Sustainable working practices that build productivity and growth
Written by Dan Parry • 10 January, 2024
Culture, Diversity & Ethics Article
Similarly, McKinsey found that only half of 2,500 business leaders surveyed said their company was “well prepared to anticipate and react to external shocks, and two-thirds see their organisations as overly complex and inefficient.”
In 2024, leaders will need to strengthen business resilience in order to maintain morale, productivity, and competitive edge. The quickest and most cost-effective way to achieve this is through culture.
An assessment by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) looked at companies going through a digital transformation. BCG found that “the proportion of companies reporting breakthrough or strong financial performance was five times greater (90%) among those that focused on culture than it was among those that neglected culture (17%).”
Culture is defined as an organisation’s values and behaviours that shape the way that things are typically done. A healthy culture encourages emotional intelligence in the workplace and provides an overarching code of conduct, helping individuals to act instinctively in pursuing the organisation’s objectives.
Culture not only clarifies what is expected of people (ie, implementing strategy and goals), but also how things are done. For example, a collaborative culture supports effective teamwork. Alternatively, an unhealthy level of internal competition can make individuals feel isolated.
Working practices that make people feel isolated, mistrusted, and undervalued deepen disengagement to a level that is unsustainable. This fuels retention issues, in turn weakening collective experience, resilience, and the capacity to hold a market-leading position. This too is unsustainable.
Sustainable working practices support an organisation’s long-term direction and reputation, in turn encouraging recruitment and investors. These issues tap into the so-called ‘triple bottom line’ which prioritises the planet and people, as well as profits.
The triple bottom line offers a different approach to viewing and measuring success. Traditionally, ‘success’ is often assessed via short-term indicators such as annual profits. Shareholders, for example, taking a short-term view on dividends, might prefer business practices to stay just as they are whether sustainable or not.
However, leaders – thinking about long-term planning – know that unsustainable working practices threaten efficiency and competitive position. They also know that neglecting the future of the natural environment will affect the supply and cost of resources. The PwC research cited above found what it described as “five broad megatrends – climate change, technological disruption, demographic shifts, a fracturing world, and social instability” that are “reshaping the business environment.”
Employees too are thinking about influential, long-term factors. The concerns of younger generations who will inherit the planet are particularly cutting through to leaders.
These thoughts are prompting a move away from isolation, silo mentalities, and short-term self-interest, in favour of constructive collaboration, teamwork, and better understanding of how individuals, businesses, communities, and countries are interconnected.
Thoughts about the triple bottom line aren’t a leap into the unknown. Many companies are already thinking along these lines in their ESG strategy:
Environmental issues are significant but hard to influence in the short-term. Nor is governance an immediate worry – we are not in recession, profits are moving in the right direction. Given current levels of disengagement however, social issues are a short-term priority. These will be the main focus of cultural change in 2024.
At Working Voices, for the past three years we’ve been looking in detail at developing an effective solution to social challenges. We began by identifying three underlying causes of disengagement:
1) ‘Doing more with less’
The 2007/8 financial crash led to workforce cuts, and additional responsibilities for those still in work. These led to longer hours and tougher conditions – that remained long after the crash. After many years of this, people became fatigued – leading the World Health Organisation to formally recognise burnout.
2) The rise of tech
During the same timeframe, smartphones arrived, social media took off, and tech revolutionised the workplace. Technology enables a fast, ‘always-on’ mentality – great for business, less so for mental health. Tech is associated with decreasing attention spans and higher levels of isolation and loneliness. Ironically, humanity’s new connectivity has left many people feeling disconnected.
3) Less autonomy
The combined impact of 1 and 2, has led to a fast, tech-based, process-driven approach where people operate in a way that’s less human than is healthy. Hybrid hasn’t helped. Watercooler moments are down, virtual calls are functional, and process is prioritised over people. There’s less humanity at work, less autonomy in jobs, less chance to find support from colleagues.
Organisations are struggling with a rise in fatigue and a corresponding drop in engagement. But most have not had the opportunity to look into the underlying causes.
While organisations frequently offer wellbeing support such as mindfulness sessions or free gym membership, these are often presented as perks to enjoy rather than carefully tailored solutions to deep-seated causes. In many organisations less than 20% of people take advantage of them.
Culture however touches everyone, reaching the whole workforce with no need for sign-up.
In looking for a form of culture capable of tackling disengagement, we assessed peer-reviewed scientific research from psychologists and others, (for example, Baumeister and Leary, 1995; Edmondson, 1999; Woolley et al, 2010). We discovered that most of these papers shared similar sentiments:
Based on these findings, we developed a concept of social wellbeing. The basis of effective culture, social wellbeing lies at the heart of The Sustainable Human – our strategic training programme that develops sustainable working practices, tackles the true causes of disengagement, and gives leaders a meaningful tool for 2024.
The Sustainable Human programme contains five core modules:
Between them, these deliver significant benefits for business, from discovering the secret to working with AI, to
An unsustainable way of working is not compatible with a viable future. By training ‘culture champions’ – employees capable of bringing change to their team – organisations will develop the sustainable practices that will help them thrive, regardless of what the future might bring.
Get our latest insights by subscribing to our newsletter. Each week you'll receive updates helping you to understand and respond to the challenges facing your organisation. We won't share your details with anyone and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Learn to tackle the day-to-day challenges faced by women in the workplace with confidence, control and conviction.
This fast-paced interactive talk delivered by our motivational keynote speakers provides insight on how women can communicate with more impact and how they can develop within a leadership role by enhancing their personal presence. Our women’s speakers aim to help you build the confidence to be included in meetings, and raise your visibility as an authentic and influential leader. This talk can be tailored to your business and any specific requirements you might have.
