Workplace models play a crucial role in success

To ensure the success of an organisation, leadership skills and effectiveness must evolve along with their workforce, a survey finds.
By: | January 27, 2023

The impact of the pandemic continues to be felt by business leaders nearly three years after it occurred. Global, economic, and societal changes are all impacting work and employees at a rapid pace.

Specifically, work rules are changing as traditional boundaries, such as how jobs are organised, where work happens, and who qualifies for specific roles, are fading away. There is, however, a lack of readiness among organisations to respond to the changing nature of the workplace despite 87% of business leaders indicating that finding the right workplace model is critical to the success of their organisation, according to Deloitte’s 2023 Global Human Capital Trends: New Fundamental for a Boundaryless World report.

Based on the survey among 10,000 respondents, including 1,500 C-suite executives and board members, 59% of respondents said they were planning to reimagine their workforce models in the near term. However, survey respondents ranked leadership among the top barriers for seven of the nine trends explored in the report, illustrating the need for organisations to evolve for the future.

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In this age of evolving workplaces, leaders must evolve with their workforce, as 94% of respondents believe leadership skills and effectiveness play a crucial role in the success of their organisation. There is, however, only 23% of confidence that leaders can manage today’s disruptions. The survey suggests that this leadership gap is likely due to looking at work and employees through an outdated lens. Nearly half of the respondents say their organisation’s leaders are overwhelmed by disruptions and struggling to identify what they should prioritise.

Kraig Eaton, a Principal with Deloitte Consulting’s HR transformation practice, said, “Rather than worrying about finding the perfect place to start, organisations should reframe disruptions as business challenges the can use to experiment and learn from. Working alongside their employees to develop these rules, organisations can ensure that wellbeing is at the heart of these changes, creating better outcomes for both the business and humans.”