily to recognize work well done. The message may be as simple as “Good job!”, “Way to go!” or slightly more specific, like “Thanks for getting that report to me.” They may often be accompanied by a positive emoji (like a thumbs up), or the message may just be an emoji by itself.

To fully understand what is driving the increased use of peer-to-peer recognition, some historical context is necessary. In past decades (pre-2010s), one of HR’s primary focuses centered around employee recognition, which flowed out of behavioral and performance research from the late 20th century that showed desired behaviors by employees (answering

the phone cheerfully, meeting report deadlines, reaching sales goals) increased when:

a. The desired behaviors were specifically described;

b. Goals were set by the employee and supervisor related to the behaviors;

c. The frequency (and sometimes, the quality) of the behaviors were monitored and measured; and

d. The employee received some type of reward (either social recognition or a financial benefit).

Desired behaviors and outcomes were applied to work, and positive results were obtained.

However, around the same time, a separate line of research regarding employee engagement developed, which showed the power and positive impact of employees being mentally and emotionally engaged in their work (versus just physically present). Numerous research studies found positive effects when comparing engaged and disengaged employees –higher productivity, less absenteeism, more accurate work, fewer on-the-job accidents, and greater profitability for the company.

As a result, employee engagement became the golden goose everyone was chasing. One strategy implemented to increase employee engagement was employee recognition. And initially, there was some success. But as this purpose for employee recognition was adopted and scaled up within organizations, the result became a rote, impersonal process of giving out awards primarily for years of service and employee of the month.

Because of the way employee recognition programs became institutional and mechanical in nature, not behavior specific, they ceased to have much impact. Hence, employee engagement has been on a downward trend for several years.

Since traditional rewards and recognition companies make their money primarily through the sale of the rewards companies give their employees, they have been at risk of losing business. Why? Because what they said would happen that rewarding employees would increase employee engagement is not the case.

Enter Appreciation.

Around 2010, the concept of showing authentic appreciation to employees was introduced by two sources:

a. An academic process called “appreciative inquiry,” where leaders interviewed their employees to find out when they felt appreciation; and

b. The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace and the associated online assessment. This focus on appreciating the employee has been a disruptive force within the recognition and rewards industry – partly because the focus is not solely on performance but also includes the value of the person (beyond accomplishments).

If you do a literature search, the term “appreciation” is rarely used in the context of work relationships prior to 2011. However, since that time, appreciation has become a popular buzzword. In fact, many

rewards and recognition companies have co-opted the term and used it as a synonym for recognition in their materials.

When the income related to rewards began to decline, rewards and recognition companies began to develop and sell technology-based recognition platforms to companies. These platforms provided a number of features (many of them valuable), including inter-office chat and texting, inner-office newsletters, learning management systems, and goal-setting and tracking tools.

But a key component has been providing ways to set and monitor goals reached by employees (either behavioral or performance) so they will then be rewarded by the company (often through gift cards, actual retail products, or earning travel benefits for a vacation).

One tool added to platforms in the past few years has been peer-to-peer recognition. Why? One major reason is that it has become clear that younger employees are more focused on collegial relationships than they are on with impressing their boss. They value the relationships with their colleagues more than developing a positive relationship with their supervisor or manager. Secondly, peer-to-peer recognition has a glitz factor in using technology as its delivery mechanism.

Rather than complimenting a coworker in person, an employee can send a quick “You rock!” message with an emoji. And thirdly, peer-to-peer recognition activities don’t cost the employer much at all –generally, just the cost of the platform and possibly an occasional reward when an employee reaches 10 complimentary messages from a colleague.

While there are positive aspects of peer-to-peer recognition (primarily, it focuses attention on collegialbased relationships rather than supervisors and managers), clearly it is not the answer to the lack of employee engagement, the epidemic levels of disconnectedness and loneliness reported among employees, or to the incredibly high resignation rates we have seen in recent years.

By their very nature, peer-to-peer recognition programs have characteristics that significantly limit their impact. First, peer-to-peer recognition messages are comprised of words. And our research with over 375,000 employees shows that over one-half of all employees prefer to be shown appreciation in ways other than words. So, from the starting block, using a verbal message to all of one’s colleagues means you will miss the mark with over half of them.

Second, the messages are most often generic and global (“Thanks for your help”), and we know that for verbal messages to be viewed as genuine, they

need to be specific and indicate why the action was important. Finally, the ease of using them actually leads to a potential perception of cynicism and sarcasm by team members and/or a feeling of pressure to use them just to pacify management.

