How to transform your organization during 'The Great Reassessment'

Leaders should recognize that empowering employees and keeping the human element at the center of decision-making will help create sustainable value.

The pace of global change has been super-charged in recent years, brought on by major health, economic, and geopolitical challenges. Leaders continue to work to adapt their organizations to a new reality of work that influences how we understand everything from supply chains to talent pools.

For many leaders, workforce considerations are driving their strategy forward. It’s well beyond The Great Resignation, and is now about building a better working world alongside employees seeking better pay, career advancement, and overall employee experience.

But how can leaders best lead their organizations, when the workforce is still reassessing what exactly it wants?

We now have data showing us that key drivers of successful outcomes through change are ones that keep humans at the center of an organization’s focus.

Transformative Leadership

In 2021, EY formed a research collaboration with Oxford University's Saïd Business School, and conducted a survey of 935 senior leaders and direct reports, as well as 1,127 workforce members from 23 countries and 16 industry sectors.

The research shows that leaders who prioritize workforce emotions, and who work with intention to keep humans at the center of their planning and actions, are 2.6 times more likely to be successful in their organizational transformation than those who don’t.

If the transformation is underperforming, then the increase of emotional stress from the workforce can increase by 136%.

The data shows that building an environment to address rational and emotional considerations of a workforce can help an organization’s chances of thriving through uncertainty. Key drivers of success are those which focus on the emotional journey of the workforce: integrating caring, leading, building, empowering, inspiring and collaborating into your transformation culture.

3 considerations for CEOs  

The race for talent is still running hot, with the EY 2022 Work Reimagined Survey showing 43% of employees say they are likely to leave their employer in the next year. Their chief concern is total pay, but also important are the tangible and intangible parts of work that encourage an inclusive, purpose-driven atmosphere.

As leaders look to nurture and grow their workforce during this transformative moment:

• CEOs cannot consider digital, organizational, or strategic investments without factoring in employee concerns related to the organization’s culture, or their own emotional journey.
• Leaders should continue communicating a shared, co-created vision for the organization, while also recognizing and planning for the emotional journey of their workforce. Once aligned, teams can be empowered for greater chances of success.
• Feeding an organization’s innovative spirit can increase employee engagement and sense of belonging. As we have reimagined new ways of working, it’s important to create safe spaces to keep innovative ideas flowing into the organization. Transformation is an on-going state of adaptation and improvement.

Leaders most need to show their ability to stabilize and then energize their organizations for growth. Acting with intention to engage the rational and emotional power of their people, leaders can position themselves, their workforce, and their organization for more sustainable value creation.

Norman Lonergan is EY Global People Advisory Services Leader. 

The views reflected in this article are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the global EY organization or its member firms.