The founder and CEO of Working Voices, Nick Smallman has been at the top of his profession for 25 years. Advising global blue-chip clients on engagement, productivity, and retention, he counsels leaders on increasing revenue via simple cultural adjustments.
Overseeing the successful expansion of Working Voices across the UK, the US, Asia, and the Middle East, Nick supports the leadership and communication capabilities of clients in a wide range of sectors. In particular, he has advised companies such as JP Morgan, Barclays, Sony, Nomura, M&S, and Blackrock for more than 15 years.
Developing his reputation for thought leadership, in recent years Nick has been leading work on The Sustainable Human, the subject of his forthcoming book. A concept unique to Working Voices, The Sustainable Human offers a package of solutions focusing on leadership enablement, future skills, and cultural harmony.
Working closely with HR specialist Mercer, Nick has developed solutions to four key modern workplace challenges:
“I’m excited to share the conclusions of three years of research that, if implemented, can make an immediate practical difference to leaders and their organisations.”
All articles by Nick Smallman
Our motivating keynote speakers will help you to gain an understanding of how you present yourself to others and how they identify with you. You’ll also gain an understanding of how influence and the development of a personal brand can enhance your impact. In this enthusing talk our expert business speakers will explore the practicalities and techniques involved in developing a suitable personal brand and creating a strong personal impact.
Networking skills are important for achieving success in business. This talk delivered by our engaging keynote speakers will provide you with an insight into good networking etiquette. Our business speakers will focus on understanding the importance of networking, how to plan and prep before an event. You’ll learn some good tips for reading group body language and some essential icebreakers to get you started.
Parents all over the world are becoming increasingly worried about the effect of screen use on their children’s mental health. In addition to a lack of understanding as to what they are looking at there is the deeper issue of how online behaviour is shaping the way that children think and form relationships. We unpack the neuroscience behind the addictive nature of screen time and offer a blueprint to help parents coach their children towards a more fruitful relationship with the internet.
The internet is lauded as a giant leap for communication and a vehicle for mass connection in a busy world. What is also becoming clear is the opportunity for bad actors to manipulate important social, cultural and political conversations through the dissemination of misinformation and disinformation. We lay bare the methods that are used to inject confusion and grievance into the conversation and how we as consumers are not naturally wired to combat this. We will offer a framework to help protect you from fake news, distraction and getting sucked in to destructive communication
70% of people will experience a genuine fear of being exposed as not good enough, of being a fraud in their working lives; this talk will help you combat such feelings and deliver practical guidance that will help you feel confident and comfortable when taking on the next big challenge.
In a world dominated by showmen, charismatics and influencers it is becoming more and more difficult to find leaders that are intellectually credible as well as influential. The ability to think critically is being downgraded while the ability to attract attention is lauded. It is possible to do both and we will show how strong mental models can underpin a long-term leadership persona.
The self-help industry is an ever expanding and hugely popular vehicle for personal development. Humans have an innate desire to improve themselves and raise their status – what’s not to love? However, some of the ideas and tropes used in many of the self-help products available rely on flawed thinking to be successful. We explore 6 major themes, deconstruct their effectiveness and relevance in the modern world and provide an alternatives that are more effective.
“Your personal brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Jeff Bezos (Founder and Chairman of Amazon) that’s why it matters so much. It’s all about creating the right external impression, ensuring it is authentic and makes you stand out from the crowd. This inspirational talk by our expert keynote speakers will explore the methods, techniques and practises of developing an authentic personal brand that gets you noticed.
Presenting can be a daunting ordeal at the best of times but this highly interactive and fast paced talk will help build your confidence and improve your delivery with any audience. Our keynote speaker will take you through how best to prepare for your big moment, along with helping you look and sound the part as well.
TED Talks can be both informative and inspiring, but how do the best speakers deliver their message with such impact? In this talk, one of our inspiring keynote speakers will walk you through the TED method and help you deliver your very own idea with confidence and precision.
Emotional intelligence is about the ability to identify, assess and manage the emotions of yourself, of others and of groups. Having a high EQ will improve your ability to maintain good working relationships and communicate successfully. This highly interactive talk will give you a practical insight into how emotional intelligence works. Our expert keynote speakers will give you a concise overview of the emotional intelligence know-how and stratagems you need to interact commendably with clients and colleagues.
Making a good impression and having a strong personal presence is an important part of being successful in business and in life. Personal impact is about having presence and charisma. In this engaging talk our motivational keynote speakers will explore what both of these actually mean, what they look like and feel like. We will look at the practicalities of each and punctuate both topics with brief exercises to help you to become more aware of the way you interact with others. This is an exciting and interactive talk which our expert business speakers deliver in an inspirational style.
Successful people are super communicators – they think clearly and are expert at interacting with others. They understand themselves, other people and know that superior relationships are the cornerstone to a fulfilling life These characteristics are learned attributes. Now you can master these skills and behaviours and work towards becoming a super communicator yourself.
Improving your influencing skills is important in helping you to build better rapport and have positive relationships with your clients and colleagues. This fast-paced talk delivered by our expert business speakers helps you to explore and develop your existing influencing skills. Our inspiring keynote speakers will focus on maintaining mental and linguistic flexibility when interpreting and presenting information helping you to become an effective influential leader. Our keynote speakers can adapt this talk to your business needs and requirements if requested.
Our sentiments and feelings towards people are created by our own experiences but we’re not always aware of how those sentiments affect the way we act towards people and make decisions about them. Our engaging keynote speakers will bring to light your unconscious bias in this thought provoking talk: how it works, the affect this has on decision making and most importantly, what you can do about it; making sure you are the inclusive leader you wish to be.