While peer-to-peer recognition programs are an easy way to send a quick positive message (and that is a good thing), relying on them to communicate authentic appreciation to colleagues in the ways most meaningful to the recipient is clearly putting unrealistic expectations on the positive effect they will have in the workplace.

Dr. Paul White is a psychologist, speaker, and international leadership trainer who “makes work relationships work.” His company, Appreciation at Work, provides training resources for corporations, medical facilities, schools, nonprofits, government agencies, more than 900 colleges and universities, and in over 60 countries. He is the co-author with Dr. Gary Chapman of The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace.

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Employee Burnout And Well-Being: 5 Workplace Solutions

Implement well-being strategies that actually work

By Laura Putnam, Motion Infusion

While employee well-being has become standard fare, with 84% of employers with 200 or more employees offering wellness, more can be done. For starters, employers should regularly review their existing wellness programs so they can critically analyze whether the offerings are actually making a meaningful difference. As evidenced by a Rand study, most workplace wellness programs fall short of their intended objectives, with an average of 80 percent of eligible employees opting out.

Moreover, the impact is often minimal, even for those employees who do participate. According to a recent McKinsey Health Institute 2022 Survey of nearly 15,000 workers across 15 countries, a quarter of employees are reporting burnout symptoms - despite an increase in mental health resources offered by their employers. The reason? These programs are solving the wrong problem. The vast majority of organizations target the individual and fail to address the workplace. Meanwhile, according to leading burnout researchers Michael P. Leiter and Christina Maslach, the six leading causes of employee burnout have nothing to do with the individual and everything to do with the workplace itself.

Having worked with hundreds of organizations and over 20,000 CEOs and managers to implement workplace well-being strategies, I continue to

encounter company leaders who believe they can improve workplace well-being with check-the-box, individual resources instead of doing the hard work to empower managers to lead well-being, hold top leaders accountable in supporting well-being, and fix the workplace culture itself.

As the McKinsey Health Institute survey spells out, since most employers are failing to employ a systemic approach, most are achieving little in the way of addressing the issue, despite their increased investments in mental health solutions. As their research shows, along with longstanding Gallup research, the key influencers of culture are leaders, especially managers.

Top leader endorsement can create a broader acceptance for well-being on an organizational level, but where the rubber hits the road is on the team level. In fact, according to a 19-country study conducted by ADP Research Institute, the “culture” that employees experience at work (whether in person or remotely) is largely the one that they experience within the context of their team. As such, every team member is looking to their direct supervisor to “give them permission” to actually engage in wellness, tuning into the signals that the boss sends.

What this means is that every manager has an opportunity to serve as either a gatekeeper or multiplier of well-being for team members. Take, for example, time spent on after-hours emailing. The more time a manager spends on sending after-hours email time, the more time their team members will do the same. A Microsoft analytics survey found that for every hour that a manager engages in after-hours email, time roughly translates into an added twenty minutes of after-hours email time for team members.

On the positive side, our research shows that in organizations where managers have learned to become multipliers of well-being, participating managers and their team members reported increased engagement with work, enhanced well-being, and improved productivity.

To help organizations implement well-being strategies that actually work, here are five practical ways they can effectively improve employee well-being:

1. Eliminate cookie-cutter employee benefits perks and programs. Ask the average employee about their company wellness program, and they will likely tell you about a buffet of disconnected, often hard-to-find, activities, challenges, and questionnaires that do little to actually improve their quality of life. The truth is that no amount of cookie-cutter solutions such as a mindfulness app, online yoga class, or health risk assessment can make up for a toxic boss, for example.

2. Identify root causes. The real work begins with taking a hard look at why employees are unwell in the first place. What are the systemic forces that are taking a toll on the workforce? According to a Gallup study derived from a survey of over 7,500 employees, the top drivers of employee burnout, for example, are the workplace itself, including unfair treatment at work, unmanageable workload, and unreasonable time pressure.

3. Recognize that well-being needs to be a collective responsibility For decades, businesses have perpetuated the “personal responsibility” narrative, placing the onus on the individual to seek help rather than addressing the larger issues at hand. Today, businesses need to understand that employee well-being is a collective responsibility that requires holistic solutions, such as policies that discourage after-hour emails, ensuring that positions are filled to prevent understaffing, or building a culture in which toxic leadership is not tolerated.

4. Managers can be multipliers of well-being A crucial aspect of the success of any well-being initiative lies in empowering managers to support and lead well-being for their teams, as a recent Deloitte Well-being at Work survey reveals. In our longstanding “Managers on the Move” program, we train managers on how they can lead by example (Do), engage in conversation with team members about well-being, encourage them to take advantage of company resources (Speak) and devise team-based systems and rituals of well-being (Create).

5. Encourage team care, not just self-care. While managers may have little control over what’s happening across the organization, they can carve out an oasis of well-being for their team. Teams can implement rituals, such as a moment of silence or expressions of gratitude at the start of meetings. These kinds of team-care rituals can go a long way in building both friendships as well as psychological safety - a boon to both well-being and performance.

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Laura Putnam is a leading voice for well-being at work, an international public speaker, and the author of Workplace Wellness That Works. As CEO of Motion Infusion and creator of the leadership training program “Managers on the Move”, she infuses well-being and vitality into the workplace to help employees, teams, and organizations thrive.

8 Actions To Nurture Trust In The Remote Work Environment

Balancing communication and maintaining transparency for remote success

By Yoram Solomon, Innovation Culture Institute™ LLC

revealed results in both directions, which is troubling by itself and caused me to wonder how accurate and free of confirmation bias that research is. But the most revealing study was one done by Microsoft in late 2022 When asked whether remote work increases productivity, 87% of employees said it did, but only 12% of leaders agreed. So, I guess it depends on who you ask.

Working remotely also has trust implications. It relies on trust, but it also affects trust.

Ifthere is one shift in how we work that resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s that we embraced the possibility of working remotely or hybrid, where some work is done remotely and some at the office.

The first question that comes to mind is what remote or hybrid work does to productivity. If it hurts productivity, we shouldn’t embrace it. At the same time, if it increases productivity, we certainly should. Research

The purpose of this article is not to address whether remote or hybrid work increases productivity or even to address the relationships with trust. It’s to give eight specific pieces of advice on maintaining and even growing trust while working remotely or hybrid.

1. Remote/Hybrid Work Is Not Appropriate for Every Job or Task

Remote or hybrid work arrangements may not be suitable for all jobs or tasks. A study conducted in 2022 found that 58% of employees were offered the option to work remotely, and of those, 87% accepted. However, the acceptance rate varied across industries, with the computer industry showing the highest acceptance rate at 89%. For example, software programmers often work independently and can be highly productive in remote settings.

On the other hand, certain industries like food preparation, pilots, surgeons, and truck drivers require physical presence and cannot be performed remotely.

It is essential to recognize that different roles within a company may have different remote work possibilities. Therefore, evaluating each job and task individually is crucial rather than implementing a one-size-fits-all policy.

2. Remote/Hybrid Work Isn’t Suitable for Every Person

Working remotely may not be suitable for every individual due to personality differences. Extroverts, for example, thrive in collaborative environments where they can bounce ideas off others, while introverts may prefer working independently. Personalities, such as

Myers-Briggs and working genius types, can influence an individual’s preference for remote or office work. Factors like self-discipline, a distraction-free environment, and access to necessary equipment also play a role.

Companies need to assess employees’ personalities, provide appropriate training and equipment, and periodically evaluate the effectiveness of remote work arrangements. While remote work offers benefits, it should be implemented with consideration for individual differences and regularly reviewed for productivity and satisfaction.

3. Avoid Assumptions and Covert Expectations

Leaders and employees must avoid assumptions and covert expectations to enhance productivity and trust in remote or hybrid work setups. Assumptions arise due to a lack of factual information during initial interactions. In physical office environments, it’s easier to clarify uncertainties. However, remote work presents challenges in determining the appropriate communication method. Recognizing assumptions and differentiating facts from assumptions is the first step. Instead of assuming, it is important to ask questions.

Additionally, clear expectations should be communicated to avoid disappointment. Feedback becomes even more vital in

remote work scenarios. Providing feedback with genuine care and receiving it with importance fosters trust and productivity. Remote work can thrive by avoiding assumptions, setting clear expectations, and valuing feedback while maintaining trust.

4. Make Information Available, and Communicate What’s Necessary

Effective communication is key to productivity and trust. However, communication undergoes several distortions from the sender’s brain to the receiver’s brain. To address this, it is important to close the loop in communication by ensuring acknowledgment and understanding. Additionally, body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions are crucial in conveying consistent messages. Balancing information sharing is essential.

While withholding information reduces trust, excessive communication can overwhelm. To solve this, make information easily accessible while proactively communicating relevant messages based on recipients’ interests. Responding thoughtfully to emails is important, but acknowledging receipt and providing a timeline for response builds trust. Lastly, avoid using BCC to maintain transparency and trust unless explicitly communicated to all parties involved.

5. Use More Empathy

Empathy is a crucial aspect of effective communication and building trust. It goes beyond compassion or sympathy and involves understanding and seeing things from the other person’s perspective. Studies

have shown that individualism has increased over the years leading to decreased empathy. To foster empathy, consider the different sides of a story and acknowledge Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

People may have varying concerns and priorities based on their

circumstances. Empathy requires active listening and genuine intent to understand rather than just replying. In remote or hybrid work environments, cultivating empathy becomes even more vital. An example of empathy is labeling meetings with clear names that make sense to all participants.

6. Increase Time and Intimacy

Increasing time and intimacy in interactions is essential for building trust. This involves increasing the frequency, length, and predictability of interactions, including face-to-face interactions via video conferencing. Trust takes time to develop, similar to how trust in cruise control or autonomous cars grows with experience. Spending more time together, and having longer and more predictable interactions, strengthens trust between individuals or teams.

However, remote work reduces time and intimacy, making video conferencing crucial. Intimacy in communication is higher in person than in low-intimacy methods like email or text messages, which leave room for assumptions. The higher the intimacy, the more trust can be built. Body language plays a significant

role in communication, as it either supports or contradicts spoken words. In remote or hybrid environments, prioritizing increased interaction time and intimacy is crucial for building trust.

7. How Can You Monitor that Your Employees Are Working?

Monitoring employees’ work and productivity can be a concern when working remotely. Various software tools are available to track employees’ activities, such as tracking their projects and even mouse movements. However, relying solely on monitoring software creates a cycle of distrust and may lead to countermeasures from employees. Trust is reciprocal, and when employees feel trusted, they tend to behave in a trustworthy manner.

Conversely, employees who are constantly monitored

may seek ways to bypass the system. Trusting employees and demonstrating that trust fosters a cycle of trustworthiness. However, trust should be balanced and not extended blindly. If monitoring is deemed necessary, it may indicate underlying issues with either the employees’ or the employer’s attitude. Trusting employees and fostering trustworthiness should be the starting point.

8. Avoid Employee Engagement Surveys

Employee engagement is a crucial factor that is closely intertwined with trust in the workplace. Extensive research conducted by Paul Zak revealed a strong correlation of 76% between employee engagement and reported levels of trust. Increasing trust levels from the bottom to the top quartile resulted in a remarkable 76% boost in actual employee engagement.

However, employee engagement remains a significant challenge in organizations. A recent Gallup study indicated that only 23% of employees are actively engaged, while 18% are actively disengaged, and 59% fall into the category of “quietly quitting.” While employee engagement surveys are commonly used, they have their limitations.

When trust is low, employees may question the anonymity of

such surveys and fear potential repercussions for providing negative feedback. Paradoxically, as trust increases, employees may provide more accurate responses but report lower engagement due to their confidence in the survey’s anonymity. Another common pitfall is conducting engagement surveys without taking any meaningful action based on the results.

To foster employee engagement effectively, organizations must adopt a proactive approach that continuously listens to employees, acknowledges their concerns, and takes appropriate action. Rather than relying solely on engagement surveys, organizations should prioritize building and nurturing trust as it has been proven to positively impact engagement and other critical aspects of the work environment.

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Yoram Solomon, Ph.D., MBA, LLB, is the author of The Book of Trust®, host of The Trust Show podcast, founder of the Innovation Culture Institute™ LLC, and facilitator of the Trust Habits™ workshop.

HR Managers Are The New Employee Wellness Leaders

The power of wellness programs in employee engagement

By Laura Neuffer, CoreHealth Technologies

Human resources (HR) managers play an essential role in employee wellness. Historically, HR leaders have chosen, planned, and run worksite wellness programs and made sure healthcare remained a top priority. For HR managers looking to boost productivity, reduce absenteeism, and lower turnover (and let’s be honest – that’s all of them,) there’s no better option than employee wellness programming.

Return on Investment of Wellness

Wellness programs are known to create healthier, happier workforces by boosting physical and mental health - and they benefit the bottom line too. Studies show that “medical costs fall by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs and that absenteeism costs fall by about $2.73 for every dollar spent.[1]

In addition to these considerable cost savings, employees are more likely to be happier at work and do a better job overall while being more likely to stay with the organization for years. Health promotion programming makes business sense, and often, it’s just the right thing to do.

Employee Wellness for Hiring and Retention

Employee wellness is here to stay — and is a valued employee benefit. In fact, 26% of employees are

more likely to stay with an organization that offers comprehensive wellness, especially if it’s accessible to remote and hybrid workers, including all employees, even those who work outside of the office, with fully virtual programming making a difference.

Wellness offerings are tied to hiring and retention - now more than ever. Regardless of size, most organizations face challenges in this area. A 2022 study shows that globally, “61% of employees are a flight risk, with 38% open to the right opportunity and 23% actively looking [for new work].”

This shift has required organizations to become more competitive to attract talent. Millennials and Gen Z are especially particular when it comes to choosing and staying with an organization; not only do they value financial compensation, but they also want a strong company culture. Elements of a strong, healthy organizational culture can include:

● Productive and team-oriented work environments;

● Appreciation and gratitude;

● Access to mental health services;

● A focus on diversity;

● Options for hybrid or remote work; and,

● Reduced stigma for mental health issues.

Another issue that can be allayed with wellness resources is the prevalence of burnout. According to the U.S. Surgeon General’s groundbreaking new framework, it’s crucial for employers to offer mental health services to ease and prevent burnout and other issues. HR sees the impact of burnout when employees take extra sick leave or experience a drop in productivity and/or morale. Employee wellness is associated with better employee morale and engagement, in addition to a healthier and more inclusive culture.

Also trending is “conscious quitting,” or employees quitting when a company’s priorities don’t align with their own. This desire for deeper meaning and connection to the bigger picture within the workplace highlights how important corporate social impact is today, especially for younger generations. Wellness offers a solution for this, too, including charity campaigns and issue awareness programming. Wellness is another avenue to make positive changes in the world and company culture through social impact.

Numerous Ways to Support Employee Wellness

HR managers are typically the ones to get wellness going from the ground up. They ensure that healthcare remains a top priority by doing the foundational work for wellness, including:

● Researching different approaches to wellness to determine the best fit;

● Deciding which wellness platform and technology is needed;

● Vetting different wellness partners and/or vendors;

● Encouraging discussion and gathering employee feedback; and

● Pitching wellness to get leadership support.

The various components of wellness become especially important when trying to serve a hybrid or remote workforce. Whether the shift to remote work has been sudden or gradual, managers need to acknowledge employees’ anxieties and concerns and support them wherever possible.

Ensuring virtual and remote teams remain healthy and included in workplace programming should be a priority. As well as encouraging open discussion, managers should provide employees with virtual healthcare options. Telehealth is a great option; access to online medical experts can be a huge help to busy workers with families or those who struggle with chronic health conditions.

Comprehensive, Customized Wellness Takes Time

Comprehensive wellness programs usually include a mix of insurance benefits, financial incentives to reinforce healthy habits, health risk assessments (HRAs), access to fitness classes, gyms, counseling services, support hotlines, team and individual wellness challenges, and more. But getting all these components of a wellness program started is just the beginning of HR’s job. Continued maintenance is essential for an impactful program and includes

● Communication;

● Incentivizing participation;

● Course corrections;

● Evaluating program success with focused Health Risk Assessments (HRAs);

● Planning to keep programming fresh through multiple iterations;

● Using comprehensive HRAs to evaluate employee well-being and progress.

As an essential component, HRAs can be a good starting point to ensure the success of a wellness program. First, they provide employees with an overview of their health metrics and encourage them to take better control of their health. During the HRA process, employees reflect on their lifestyle habits in detail. Interactive wellness platforms can then use the information collected and combine it with biometric data to provide employees with an accurate perspective of their overall wellness. This information is then synthesized to guide participants to personalized health content that meets their individual needs.

HR managers are today’s employee wellness leaders. They play a vital role in employee hiring, retention, work experience, and general well-being. Comprehensive, customized employee wellness programs can move the needle on organizational spending, corporate culture, quality of life of the workforce, and overall business outcomes.

Note

[1] https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2009.0626

Laura Neuffer, M.S., has more than 10 years of experience in corporate wellness. She now works at Carebook Technologies to help create technology and programming that is used in worksite wellness programs around the world. Laura is also a registered yoga instructor and a former university adjunct professor of communications.

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From Passive To Proactive: Reigniting The Drive For Career Development

By Julie Winkle Giulioni, juliewinklegiulioni.com

What do employees crave, expect, and consider leaving their current jobs for but increasingly are not taking the initiative to pursue?

Question:

Answer: Career development!

Despite high-profile research studies highlighting the importance of career development to employees worldwide, leaders report that employees are taking a noticeably more passive approach than in the past. They typically attribute this inertia to generational factors, entitlement, and shifting power dynamics.

But in conversations with employees, I hear something very different. A large portion of the workforce is putting less energy into development as a result of three key factors:

● Burnout – In the past, overburdened and over-committed employees could squeeze at least a little time out for learning and growth. But today, their reserves are empty for anything

that doesn’t fall on the critical path toward job outcomes.

● Anxiety – Fast-changing employment conditions have left people concerned about job security. Economic uncertainty weighs heavily on workers. There’s a reluctance on the part of some (and full-blown fear on the part of others) to ask for something that may come back to bite them.

● Confusion – Employees report a sense of whiplash as employers that encouraged a learning frenzy during the pandemic now pull back those resources, leaving questions about organizational commitment to development. Additionally, restructuring, streamlining, and delayering efforts leave many wondering if growth is even possible.

These factors are likely contributing to career development immobilization among some of your team members.

It’s time to help employees get back into the driver’s seat of their career development

But here’s the rub. While they may not be pursuing the learning and growth they want within your organization, they are willing to explore opportunities elsewhere.

So, how can you – as a leader – change this dynamic and retain talent in the process? It’s as simple as talking with people about development. Don’t wait for the annual conversation. By then, it might be too late! Instead, begin using every interaction you have with employees to spotlight development and communicate your active support of their growth.

● Share your own development goals and how you’re going about achieving them. This sort of modeling permits others to express their wants and needs as well.

● Discuss development during every one-on-one meeting with others. Imagine the message you’d send if 5-10 minutes out of each meeting were dedicated to growth. And all it takes to get the conversation started are simple questions like, “What lessons have you learned over the last month?” “What skills are you working on?” “How are you growing?” “How would you like to grow?”

● Make ‘development’ a standing agenda item during regularly scheduled team meetings. Encourage employees to discuss their goals and ask for and offer support to others. Making development a team sport.

● Actively publicize and celebrate development. So frequently, we focus recognition on promotions, position changes, and moves. Send a signal that development matters as much or more by giving it the attention and appreciation it deserves.

And, if you want to send a clear message, broadcast your support, and inspire employees to take action to develop their careers, we’ve developed this complimentary resource and self-assessment. [1]

It’s time to help employees get back into the driver’s seat of their career development. And these keys will start them down the right road.

Note

[1] https://www.juliewinklegiulioni.com/downloads/who-isdriving/

Julie Winkle Giulioni is a champion for workplace growth and development and works with leaders to optimize the potential within their organizations. Named one of Inc. Magazine’s top 100 leadership speakers, she’s the co-author of the international bestseller, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Organizations Need and Employees Want, and the author of Promotions Are So Yesterday.

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Americans Are Burned Out And Are Seeking New Employment

Here’s how to win them back

By Jeff Haughton, Blackhawk Network

for businesses and their employees. While workplace dissatisfaction is a significant problem—compounded by a staggering burnout rate—our research 1 found that many people would positively respond to meaningful recognition and rewards from their employer.

Here’s a blueprint for how to implement a program that sets both sides up for success.

Reward and Recognize Your Workforce

TheUS employment landscape is facing considerable challenges. Although last year’s scorching job market is cooling off, new research 1 found that almost 75% of employed survey respondents are seeking new employment despite the upheaval it can cause in their personal lives.

The top reasons cited include seeking better salaries, work location flexibility, professional growth opportunities, reward and recognition programs, and work/life balance.

Employee engagement and retention are critical

Our research 1 found that even though a significant number of respondents shared that they are unhappy and looking for new jobs, many would be more loyal to their employer if they were to receive more frequent recognition for their achievements and contributions. A separate study 2 also found that rewards and recognition from their employer were important to 90% of respondents.

Many organizations are having to make tough budget decisions. However, business leaders should consider the long-term health of their business and avoid short-sighted cost cutting measures that lead to only temporary or one-time cost savings at the expense of higher employee turnover and its impact on company culture. Engagement efforts do have costs associated with them, but they are well worth it when you consider the hefty expense and time investment associated with recruiting, hiring, training, and onboarding top talent—and the impact of turnover on company morale.

Help Offset Inflation

Our research 1 found that one in three respondents would be more loyal to an employer if they were to receive benefits that help offset inflation. Respondents shared that their top economic concerns

included grocery and food prices, inflation, the cost of utilities, and gas and fuel prices.

Large raises may not be an option for your business or others that are slashing budgets and staff, but incremental tokens of appreciation like gift cards toward groceries or gas can be significant competitive differentiators as organizations fight to engage and retain their most valuable resources—their people.

Don’t Overlook the High Achievers

Fewer than a quarter of respondents 1 in our latest report consider themselves thriving and enjoying their current role. Among those who are thriving, one in five reported they still aren’t happy and are looking for new jobs.

While your organization may rely on an ecosystem of talent, the

tough economy creates added pressure on those who generate revenue for your business: sales representatives. Our research3 found that 84% of sales team respondents have had to change up their roles over the past few years while being expected to do more with fewer resources. But the right rewards and recognition can turn good sales team members into great ones despite these challenges. Sales and human resources (HR) leaders reported 3 the following impacts on their sales results thanks to rewards and incentives:

● 49% increased motivation and productivity among team members

● 43% improved customer relationships and increased sales

● 43% higher team/company profit or revenue

● 40% increased employee retention

Reach Your People Where They Are—And Let Them Reach Each Other

With an increasingly hybrid and globalized workforce, the stakes are high for businesses to evolve in how they engage and recognize their employees. Our research 2 also found that 81% of respondents would be interested in using a recognition platform that empowers them to send and receive recognition to anyone in their company, and 77% want to be recognized by their colleagues.

The technology exists through widely used software tools like Microsoft Teams, where

businesses, managers, and employees can disburse digital rewards to individuals or teams in mere moments. The future of work depends on innovation, and being able to reward employees across the world will give businesses a competitive edge, help streamline efficiencies and boost loyalty.

Think Big Picture

In today’s economy, where budgets are tightening across most industries, disengagement and attrition can deliver punishing blows to businesses' bottom lines. Research 1 shows that no matter their level of expertise or role, people are experiencing

ongoing challenges in their professional and personal lives. Employers can provide some reprieve and address one of the top reasons people are seeking new employment by creating better recognition programs that acknowledge and reward workplace contributions—driving engagement and loyalty along the way.

Notes

1 “Employee Appreciation 2.0” is an internet-based survey conducted by Survey Monkey on behalf of BHN between March 1 and 2, 2023. The sample size included 1,257 U.S. respondents ages 18+.

2 Workplace Arrangements, Rewards, and Engagement Survey” is an internet-based survey conducted by Survey Monkey on behalf of BHN between February 25, 2022 and March 1, 2022. The sample size included 3,278 U.S. respondents ages 18+.

3 Sales Incentives & Rewards Best Practices 2023” is a two-part study conducted by Leger on behalf of BHN in April 2023. The HR and sales leaders sample size included 1,602 respondents ages 18+ and the sales employees sample size included 1,053 respondents ages 18+ living in the US, UK, Canada and Australia.

Building People Skills Is No Longer Enough

The dangers of neglecting strategic skills in leadership development

By Alex Brueckmann, Brueckmann Executive Consulting

people skills in the right direction to achieve desired business outcomes.

With increasing business complexity, relying on the strategic skills of a few top managers in an organization can be dangerous. Some executives might be too far away from the front lines to react quickly to shifts in consumer demands, or to the rise of new technology and how it could be applied to create a competitive advantage.

Strategic Acumen Is a Mission-Critical Skill

Leadership development programs have long been mainly about so-called soft skills. Participants learned how to communicate more smoothly, delegate better, or manage conflict in their teams. Programs taught coaching skills for leaders and explored emotional intelligence. The main promise of human resources (HR) functions and leadership development companies was that combining

people skills with subject matter expertise would do the trick and create great leaders.

But that’s only half the truth. These people skills, as undoubtedly desirable as they are, need to be paired with one specific hard skill: strategic acumen – the ability to think and act strategically. Strategic acumen is what helps leaders channel their subject matter expertise and

Strategic acumen is one of six critical leadership skills I describe in my forthcoming book “The Strategy Legacy – Shape Your Business, Leave a Mark” (Fall of 2023). It is not a magic capability that some have, and others do not. Strategic acumen can and should be trained to enable businesses to quickly create and capitalize on opportunities.

To keep up with market developments and customer needs, it is more important than ever for leaders at all levels of an organization to hone their strategic skills. Strategically savvy leaders understand, for instance, who their customers are and don’t get hung up in internal debates and politics. They are customer-centric and know how to properly apply tools to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of their areas of responsibility in this respect.

Strategic leaders identify potential opportunities and threats from their analyses. Among other factors, they use these results to shape a tangible vision for their business area, craft a jargon-free strategy to achieve the vision, ruthlessly allocate resources accordingly, and regularly monitor their priorities and progress toward making this vision a reality.

The Advantages of Strategically Savvy Leaders

Leaders who have a deep understanding of their organization’s overall strategy are better equipped to make informed and effective decisions. They see the bigger picture, understand the interconnections between different parts of the business, and weigh the short and long-term implications of their decisions. This leads to better alignment between the organization’s strategy and its operational decisions.

Strategically savvy leaders are better prepared to respond

to changes in the business environment, whether it’s a shift in market conditions, a new competitor entering the scene, or a change in consumer behavior. They can quickly assess the situation and identify the best course of action, allowing the organization to remain agile and respond to changes in real time.

Organizations with strategic leaders on all levels are better positioned to compete in their market. They identify opportunities for growth and innovation, as well as potential threats, and proactively respond to maintain a competitive advantage. This helps the organization stay ahead of the curve and remain relevant, especially in the eyes of its customers.

Leaders with strong strategic acumen create direction, growth, and opportunities within the organization. This, in turn, motivates employees, retains talent, and helps to attract the best people in their industry.

Examples of Successful Companies Building Strategic Acumen

Organizations with strategically strong leaders are more likely to be profitable. By making informed and effective decisions, responding to changes quickly, and maintaining a competitive advantage, these organizations are better positioned to generate revenue and achieve their financial goals.

There are numerous examples of organizations that have invested

in making their leaders more strategically savvy. IBM is well known for investing in strategic skills. The company has long recognized the importance of having leaders who are not only knowledgeable in their subject matter but also have a deep understanding of the business.

Goldman Sachs is known for its focus on developing strategic thinkers who can navigate a complex business landscape. The company has a reputation for attracting and developing top talent, and its leaders are widely recognized for their expertise and innovative thinking.

Walmart - the largest retailer in the world- has made a significant investment in developing its leaders, particularly in the areas of strategic thinking and business acumen. This has enabled the company to remain competitive in an ever-changing retail landscape.

The Threats of Stopping at People Skills

When leadership development stops at people skills, organizations create the potential for significant risks, such as poor decision-making. Leaders who lack a strategic mindset may make decisions that are not in line with the organization’s overall strategy or that have unintended consequences. This can lead to a lack of alignment between different parts of the business and can ultimately hurt the organization’s performance and competitiveness.

The risk of employee disengagement and high turnover is also a concern for organizations that do not invest in their leaders’ strategic skills. When employees do not see a clear direction or opportunities for growth within the organization, they are more likely to become disengaged and seek opportunities elsewhere. This can lead to a loss of valuable talent, as well as increased recruitment and training costs for the organization.

Perhaps the most significant threat is the risk of obsolescence.

Organizations that do not invest in developing their leaders’ strategic skills run the risk of becoming irrelevant as the business environment evolves and new competitors enter the market. They may also struggle to keep pace with the rapid changes driven by technological advancements and the opportunities they bring.

Sears, the American department store chain, was once the largest retailer in the United States and a dominant player in the retail industry. The company failed to respond to the rise of e-commerce

and the increasing dominance of online retailers. The company’s leaders were criticized for not being strategic enough, failing to respond to changes in the market, and not investing in innovation. As a result, Sears struggled to remain competitive and eventually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018.

Strategic Acumen Is a Must-Have Skill for the Future

It is critical to have leaders with strong people skills, who are both knowledgeable in their subject matter and have a deep understanding of the organization’s strategy and the wider business environment. Organizations should consider investing in the strategic skills of their leaders at all levels. By doing so, they will create a sense of direction, growth, and opportunities within the organization, which in turn attracts top talent and drives business success. These businesses reap the benefits of better decision-making, increased agility, enhanced competitiveness, improved employee engagement and motivation, and increased profitability.

Alex Brueckmann is the author of “Secrets of Next-Level Entrepreneurs” (March 2023) and “The Strategy Legacy” (Fall 2023). He facilitates strategy processes and leadership programs through his organization Brueckmann Executive Consulting for CEOs and executive teams of SMEs and Fortune 500 companies. Brueckmann is a keynote speaker at the intersection of business strategy, leadership, and empowerment.

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